AP Biology
Cell Organelle Campaign
Names____________________________________
Per.______________
You and your team are going to run a campaign for the 2014 Organelle Elections. Your candidate has
been nominated for the post of Most Important Organelle. In order to win, you will have to successfully
convince your voters that without your candidate, they would be in dire straits, unable to survive. In
fact, if your candidate were gone, the whole ecosystem would collapse!
Your voters are students in one of the other AP Biology classes (not your own classmates). These voters
represent the plant, animal and bacterial cells of our world. Therefore, you must be sure to include
relevant arguments for why your candidate is the best candidate for plant cells, animal cells, and
bacterial cells on all assignments in this campaign. Do not skip on detail, because they will know it.
They are informed, educated voters and they expect a quality campaign.
List of Candidates
 Nucleus
 Ribosome
 Endomembrane system (golgi, smooth ER, rough ER)
 Cytoskeleton (microfilaments, microtubules, intermediate filaments)
 Mitochondrion
 Chloroplast
 Vesicles (Vacuole, Lysosome)
Your campaign will be organized into the following positions. You must let me know who is in which
position by Friday, October 3rd.
1. Campaign Poster and Pamphlet Makers—Two people. Two team members (three if your group
has seven members) will be responsible for developing a campaign poster and pamphlet (and
other propaganda, if desired). You are required to hang at least one poster championing the
greatness of your candidate (organelle). This should be very visual (think of the iconic “Obama
Hope” poster).
The poster cannot simply be a picture and name. You must also include a brief, simple catchy
slogan that not only attracts the random passer-by voter but paints a clear picture on the
importance of your candidate. The poster must be hung by the time you leave for home on
Monday, October 13 (be sure to get permission from Mrs. Anderson before posting it).
The campaign pamphlet describes how totally awesome your candidate is. Be sure to relate the
structure of your candidate to their function. Be sure to make the connection for your voters as
to why your candidate is so important. Be creative with this. Use quotes from doctors, find
creative pictures, whatever it takes to (fairly) win. The pamphlet is due Tuesday, October 14.
The following items should be included:
a. A catchy graphic on the front
b. Structural details of candidate (how does your candidate visually appeal to voters?)
c. Function of candidate (What does your candidate do for your voters?)
d. Description of why your candidate is crucial to the survival of your community,
ecosystem, even the planet (hey, it’s a political campaign, go crazy).
e. References in MLA on the back
2. Smear Campaign—Three people. Three team members (two if your group has only 5 members)
will be responsible for running a smear campaign against each of the six other candidates. You
should address what diseases are associated with mutations and malfunctions of these
candidates. How can/do they hurt your voters? Create at least one piece of media against each
candidate (poster, pamphlet, radio ad, etc). You do not have to use the same type of media for
each candidate. You also need to include a separate fact sheet listing your references in MLA
format. This fact sheet does NOT count as one of your five pieces of media. The five pieces of
media are due by Wednesday, October 15th and displayed either in the classroom, hallway, or
showcased during your campaign speech
3. Campaign Speech—One person. One team member will be responsible for delivering a
campaign speech, no longer than five minutes. This speech will be videotaped after school on
Thursday, October 16th, and then shown to your voters (one of the other AP Biology classes)
during election day on Monday, October 20th. You must provide a transcript of your speech,
complete with MLA formatting, when you are videotaped. Your speech should include the
following:
a. The importance of your candidate to your voters
b. Deflect any smear campaigns that may run against you
c. A description of how your candidate, once elected, will work in cooperation with all of
the other organelles to create the best community/ecosystem/planet possible.
4. Election Day: Monday, October 20th. After watching the campaign speeches and reading the
smear campaigns, each voter will receive a ballot with the candidates listed. The number of
votes your candidate receives will factor into your final grade as bonus points.
Final Words
Beyond what has already been listed as required, you can be as creative as is ethically correct to win this
campaign. No threatening or bribing your voters, but extra media, t-shirts, pencils, etc are all acceptable.
Eight copies of the pamphlet will be made to distribute on Election Day (they will be in black and white
though, FYI…if you want colored copies bring them yourself.
Good luck, and may the best candidate win!
(PS: For a fun website on presidential campaigns, check out www.livingroomcandidate.com)