Contents
Planning Activity 1.................................................................................................................................................2
Planning Activity 1 – Aims & Objectives ..............................................................................................................2
Planning Activity 1 – Starter: Amoeba Introduction .............................................................................................3
Planning Activity 1 – Starter: Amoeba Activity.....................................................................................................4
Planning Activity 1 – Starter: Amoeba Round-up ................................................................................................5
Planning Activity 1 – Main: Card Sort ..................................................................................................................6
Planning Activity 1 – Plenary: Reflect & Challenge .............................................................................................9
KS3 Science: Deep Cells Resource – Activity 1 Detail Planning Notes
Page 1 of 10
Planning Activity 1
The Task
The pupils' main task in Activity 1 is to create a poster with ordered information
about respiration and nutrition. The poster needs to demonstrate how respiration
and nutrition is linked to energy and how cells rely on these processes.
During Activity 1, the pupils learn that:
♦ there are linked processes going on inside cells that enable them to stay alive
♦ a range of different sources of information or data is often needed to investigate
a scientific question.
Planning Activity 1 – Aims & Objectives
♦ The first learning objective for Activity 1 is about the science knowledge and
content related to cells.
♦ The second learning objective is about scientific enquiry.
Learning Outcomes*
The learning outcomes are to:
♦ use scientific terminology correctly
♦ decide which sources of information are most useful to you
♦ explain how all living cells depend on linked-life processes to survive.
*A classroom presentation of the Aims & Objectives and Learning Outcomes is available in the Delivery Section
of this website. Choose the Starter – Aims & Objectives button.
Notes box
KS3 Science: Deep Cells Resource – Activity 1 Detail Planning Notes
Page 2 of 10
Planning Activity 1 – Starter: Amoeba Introduction
Show your pupils the movie of an amoeba engulfing a particle of food*.
Initiate a brief debate with the following question:
“This animal is less than 1mm in diameter…it’s made up of only one cell and yet
does everything that’s necessary to stay alive. What evidence can you see for
this?”
A similar comment may be revealed on the movie screen by clicking the ‘Next’
button.
“This single cell is invisible to the naked human eye and yet it is a living organism.
What can you see that might be evidence for this?”
If you wish, the question may be revealed on the movie screen by clicking the
(Next / Comment) button.
*This presentation is available for classroom demonstration in the Delivery Section of this website. Choose the
Starter - Amoeba Intro button.
Notes box
KS3 Science: Deep Cells Resource – Activity 1 Detail Planning Notes
Page 3 of 10
Planning Activity 1 – Starter: Amoeba Activity
The movie shows an amoeba engulfing a piece of alga*. The amoeba can be seen
moving towards the food (chemotaxis) by putting out pseudopods. The food ends
up inside the amoeba in a food vacuole.
Draw up a keyword list with pupils, containing terminology including: nucleus,
cytoplasm, cell membrane, vacuoles and pseudopods.
Show the pupils the movie and ask them to discuss it in pairs. Ask them to
describe what is going on.
Discuss the fact that the cell is capturing food, and link this to the other life
processes evident in the movie: movement and sensitivity.
Now ask the pairs to join up into groups of four.
Ask each group to explain what is happening in the movie. This time, ask them to
give reasons for the activity they can see, for example: “Why does the amoeba
need to capture this food?”
*This presentation is available for classroom demonstration in the Delivery Section of this website. Choose the
Starter: Amoeba Round-up button.
Notes box
KS3 Science: Deep Cells Resource – Activity 1 Detail Planning Notes
Page 4 of 10
Planning Activity 1 – Starter: Amoeba Round-up
Take feedback from the class making absolutely sure you use the correct scientific
vocabulary. Ask pupils to use specific words from the keyword list in their
explanations, or encourage them to use the words that they think they understand
to help you find out about their existing knowledge.
The cell in the movie is obtaining food. Draw this out from your pupils and link it
with food used as fuel for the cell and for stored energy.
Click on the ‘Next’ button on the movie to reveal the words Respiration, Nutrition
and Energy.
By this stage of Activity 1, you will have a good idea of the extent of the pupils'
scientific vocabulary for this aspect of Deep Cells.
