Students will continue their increase their understanding of living and non-living things by investigating yeast.
For the class:
For each group:
For the class and each group:
For each student:
Additional Resources
Books
Cells are the building blocks of people and other living things. Cells are tiny, but you can see them through a microscope. Cells make up your muscles, skin, stomach, and every other part of you. Your cells are part of you, and they are alive, too. They need healthy food and oxygen so they can grow and divide to make more you.
3. Understand Science Concepts and Principles
4. Communicate Effectively Using Science Language and Reasoning
Invitation to Learn
Read What's Smaller Than a Pygmy Shrew? by Robert Wells or any
other book about cells.
Instructional Procedures
Pizza Party
Make pizza dough. Ask: What makes dough rise? (Carbon dioxide
gas from the feeding yeast cells.)
Pizza Crust
6 cups flour
2 cups water (warm)
4 Tbsp. oil
2 tsp. salt
4 Tbsp. yeastMix flour and salt. Dissolve yeast in warm water. Add oil to yeast mixture. Add yeast and oil mixture to the flour. Add 1/4 more cup of water and mix. Knead to smooth consistency. Let rise one hour. Grease four pizza pans and spread dough. Put pizza sauce, meat, and cheese on top. Bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.
Animal Cell Visual
Fill a five gallon glass fish tank with water-filled balloons. The tank
represents the tiny part of an animal's body and the balloons represent its
cells. You place the water filled balloons in the tank until the tank is full.
The balloons should be tightly packed together with very little space
between them. Then you pour water into the tank, over the balloons to
cover them. Explain that in a living animal, fluid keeps the cells alive.
Plant Cell Visual
Cut a small square out of an onion, pulling away a thin film of the
onion skin with a pair of tweezers, and pressing this onto a windowpane.
The students can see the cells with a magnifying glass. This helps the
students see that plant cells are not soft and flexible like animal cells and
that they have a tough outer wall which helps them keep their shape.
Plus, some plant cells are much bigger than animal cells, which makes
them easier to see.
Look at different cells under a microscope.
Family Connections