honor

honors biology cell project

It's a cell world after all.........

Time to be creative!!

As an Honors Student (ahem-ahem) you are challenged to create a cell project that will stupefy and amaze your fellow classmates.

This may take some research or may cause you to reach into new material that we have not yet covered.

That's OK! I know that you love challenges!!

Honors Bio Cell Campaign

You will be working with a group of 4 other Honors students, who may be in your bell, or not. Your group has to run a campaign to get your assigned cell organelle/structures elected as The Most Important Structure. You will have to convince your constituents that without this structure, the cell and the organism and consequently the biological world as we know it will collapse. You are arguing this not to me or each other, but to other Freshmen Biology students. Do not skimp on detail because you and they are freshmen. I expect you to understand the details of the assigned cell system and be able to apply the various aspects of the project in terms your classmates will understand.

Here’s what you have to do:

• You will put up campaign posters and other paraphernalia (with pre-approved permission of the classroom instructor) in the other freshmen classrooms. I am requiring at least one poster championing the greatness of the cell structure you are supporting. I suggest many more than one poster if you want to win. The posters must be up by Oct 8. This should be very visual, think of the iconic Obama Hope poster.

• In addition to your poster, you need to create a campaign pamphlet that describes how totally awesome your organelle/part is. Include a catchy graphic on the front, then details as to the structure or organelle and the function. Be sure to relate the structure to its function. It is crucial for you to make the connection for your voter about why your organelle//system is the most important. So tell your voter why your candidate is important for survival of the organism. Can you link that to survival of an ecosystem? The whole entire world? Okay, maybe I’m being dramatic, but that is how campaigns can be! Get into this. Make sure you have references for this pamphlet! MLA style for the references only. Use any formatting style you think looks groovy. Other than what I requested, go to town with the pamphlet. Quotes of doctors or other experts? Sounds great. Pictures? Perfect. Testimonials? Why not? Persuasive slogan? All part of the political process. This pamphlet is due by Oct 12.

• Mudslinging. The fun stuff. You need to run a smear campaign against the other 5 organelles. Look up what diseases are associated with mutations that cause malfunctions of their organelles and create some kind of literature against it (poster, pamphlet, fact sheet, T shirt, etc) and you have to include it in your campaign speech. You must have a smear campaign against EACH of the other organelles. These are due by Oct 14.

• Campaign Day: Campaign speeches will be on Oct 19. Please choose one person from the group to perform the speech. You will be performing your speech to the Honors class(es). These speeches will also be videotaped, so please choose someone who signed a release form with their safety contract. In your speech, you need to convince the voters, based on structure and function, that your organelle is the most important. You have to try to deflect the smear campaigns that have hit you. Limit the speeches to 5 minutes. I will get the giant hook and remove you from the stage. Your group will provide me with a transcript of the speech on the same day, complete with references in MLA formatting. The campaign speeches will be shown to the biology classes the day their cell model is due, and they will fill out a ballot. The number of votes you get is part of your grade, albeit a smaller percentage. You will have your election party on that day, while the votes are counted.

Beyond what I have required, you can be as creative as is ethically correct to win this campaign. This is politics! No threatening, please. Or monetary bribing. (See your social studies teacher if you need a primer on campaigning.) But extra posters, T shirts, buttons, stickers, pencils, face paint...I don’t know. You come up with the ideas! If you need copies made, I can help, but they will only be in black and white. I also have some cell biology and AP books you can consult, and the library is a great resource.
Good Luck!

List of organelles/cell structure systems to be randomly assigned:
nucleus
ribosome
endomembrane system
cytoskeleton
mitochondrion
chloroplast

Points will be based on the neatness, completeness, creativity and accuracy of the information. This project is worth 100 points......not a trivial part of your grade!!!!

Hints:

1. neatness counts

2. watch spelling and accuracy

3. any pictures should be in color

4. originality counts!

5. work with your team.....make sure you do your part!! You will also be evaluated by your team members as well!!