Ride on the Magic School Bus! (Teacher Talk)

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Look a few spoilers down and you can see why that might loose you some points.

More models!

Cholera:

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A solid model, and excellent representation of a bacteria you do not want to get on the oregon trail. Or really...anywhere.

Paramecium:

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This kid looked at an image of a paramecium and said: "That kind of looks like a flip-flop." So they cut up a flip-flop and used it to shape their model.


This guy made his own stand for his model!

but what really impressed me was:


Cillia are little hair-like projections on cells so why not represent that with actual hair-like fabric?

You should do that. That was a good idea.

Skin Tissue:

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Tissue is not a cell. It is a bunch of cells together. Students make this kind of mistake a lot actually, but normally I'm able to catch it during the planning phase if they check with me. This student did not check with me.

Goblet Cells:

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Goblet Cells make things (like enzymes and acids) and then secrete them into wherever it is needs them. Some how this cell gave me 2 of the best designed cells I got this year.


This was the biggest model I got this year. About 70cm long. Well constructed.


This one though, was actually baked (which is not something I usually get) This solid little guy will probably last a long time.

Melanoma:

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These guys got a little confused on this project, they signed up for a cancer cell (melanoma was a good one to go for) but they made their model largely about melanocytes - which is also a cell I am a sucker for. I didn't ask for this degree of research and presentation ,which they did a solid job with, I asked for a cell model. Each of those little painted orbs are supposed to represent a different cell structure - so no credit on that at all. Bad grade....but...



That cancer model though!

I made up some bonus points for the extra work they did to balance out the points they lost for not really following the project.

oh uh...and....



I popped the water balloon model when I was putting this one back...woops.

Melanocytes

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Melanocyte is my go-to when a student asks me what kind of cell they should do. They're like the little superheros of skin cells, weaving their protective tendrils to shield their buddies from harmful UV rays...and sometimes they turn into terrible supervillains replicating and taking over the tissue if they themselves absorb too much radiation.

Here are some of my faves:


Pretty standard (actually almost an exact copy of an easy-to-find image of the cell), but it just goes to show how much of a sucker I am for the melanocyte even when made from bubblegum-colored clay that soaked the paper it was set on.



I especially like how this student put it in a diorama of other skin cell tissue, and the little legend at the base makes it just look classy.

Euglenas

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Protists in general are awesome little self-sufficient eukaryotes, but Euglenas are easily some of my favorite of the kindgom, what with their unique shape and photosynthetic nature.


Using one photosynthetic organism to represent the shape and function of another? Good. vgood.



Well this guy is a little boring...that's disappointing. OH WAIT



IT OPENS UP. This is the only model I've gotten that had a full-3d model instead of a cross-section or cut away model. I was very pleased.

There were many more models, but these were probably the most notable.

Now I gotta load up minecraft to see if I can grade the 3d built ones.

oh here was the worst one:

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This was basically the whole model. I even dug around in the playdoh to see if they had labeled something inside but nope. Just broken up green playdoh with no organelles. Sorry folks, bad grade.