TEACHER NOTES

Biology> Big idea BCL: The cellular basis of life > Topic BCL1: Cells

Key concept (age 11-14)

BCL1.2: Cells and cell structures
What’s the big idea?
A big idea in biology is that organisms are made of one or more cells.

How does this key concept develop understanding of the big idea?
This key concept helps to develop the big idea by developing students’ understanding of cells as the ubiquitous building blocks of life, with common
structures that carry out life processes.

The conceptual progression starts by checking students’ ability to use appropriate apparatus and techniques to observe cells from a range of tissues and
organisms. It then supports the development of ideas about common cell structures and their functions, leading to understanding of the models that
scientists use to describe the common features of animal and plant
cells.

Using the progression toolkit to support student learning

Use diagnostic questions to identify quickly where your students
are in their conceptual progression. Then decide how to best focus
and sequence your teaching. Use further diagnostic questions and
response activities to move student understanding forwards.

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Progression toolkit: Cells and cell structures

Learning focus Organisms are made up of one or more cells, which have common structures that carry out life processes.

As students’ CONCEPTUAL PROGRESSION

conceptual
understanding Use a light microscope to Apply the idea that Identify subcellular Use ideas about cell Describe the features and
progresses they make and record organisms are made up of structures and their structures and their the limitations of the
can: observations of cells from one or more cells. functions. functions to explain why a animal and plant cell
a range of tissues and cell is a living thing. models.
organisms.

Diagnostic
questions Body cells
Using a light microscope Organ or organelle? A single cell can… Animal cell or plant cell?
Made of cells?

Response Cell drawings

Job ads: Match game! What do they have in
activities What is it made of?
Cell structures wanted! Substance-structure-process common?
The hungry alien

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What’s the science story?

Organisms, living and dead, are made up of cells. Cells are made of molecules organised into membranes and other structures.

Most cells are too small to be seen with the naked eye but can be seen using a light microscope. There are many different types of cells with different
shapes and sizes, but all cells are made up of common parts: all cells have a genome and cytoplasm contained by a cell membrane; all animal and plant cells
store their genome within a nucleus, and they also have mitochondria; plant cells additionally have a cell wall and can have chloroplasts and a vacuole.
These parts have common functions in all cells.

A single cell can carry out all the processes of life. An organism may be made up of a single cell or many cells working together. This is why scientists think of
cells as the basic units of life.

What does the research say?

Cell theory1 is a fundamental concept in biology that underpins understanding of other biological concepts. It includes the ideas that organisms are made up
of one or more cells; that life depends on the structure, functions and organisation of cells; and that all cells are made from existing cells.

It is unlikely that students will have developed a scientific understanding of cells from science lessons before the age of 11 (AAAS Project 2061, 2009;
Department for Education, 2013), but they may have acquired their own ideas from hearing about cells in their everyday experiences and the media, e.g.
cancer cells and stem cells.

Researchers have acknowledged that the cell is, when first introduced, an abstract concept (Dreyfus and Jungwirth, 1988; 1989). When introducing ideas
about cells, several sources advocate starting with hands-on light microscopy of cells from a range of tissues and organisms, to enable students to discover
for themselves that cells are the common building blocks of living things and what they look like (AAAS Project 2061, 2009; Skinner, 2011). Haşiloğlu and
Eminoğlu (2017) found that light microscopy coupled with drawing cells was effective in helping students to overcome misunderstandings. Dreyfus and
Jungwirth (1988) note that most children will never see cells functioning, so the living (functional) cell remains an abstract idea even if they have become
familiar with the structures of cells through light microscopy and pictures; the US Benchmark for 11 year-olds recommends that students watch videos of
“living cells growing and dividing, taking in substances, and changing direction when they run into things”.

1
It should be noted that the scientific use and meaning of the term “theory” is commonly misunderstood in classrooms, and differs from the everyday use and
understanding of the term (Williams, 2013). In vernacular use, “a theory” often refers to something that is theoretical in the sense that it is unproven or untested and
speculative. In scientific parlance, a scientific explanation of a phenomenon begins with a hypothesis – a tentative explanation that can be tested by collecting data; if a
hypothesis is supported by data it may become a scientific theory. A scientific theory is often a general explanation that applies to a large number of situations or examples
(perhaps to all possible ones), which has been extensively tested and evidenced. Cell theory is fully supported by evidence and is universally accepted by scientists.

