èßäAV

  • Grades 6-8
  • Visual Arts
  • Science

Get Inside a Cell!
How can illustration show us the relationship between form and function in a cell?

In this 6-8 lesson, students will create a visual representation of an animal cell. They will research and gather information about animal cell organelles to understand their form and function. Students will prepare a presentation of their art and research to the class.

 

 

 

Lesson Content

Learning Objectives 

Students will: 

  • Research and gather information.
  • Describe the form and functions of the organelles in an animal cell.
  • Create an accurate visual arts representation of an animal cell and its organelles.
  • Demonstrate understanding of how form and function are related to an organelle.
  • Present art and research to a group of peers. 

 

Standards Alignment

Recommended Student Materials

Editable Documents: Before sharing these resources with students, you must first save them to your Google account by opening them, and selecting “Make a copy” from the File menu. Check out Sharing Tips or Instructional Benefits when implementing Google Docs and Google Slides with students.

Videos

Websites

 

Teacher Background

Teachers should be familiar with different types of cells and animal cells. In-depth knowledge of animal and plant cells and examples and history of scientific illustration will also be helpful.

 

Student Prerequisites 

Students should have basic knowledge about cells and how they were discovered.

 

Accessibility Notes

Provide assistive technologies during research and the art-making process. Allow sufficient space for movement around the room.

How did you use this lesson?
Give us your feedback!

  • Adaptation

    Jill Gerlman

  • Editor

    JoDee Scissors

  • Updated

    November 15, 2021

Related Resources

Collection Animals & Nature

Is there poetry in the ocean? How can the wind inspire dance? How can the arts represent the change of seasons? Discover patterns and cycles in nature with these resources that address cell composition and reproduction, animal habitats, the metamorphasis of a caterpillar to a butterfly, and an artistic representation of our relationship with the planet.

  • Animals & Nature

Collection Science

Explore how art influences the scientific world (and the science behind the art). Learn about the lives of butterflies through dance, use mobiles to recreate the solar system, and discover the colorful world pulsing inside our own cells.

  • Science

Lesson The Science of Shadow Puppets

In this 6-8 lesson, students will learn how light interacts with matter through the creation of puppets in shadow plays. Students will examine how light travels and how an object's shadow is affected by the intensity and position of the light in relation to both the object and the surface on which a shadow is cast. This is the first lesson designed to accompany the Shadow Puppet Plays lesson.

  • Grades 6-8
  • Theater
  • Visual Arts
  • Science
  • Puppetry

Lesson Decades Mural Project

In this 6-8 lesson, students will learn how to use primary sources, and work in groups to create murals about the events and trends of a decade of the twentieth century. Students will focus their research on a specific category relating to the culture of that decade, and then depict their findings through a mural.

  • Grades 6-8
  • Visual Arts
  • English & Literature
  • History

Lesson Trees in Nature and Art

In this 6-8 lesson, students will explore the use of trees in paintings and poetry. They will explore the artwork of Thomas Locker and Vincent van Gogh through a scientific lens. Students will combine their knowledge of science and art to write poems and create leaf art.

  • Grades 6-8
  • Visual Arts
  • English & Literature
  • Science

Lesson Making Rain

In this K-2 lesson, students learn how some cultures dance, sing, chant, pray to a rain god, or use instruments to encourage the rain to come. They will explore these cultures through literature and song, then create a rainstick musical performance with a poem.

  • Music
  • World Cultures
  • Grades K-2
  • Science
Kennedy Center Education Digital Learning

Eric Friedman 
Director, Digital Learning

Kenny Neal 
Manager, Digital Education Resources

Tiffany A. Bryant 
Manager, Operations and Audience Engagement

JoDee Scissors 
Content Specialist, Digital Learning

Connect with us!

spacer-24px.png                email.png

Generous support for educational programs at the Kennedy Center is provided by the U.S. Department of Education.

Gifts and grants to educational programs at the Kennedy Center are provided by The Paul M. Angell Family Foundation; Bank of America; Capital One; The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation; Carnegie Corporation of New York; The Ednah Root Foundation; Harman Family Foundation; William R. Kenan, Jr. Charitable Trust; the Kimsey Endowment; The Kiplinger Foundation; Laird Norton Family Foundation; Lois and Richard England Family Foundation; Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; The Markow Totevy Foundation; Dr. Gerald and Paula McNichols Foundation; The Morningstar Foundation; Myra and Leura Younker Endowment Fund; The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives;

Prince Charitable Trusts; Dr. Deborah Rose and Dr. Jan A. J. Stolwijk; Rosemary Kennedy Education Fund; The Embassy of the United Arab Emirates; The Victory Foundation; The Volgenau Foundation; Volkswagen Group of America; Jackie Washington; GRoW @ Annenberg and Gregory Annenberg Weingarten and Family; Wells Fargo; and generous contributors to the Abe Fortas Memorial Fund and by a major gift to the fund from the late Carolyn E. Agger, widow of Abe Fortas. Additional support is provided by the National Committee for the Performing Arts..

The content of these programs may have been developed under a grant from the U.S. Department of Education but does not necessarily represent the policy of the U.S. Department of Education. You should not assume endorsement by the federal government.