Cell Structure and Function Activity Sequence

Author: Corey Kapolka, M.S.

Part I: Information about the Lesson and Unit
Topic: Organismal Hierarchy (Cell specialization, Tissues, Organs)
Abstract
The importance of specialization in cell structure and function will be used to introduce the broad theme in biology
of specialized function following from the existing structure of an anatomical feature. The hierarchy of biological
constructs is then addressed, beginning with an examination of how functioning of specialized cells affects the
functioning of tissues and organs, and building into lessons about various tissues and organs of the human body and
plants.
Part II: Clarifying Your Goals for the Topic
A. Big Ideas
Cells, like many levels of biological structures, can be specialized for particular functions within a
multicellular organism. These specialized cells can be categorized according to their anatomy and their function, and
the function of the cells can often be inferred by features of their anatomy. This is not always true, but is a general
trend that can be valuable when encountering unknown cell or tissue types. There is a general theme throughout
biology that the function of a specialized feature must follow first from the existence of an appropriate anatomical
structure. The structure can then be modified through selection for the improvement of an associated specialized
function. A related popular notion of the relationship of structure and function is that 'form follows function', which
neglects the reality of biological features arising as a result of evolutionary processes.
Cells can be organized into tissues groups of cells that serve a common function. Tissues are in turn
organized into organs groups of tissues that serve a common function. As parts of tissues and organs, specialized
individual cells are essential for normal organ functioning. Many different cell types are required for the successful
functioning of an individual organ, and various organs have a wide variety of specialized cells that are specific to
that organ or a select few organs. This follows another general theme in biology biological structures are
composed of smaller components of various specializations, which are in turn composed of yet smaller components
(e.g. biosphere; biome; community; population; organism; organ system; organ; tissue; cell; organelle;
macromolecule; monomer; atom).

B. Student Practices
1. Naming key practices
- Students will use their existing knowledge of the structure and functioning of cells to identify specializations of
cellular anatomy.
- Students will apply the principle of function following form in biology when identifying possible functions of cells
as indicated by their anatomy.
- Students will infer cell functioning from cell anatomy to identify potential benefits/uses of specialized cells.
- Students will use the principle of biological hierarchy to explain how organ functions are accomplished through the
actions of individual cells.

C. Performance Expectations for Student Learning

Performance Expectation

Associated NGSS
Practice

NGSS Performance Expectation(s)

1. NGSS HS-LS1-2 - Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical

organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within
multicellular organisms.
2. HSCE B2.4A Explain that living things can be classified based on
structural, embryological, and molecular (relatedness of DNA sequence)
evidence.

Developing and
Using Models
Analyzing and
Interpreting Data

Specific Lesson Objective(s)

1. Students will infer functions of components of organisms following from

the structure of their anatomy.
2. Students will infer the structure and functioning of a biological construct
(i.e. organism, organ) depending on the structure and functioning of its
component parts (i.e. cells, macromolecules).

Developing and
Using Models
Planning and
Carrying Out
Investigation

Part III: Example Activity Sequence

A. Storyline for the Activity Sequence in Context
Stage

Role in Storyline

Lessons before During the early weeks of class, we established scientific methods of solving
your
problems and answering questions. We then reviewed biological chemistry
sequence
and the basic structure of cells (organelles and plasma membrane). These
skills and knowledge will be applied in this sequence as students will be
expected to consider multiple possibilities for explanation of functions of
specialized cells.
Lesson 1

Modeling and Coaching: Establishing the idea of function following anatomy

and identifying possible functional specializations of cells from their
structural specializations. Students will begin to contribute their ideas for
why specialized cells are important for whole-organism functioning.

Lesson 2

Fading: Students will complete a laboratory activity examining images and

slides of specialized cells. They will independently produce ideas for the
function of specialized cells based on features of anatomy, following the
model presented in the previous lesson. The structure of cells already
presented during lecture will be reinforced through reading material provided
with the lab handout. Following the lab, students will then consider how
traits of cells affect the traits of higher biological constructs such as tissues
and organs.

Lessons after
your
sequence

This sequence will lead into lessons about the structure and functioning of
tissues and organs. Human organs will be emphasized, and plant tissues and
organs will also be discussed to provide a comparison and continue the theme
of diversity of cells/tissues/organs begun with this sequence.

B. Activity Sequence Details

Focus Objective
Objective

HS-LS1-2 - Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical

organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within
multicellular organisms.