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Many authors have described ways of learning about cells and their structures, in addition to the use of microscopy and videos, that may help to develop
students’ understanding, including for example:

 building two- and three-dimensional models of cells (e.g. Tregidgo and Ratcliffe, 2000);
 role-playing as cell organelles (e.g. Cherif et al., 2016);
 using smartphones/tablets to create their own animations and videos of life processes in cells (Deaton et al., 2013).

Research (e.g. Dreyfus and Jungwirth, 1988; Clément, 2007) has identified a number of misunderstandings that students have about cells, and some
common practices that may introduce or reinforce these misunderstandings, including for example:

Practices that can introduce

Misunderstanding
or reinforce the misunderstanding
Cells are merely structural units, like ‘bricks in a wall’, but Over-reliance on static imagery of cells, including
not functional units that carry out life processes. textbook diagrams and photomicrographs that show only
structural details of (apparently lifeless) cells.
There are only two kinds of cells, namely animal cells and Limiting students’ experience of cells (e.g. through
plant cells (and hence that only animals and plants are microscopy and cellular imagery) to just animal and plant
made up of cells). cells (e.g. onion cells and cheek cells).
The bodies of humans and other animals contain cells, Typical textbook depictions of animal cells as round and
perhaps floating in a ‘soup’ of body fluids, rather than isolated (in contrast to plant cells, which are usually
being made up of cells. depicted as polygonal and adjacent to other cells).
Over-reliance on blood cells as examples of human cells.
Animistic and anthropomorphic views, such as believing Use of cartoon-like depictions of cells and cell organelles
that cells and cell organelles have desires and intentions with faces or with speech bubbles in which they describe
(e.g. they ‘know’ or ‘want’ to take in and discard their own functions.
particular substances).

Dreyfus and Jungwirth (1988) found that many 16-year-olds struggled to explain how cells carry out life processes. Many of the students thought that cells
contain macroscopic organs such as a digestive tract (e.g. for nutrition) or lungs (e.g. for respiration). Even students who could identify the correct cell
organelles could not explain how they carry out their functions, especially how the nucleus ‘controls’ the structure and functions of a cell.

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Guidance notes
Ideas about the size and scale of cells are explored further in the next key concept, BCL1.3: Cell shape and size. Understanding of photosynthesis and
respiration, as the functions of chloroplasts and mitochondria respectively, is developed in topic BCL3: Cellular biochemistry. Appreciation of what is stored
in the nucleus and how it is affects the structure and function of living organisms is developed as part of the big idea Growth, reproduction and inheritance.

References
AAAS Project 2061. (2009). Benchmarks for Science Literacy [Online]. Available at: http://www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/online/index.php.
Cherif, A. H., et al. (2016). Not all the organelles of living cells are equal! Or are they? Engaging students in deep learning and conceptual change. Journal of Education and
Practice, 7(17), 74-86.
Clément, P. (2007). Introducing the cell concept with both animal and plant cells: a historical and didactic approach. Science & Education, 16(3-5), 423-440.
Deaton, C. C. M., et al. (2013). Creating stop-motion videos with iPads to support students' understanding of cell processes: "Because you have to know what you're talking
about to be able to do it". Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 30(2), 67-73.
Department for Education (2013). Science programmes of study: key stages 1 and 2 - National curriculum in England ( DFE-00182-2013 ).
Dreyfus, A. and Jungwirth, E. (1988). The cell concept of 10th graders: curricular expectations and reality. International Journal of Science Education, 10(2), 221-229.
Dreyfus, A. and Jungwirth, E. (1989). The pupil and the living cell: a taxonomy of dysfunctional ideas about an abstract idea. Journal of Biological Education, 23(1), 49-55.
Haşiloğlu, M. A. and Eminoğlu, S. (2017). Identifying cell-related misconceptions among fifth graders and removing misconceptions using a microscope. Universal Journal of
Educational Research, 5, 42-50.
Skinner, N. (2011). Cells and life processes. In Reiss, M. (ed.) ASE Science Practice: Teaching Secondary Biology. London, UK: Hodder Education.
Tregidgo, D. and Ratcliffe, M. (2000). The use of modelling for improving pupils' learning about cells. School Science Review, 81(296), 53-59.
Williams, J. D. (2013). “It’s just a theory”: trainee science teachers’ misunderstandings of key scientific terminology. Evolution: Education and Outreach, 6(1), 12.

Developed by the University of York Science Education Group and the Salters’ Institute. 5
This document may have been edited. Download the original from www.BestEvidenceScienceTeaching.org
© University of York Science Education Group. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license.