Cells Teaming Up

This unit explores multicellularity and how a system is greater than the sum of the parts. It begins with a sports team metaphor to kick off this look at cell specialization and at the hierarchical organization of cells into tissues, organs, organ systems, and organisms. Students see the human body as an amazing cooperative community of trillions of cells that team up to fight disease. Finally, students apply what they've learned about the body as a system to consider the system factors that are considered when matching organ donations to critically ill patients.

Activities

Scene: A Team of Cells

In this Science Scene, a dialogue to read aloud as a class, Asia, Jalen, and Raven discuss the pluses and minuses of playing sports as teams versus as individuals, and students consider which is a better strategy.

Duration: Approximately 50 minutes

Video: Trillions as One

After describing several nested hierarchies, students explore how trillions of cells all cooperate as one organism in this video tour of the hierarchy within the most familiar multicellular organism: the human body.

Duration: Approximately 45 minutes

Interactive: Organ Systems at Work

Students combine the 11 organ systems of the human body in this unique interactive diagram.

Duration: Approximately 50 minutes

Game: Cell-or-System

Students solidify their understanding of the system-tissue-cell hierarchy of multicellular organisms in this rummy-like card game.

Duration: Approximately 40 minutes

Reading: On Guard: Germs vs. the Immune System

Students appreciate the power of a multicellular organism's immune response to infection in this lively comic, "On Guard—Germs vs. the Immune System."

Duration: Approximately 50 minutes

Conversation: Tricky Transplants

In this activity, students learn about the young recipient of a heart transplant and consider the ethics of transplants and tissue sources. The activity ends with an optional philosophical extension with a classic thought experiment.

Duration: Approximately 75 minutes

Teacher Tune-ups

• How are the trillions of cells in a human body able to cooperate?
• How do cells with the same DNA become different?
• What are some practical consequences of the fact that every cell in a human being shares the same DNA?
• Why did some organisms evolve to be multicellular?
• How are cells involved in disease?

Student View of Visuals and Activities

Some teachers prefer to have students view the slides and other visual assets in this unit directly instead of projecting them in class. Below is a web page to share with students with links to some of same items that are within in the teacher lesson plans, but without the explanatory text for the teacher.

 

• Student Links to Unit L6 Slides and Other Visuals

organism

noun — organism (noun) a separate, complete living thing, such as animal, plant, fungus or microorganism

Numbering less than 10 billion, humans are a small proportion of the many octillions of organisms living on Earth.

tissue

noun — a group of similar cells working together to do a specific job

Tissue transplants are much more common than organ transplants.

organ

noun — a group of tissues that does a specific job within an organism

The skin is the largest organ in the human body.

system

noun — a group of parts that depend on each other to function

Each part of a system is a critical piece that relates to the other parts of the system.

strategy

noun — a defined group of goals and the functions to achieve them

I may be biased, but multicellularity is a better strategy than being single-celled.

specialize

verb — to focus on a particular area; to distinguish oneself by form or function

Cells specialize to perform different functions in our bodies.

cooperate

verb — to work or function together in order to achieve a common goal

Cells cooperate with other cells to form tissues.

hierarchy

noun — a way of ranking or organizing things

Taxonomy uses a hierarchy to organize all living things into a metaphorical tree of life.