NGSS Practice
Developing and Using
Models

1. Application Cycle
Examples and Scaffolding (Pattern in Student Practices)
List of examples
1. Oil lamp, architectural spandrels (the artwork specialization followed from the existing form)
2. Avian wings, tail, beak
3. Lipids, proteins, carbohydrates
4. Adipose cells, xylem tissue/tracheid cells
5. Muscle cells, throat epithelial cells, intestinal epithelial cells, lung cells
Scaffolding that applies to all examples
- Demonstrate the principle that a given feature can be useful for multiple functions, and may be specialized for
those functions. Many specializations may be developed from the same kind of appendage, organ, or cell type.
- Specialized cells can have multiple important functions that can inferred from their anatomy. Students will be
guided through recognizing potential physiological functions of unknown cells, which can help in identifying the
specialization of cells and where said cells are important for regular body homeostasis.
- Students should be guided through making creative inferences about the functioning of unknown features/cells.
- Where appropriate, point out how specializations followed from an existing form. Analogies can be made with
manmade objects, and a short discussion of how evolution fine-tunes biological structures over time as a novel
function arises should also be included.

Stages in Your Application Sequence

Stage
Establishing the
problem
Modeling
Coaching

Fading

Maintenance

Teaching Activities
What is the specialization of this feature/cell? What functions could it serve?
Demonstrate how a given feature can serve several different purposes or functions. Modeling
will begin with manmade objects and transition to biological structures with which students are
already familiar. The principle of function following form in biology will be emphasized.
Instructor will project images of two or more different types of important specialized cells (i.e.
animal adipose ('fat') cells and plant tracheid cells). Important features of the cells will be
identified, and students will be expected to describe what functions these cells could serve using
information about their structure. It is important to point out that it's okay if students are wrong
about their inferences scientists are often wrong about their conclusions, but through
communication among scientists we can build more accurate explanations of natural phenomena
than we may initially create. Creativity is an essential part of the scientific process.
Students will complete a lab activity using the principles modeled in the previous lesson.
Images of a series of different specialized cells will be provided in a lab handout and available
as prepared slides, and students will describe the appearance of important cell features and infer
their specialized functions. Identifying multiple possible functions of these cells will be
emphasized to encourage independent creative thinking, an important skill for making scientific
discoveries.
Homework activity describe how specializations of selected cells can influence specializations
of associated organs.

C. Lesson Plans
Lesson 1 Materials
Presentation materials (Overhead transparencies or PowerPoint presentations, etc):
Powerpoint slides with images of examples (lamp, legs, wings, beaks, etc.)
Lesson 1 Activities
Lesson 1 Introduction (10 minutes)
Journal: Many different kinds of cells are present in different tissues and organs of our bodies. Some of these cells
are specialized for a particular function, such as cells behind our eyes being filled with fats to provide a cushion
for our eyeballs.
How could a cell produce more protein?
How could a cell move water quickly into itself, across its cytoplasm and into the next cell?
These ideas may give you the idea that 'form follows function.' We see this idea in manmade objects:
- Lamp built with reflectors to direct light
- Architectural spandrels built in such a way as to fully support the weight of a ceiling
But in biology, the opposite is actually true: form precedes function!

Lesson 1 Main Teaching Activities (35 minutes)

Recall the example of the oil lamp. The lamp seems to be made for providing light, but it has other possible uses, as
well. It provides heat, has weight, and contains fuel. All of these traits can be useful, and if we want we can make
a lamp that provides a lot of heat along with light.
Biological structures can be thought of in much the same way. Something that serves one particular purpose can be
modified to serve another over generations as better versions of that structure tend to be produced more often
because they give an organism some kind of advantage.
- What were wings originally good for? Fossil evidence suggests balance, and eventually gliding and flying.
- How have wings been specialized from the basic flying type?
- How about beaks? Have all of the specialized beak types existed, or have they developed from existing
structures over time?
- What are some of the different proteins that we have talked about? How have the functions of all of these
proteins developed?
Even when biological structures are specialized, they can serve several different important functions.
- What can our legs be good for? (walking/running upright, climbing, swimming)
- What do we do with our tongues? (eat, speak)
- How are our muscles useful? (movement, shivering, pump blood to heart through veins)

Lesson 1 Conclusion (5 minutes)

For the remainder of this unit, and when studying biology in general, keep in mind that the structure of a feature and
its functions are inextricably tied together. We cannot have a function without a form, and something without a
useful function will tend to be lost over time (think about vestigial organs).
In the next lesson, we will apply these ideas to cells. We will use a lot of the knowledge about cell structure that you
have already gained from the previous couple of weeks, and apply it in some next sitautions that will help you to
remember important traits of cells and learn how they can be different in your own bodies.

