Cells Teaming Up

In this unit we've been looking at how cells cooperate to form a larger, multicellular organism, focusing on the human body. If we were to make a diagram of what makes up the body, it might look a little like this.

Show slide.

Add smaller elements to the map. Ask:

Where does heart tissue (like epicardium, the myocardium, and the endocardium) fit in this diagram?

Draw a line from the pink square on the right labeled "Heart" and attach a square labeled "Heart Tissue." Challenge the students to think of other tissues or organs to add to the map.

Add more elements to the map. Ask:

Where do cells fit in this diagram?

After students have a chance to offer some answers, draw a line from the square you just made, labeled "Heart Tissue." Label this new square "Cells" (or, more specifically: epithelial cells, fat cells, muscle cells).

Challenge the students to think of other organs, tissues, or cells to add to the map.

Once you've added some elements to the map and "fleshed" it out a bit, take a step back at the map and look at the pink and yellow areas, labeled Cardiovascular System and Nervous System, respectively.

Paraphrase:

Today we are going to build this part of the map from the outside in, while playing a game!

Map of the Human Body

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Print and cut the cards before class.

Split the class into six teams (or 12 teams if you want to use two decks). The Cell-or-System deck consists of 54 cards with nine cards each of six different suits: three N or gold suits of the Nervous System: Brain, Sensory Nerves, and Motor Nerves; three C or red suits of the Cardiovascular System: Heart, Vessels, and Blood.

Show the slide that displays all the cards. Explain how the suits are organized and the object of the game:

As a team, you will try to get all of one organ (shown as one horizontal row in the slide) and have your organ system (shown as 27 cards in one color) be collected when two other teams collect organs in your color.

Shuffle the deck. Each team gets nine cards. Allow teams a minute or so to group their cards into suits and decide on which organ (Brain, Sensory Nerves, Motor Nerves, Heart, Vessels, or Blood) they will collect. Teams should try to corner the organ suit (Br, S, M, H, V, Bl) of which they hold the most cards.

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Setup

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Show the slide to review the rules of the game with the class.

Open a round by ringing the bell. Teams blindly trade at least one and as many as four cards with another team (one for one, two for two, and so on). To trade two cards, the team pulls out the two cards from their hand and shouts “Two cells! Two cells!” Team members then listen and look for another team looking to trade two cards. Traded cards must be the same suit (all Br, all S, all M, all H, all V, or all Bl) and the same in number (1, 2, 3, or 4 cards). They keep shouting the numbers they want to trade until the cards are exchanged, face down, WITHOUT revealing the cards, i.e. until they are in the new team’s hands.

Teams do not take turns (see “Slower version” below for alternative). Instead, everyone plays at the same time, trading with other teams until one team collects all the cards in a suit. When a team acquires a full hand of nine matching cards, they ring the bell and place the organ on the board at the front of the classroom. The game ends when one half of the class first organizes three organs within one color—that is, all three gold suits of the Nervous System: Br, S, M; OR all three red suits of the Cardiovascular System: H, V, Bl.

Have students play a quick round (about 5 minutes) while you monitor their understanding of the rules. Teams may mistakenly try one of these rule-breaking moves:

• trading different numbers of cards (like two cards for three cards)
• trading heterogeneous sets (containing more than one kind of suit)
• revealing what they are trading (in words or by flashing the cards to the other team)
• calling "Three! Three!" as in the original Pit game, rather than "Tissue! Tissue!"

Winning

When a team matches all 9 cards into three sets of "ti-ss-ue" cards, the team rings the bell and puts their organ on the board. When all three organs from that system are claimed, the system wins and that half of the class wins.

Rules of the Game

Team Goal: Match all the cards in your team’s hand to claim an organ.

System Goal: Be one of the first three teams within one system to have claimed an organ.

Trade 1–4 cards with another team. Traded cards must be

• the same suit (all Br, all S, all M, all H, all V, or all Bl)
  and
• the same in number (1, 2, 3, or 4 cards).
  
  

To trade two cards, for example, pull out two cards from your hand and shout “Two cells! Two cells!” then look for someone also looking to trade two cards. Keep shouting as you exchange the cards, face down, WITHOUT showing the cards.

Collect all nine matching cards in a suit (one organ). When you do, ring the bell and place your organ on the board.

Example of an opening hand:

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sorted:

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Two examples of winning hands:

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OR

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Example of a non-winning hand:

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These are all within the same system, but different organs or suits (Br/S/M).
They should all be brain (Br), sensory nerves (S), or motor nerves (M) cards.

Rules of the Game (Long Play Version)

Team Goal: Match all the cards in your team’s hand to claim an organ.

System Goal: Be one of the first three teams within one system to have claimed an organ.

Assign the numbers 1 to 6 to the six players/teams.

Roll the die. The player/team matching that number goes first.

It chooses 1–4 cards to trade with another team and announces how many it has to trade. Traded cards must be

• the same suit (all Br, all S, all M, all H, all V, or all Bl)
  and
• the same in number (1, 2, 3, or 4 cards).

The teams who have an equivalent number of matching cards to trade raise their hands. If more than one team has an offer, the die is rolled until the number matches or is closer to one of the teams.

To trade two cards, for example, pull out two cards from your hand and announce “Two cells! Two cells!” then look for someone also looking to trade two cards.

Collect all nine matching cards in a suit (one organ). When you do, ring the bell and place your organ on the board.

Rules of the Game (silent play)

Team Goal: Match all the cards in your team’s hand to claim an organ.

System Goal: Be one of the first three teams within one system to have claimed an organ.

Trade 1–4 cards with another team. Traded cards must be

• the same suit (all Br, all S, all M, all H, all V, or all Bl)
  and
• the same in number (1, 2, 3, or 4 cards).

To trade two cards, for example, pull out two cards and use the other hand to gesture “Two” then look for someone also looking to trade two cards. Keep your fingers up as you exchange the cards, face down, WITHOUT showing the cards until they have changed hands.

Collect all nine matching cards in a suit (one organ). When you do, ring the bell and place your organ on the board.

Follow-up Questions

Respond in writing to the questions, then compare and discuss your answers with someone else.

How did you decide which kind of cell to build your organ around?

Was the organ you planned on building at the beginning of each round the same at the end? If not, why not?

How does this game relate to what we know about the hierarchy of the human body, and how cells relate to tissues to organs to systems to the whole organism?