Bake and ice the cake before class begins. This will cut down on in-class mess and keep students focused on familiarizing themselves with the names of the cell components. Use a round cake for the animal cell and a square or rectangular cake for the plant cell.
Assign each of the main nine components of each cell a piece of candy. Allow the students to help visually match the candy to a similarly shaped piece of the cell. The nine main parts that are found in both cells are the cell membrane, the vacuole, rough endoplasmic reticulum, smooth endoplasmic reticulum, the golgi apparatus, the nucleolus, the nucleus,
ribosomes and mitochondria. In addition, the plant cell will have a cell wall and chloroplast and the animal cell will have lysosomes and centrioles.
Decorate the cake using icing and the assigned candies. Ask students questions about the specific functions of each component of the cell as it is placed on the cake. Allow each student to place at least two cell components.
Cut the cake into enough pieces for the class. Use a sharp knife to ensure each piece is cut cleanly. Randomly distribute the pieces to the students but do not allow them to eat the cake yet.
Use each cake slice to help quiz the students on what they see on their individual piece. An additional activity sheet may be used to help students identify which components they can find on their unique piece. Allow the students to enjoy their hard work while completing the activity sheet and have them hand it in at the end of class to ensure immediate retention.