Lesson 2 Materials
Presentation materials (Overhead transparencies or PowerPoint presentations, etc):
- Images of tracheid cells and adipose cells on Powerpoint slides, labeled with important cell features.
Copied materials (Handouts, worksheets, tests, lab directions, etc.): Specialized Cells lab activity worksheet
Laboratory materials: For the teacher or the class as a whole:
Microscope slides:
Cell type 1: Small intestine cross-section (simple columnar epithelial cells)
Cell type 2: Spinal cord neurons squash (nerve cells)
Cell type 3: Trachea cross-section (ciliated pseudostratified columnar cells)
Cell type 4: Leaf cross-section (palisade mesophyll cells)

Lesson 2 Introduction (10 minutes)

Journal: Consider the structure of a branching tree. Do you think that the cells in its leaves are significantly different
from the cells in its trunk? What traits would you expect to see in leaf cells (more of a type of organelle, cell
shape, etc.)? What do you think trunk cells need to be able to do to keep the tree alive?
- Today, we are going to complete an activity building from what we covered yesterday. We will be applying the
principles that features of objects and organisms can be fine-tuned for a particular function, or many functions.

Lesson 2 Main Teaching Activities (60 minutes)

- Much like how communities and populations are made of separate individuals, individual organisms are made of
separate organs, which are in turn made of tissues and the tissues made of cells.
- Organs can be specialized for some particular tasks. Could cells be specialized? How do you think a cell could be
specialized? Could things be added or improved to its structure?
- Using the example of plant tracheid cells, what do you see that's different or special about these cells? What could
be the specialized functions of these cells? Note the thick cell wall and long tube shape of the cells. What purpose
does the cell wall serve? Why would cells be long tubes?
- Using the method of inferring function that we developed yesterday, work with your partner to describe what you
think could be the functions of these cells. Don't worry about getting the absolutely correct answers; I expect you to
come up with at least two reasonable ideas for each cell type, but remember that in science we are often revising
ideas we have that are not entirely correct. We will see if we can collectively produce a good idea of what all of
these cells do.
- Hand out activity worksheet to be completed during this lesson.
Students will work through activity, with occasional guidance from instructors as appropriate.
Outline of lab activity:
(Slides of tissue with the follow cells will be provided. Images of the target cell types will be included on the
worksheet to assist with finding the correct cells.)
- First cell type
For this first cell type, note the arrangement of the cells. Recall the benefits of high surface area per volume that
you learned about last week. Why might these cells be arranged in this way?
Also note what look like gaps between the cells. These are actually cells filled with mucus! Think about what you
know about mucus; what could these cells be specialized to do?
- Second cell type
These cells have a main body where you can see a nucleus, and long branches that extend for long distances (for a
cell, at least) and make contact with other cells. Why might a cell have these branches? What function do you think
these cells could serve?

- Third cell type

These cells may appear similar to the first type, but are they arranged in the same way? Look closely between the
cells for the familiar mucus cells. If the tops of the cells look fuzzy, don't worry about your focus; those are cilia!
Remember that cilia can move cells around, but these cells are fixed in place. What purpose could they serve on
these cells?
- Fourth cell type
These cells are arranged in an intricate network with large spaces of air. Is the surface to volume ratio of this
tissue (the whole tissue, not just individual cells) very low or very high?

The spaces within this network are normally filled with air. What could be passing into and out of this tissue
between the cells and the air?

- Fifth cell type

These cells are FILLED with chloroplasts. Also take a close look at the edges of the cells; are they thin or thick?
What function could these cells serve?

How could the arrangement of these cells affect their function? Why might it be beneficial to be so tightly packed
together?

Lesson 2 Conclusion (15 minutes)

- Wrap-up activity with group discussion of student findings. What did different groups come up with as functions of
the various cell types?
- Why is knowing the functioning of many different kinds of cells important? How could this be important in
medicine or nutrition?
- Identify the five organs examined and assign follow-up questions as homework. This homework will be due the
next time that the class meets. If time permits, students may begin completing the questions until the end of the class
period.