The Cell

Fourth Grade

Teaching Message 1: All living things are made up of building blocks called

cells.

• All living things are made of building blocks called CELLS.

• Humans, plants, animals, and bacteria are made up of one or many cells.

• Where do you think cells are located in our body? – EVERYWHERE!!!– Humans are made up of cells that work together

and build muscle, bones, skin, and other organs.

Teaching Message 2: Cells are incredibly small – so small that

microscopes are needed to magnify them so that we can see them.

• How many cells are in the human body?– 10 TRILLION!!! (10,000,000,000,000)

Animation: “How big is a cell?”

• http://www.cellsalive.com/howbig.htm

Teaching Message 3: Cells divide and make more cells to help us grow and

repair in a process called mitosis.• Fertilized egg: the result of the fusion of an

egg (from the mother) and a sperm (from the father)

• Mitosis: the process through which cells divide– Each cell divides into two identical cells

http://www.answering-christianity.com/p648029-sperm_fertilizing_egg-spl.jpg

Animation: Mitosis

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GO5YN_t1fqw

Teaching Message 4: All cells have the same basic parts to do specific tasks,

including the cell membrane, nucleus, mitochondria, and endoplasmic

reticulum.

The Animal Cell

Nucleus

Mitochondria

Cytoplasm

Cell Membrane

Endoplasmic Reticulum

Teaching Message 5: Cells differentiate to become specialized

cells to carry out specialized functions to result in many different types of

cells such as muscle cells, nerve cells blood cells, and others.

The Nerve Cell

Red Blood Cells

Teaching Messages

• 1: All living things are made of cells.• 2: Cells are very small. • 3: Cells divide and make more cells to help us

grow.• 4: All cells have the same basic parts to do

specific tasks.• 5: There are many different types of cells in

our body doing many different jobs.