Notes box
KS3 Science: Deep Cells Resource – Activity 1 Detail Planning Notes
Page 5 of 10
Planning Activity 1 – Main: Card Sort
The pupils’ main task in Activity 1 is to design a poster that demonstrates their
understanding about how respiration and nutrition are linked to energy and how
cells rely on these processes.
Before this part of Activity 1, make sure you:
♦ download the file of the cards, photocopy it and cut it up*
♦ have books and references available as additional information to help pupils
extend the scope of their posters. Web links on the Activity 1 pupils' site will
provide a good basis for their own research.
Setting up
At the beginning of the Card Sort task, you should show the class the slideshow
presentation of the Card Sort slides.
*A classroom presentation of the Card Sort slides is available in the Delivery Section of this website. Choose
the Main – Card Sort button. The slides can also be downloaded from the Downloadable Resources section of
the website for you to print and handout.
Notes box
KS3 Science: Deep Cells Resource – Activity 1 Detail Planning Notes
Page 6 of 10
Tell the pupils that:
♦ both respiration and nutrition are processes taking place inside cells
♦ both processes are linked to making energy available, so that the cell can
survive.
Notes box
KS3 Science: Deep Cells Resource – Activity 1 Detail Planning Notes
Page 7 of 10
The Task
Divide the pupils into working groups of two to four people.
Tell the pupils that:
♦ each group will be given a set of the cards which they will need to order and
link together to create an annotated poster
♦ they can design the poster as they wish as long as it clearly explains how the
processes of nutrition and respiration work together to make available the
energy necessary for the cell's survival
♦ they will need to decide how to include four cards relating to plant cells in their
posters. These are intended to reinforce the idea that respiration and nutrition
are common to all cells, but that the process of plant nutrition is different from
animal nutrition.
During the research and poster preparation you should work with each group,
helping them to move forward by using open questions.
It's likely that you'll have taught the names of the life processes (movement,
respiration, sensitivity, growth, reproduction, excretion, nutrition) before you teach
this Activity, but if you haven't, make absolutely sure that you introduce the correct
scientific terms to the pupils. Tell them they'll soon be finding out more about some
of the terms themselves.
Towards the end of this part of the task, test pupils' understanding of the links
between energy and cells through respiration and nutrition, by pairing up the
groups and having each group explain its poster to the other. Make sure everyone
uses the correct scientific terminology.
Notes box
KS3 Science: Deep Cells Resource – Activity 1 Detail Planning Notes
Page 8 of 10
Planning Activity 1 – Plenary: Reflect & Challenge
Plenary
Remind pupils of the Aims & Objectives and Learning Outcomes – show them
the classroom presentation you used at the beginning of the Activity. See the
Starter – Aims & Objectives button in the Delivery Section for Activity 1.
♦ You want to explore how pupils are able to apply what they've learned to
another context. Get one group to present their poster. Allow some
discussion and questions, especially those that relate to learning outcomes.
♦ Tell the pupils that you now want them to apply what they've learned to
another context. Show them the movie presentation* which reveals the
following comment:
“Some kinds of micro-organisms secrete a ‘shell’ around themselves and
become dormant cysts.”
*This slide presentation is available for classroom presentation in the Delivery Section of this website. Choose
the Plenary – Reflect & Challenge button. The slides can also be downloaded from the Downloadable
Resources Section of the website for you to print and handout.
Notes box
KS3 Science: Deep Cells Resource – Activity 1 Detail Planning Notes
Page 9 of 10
Put pupils into groups of four again.
Ask them to come up with hypotheses and explanations. You want them to
hypothesise that there is a mechanism that could enable the micro-organisms to
survive periods of unfavourable conditions. Get one group to feedback to the
rest of the class.
The explanation of how it might work should centre on slowing down the cell's
life processes, thereby reducing its need for energy. You can also take things
further for some pupils if you want, by asking supplementary questions:
♦ What sort of conditions might trigger dormancy? What conditions might
break it?
♦ What might signal to the cell that conditions have changed?
♦ Does a dormant cell still need oxygen?
This is the end of Activity 1. Activity 2 recaps the learning from Activity 1 and
goes on to develop it further.
Notes box
KS3 Science: Deep Cells Resource – Activity 1 Detail Planning Notes
Page 10 of 10