Fifth grade students need to know that plants have specialized components to support the movement of water and nutrients throughout the roots, stems and leaves. Teach students to make a wet mount slide so they can see plant cells up close. The slide should be stained because some “organelles,” or cell components, are naturally colorless. Help students identify organelles in a plant cell, specifically the cell wall, which gives structure to the plant, and controls the amount of water that enters the cell.
Fifth grade students should know that cells help move sugar, water and minerals throughout the plant to feed it and keep it alive and healthy. A cell membrane is a barrier inside the cell wall that controls what liquid and other materials move in and out of the cell. Investigate with the cell membrane by exposing different liquids to plant cells and watch them react under a microscope. Using, lemon juice, apple juice, vinegar and salt water, investigate what happens when different fluids try to enter a plant cell. Note whether the cells shrink, expand, burst, wither or change colors.
Students should understand that like animals, plants have vascular systems. Plant cells are tiny parts of that system that help move water, sugar and minerals throughout the plant. Explore the path water takes through a plant with a few celery stalks and some food coloring. If you’re short on time, you can complete the experiment portion of this project in a single day. Place a celery stalk in a small container, filled with water colored with food dye and watch for several hours as the liquid climbs up through the cells of the celery. Vary the experiment by testing different plants to see which absorbs the liquid fastest.
Fifth grade students should know that plants use carbon dioxide and the sun’s energy to make sugar and release oxygen. Building a model by hand will effectively help tactile students learn the components inside a cell. But you don’t have to do it like everyone else. Spice up this science project by making cell models students can eat. Mix and pour light colored Jell-O into a quart-sized plastic bag. The bag will serve as the cell membrane while the Jell-O looks similar to cytoplasm. Try fruit or candy for the organelles. For example, use gummy worms or licorice for chloroplasts, the parts of a cell with the chlorophyll that produces sugars and starches during photosynthesis. Try a piece of melon or a round slice of apple for the vacuole, which stores oxygen and nutrients within the cell.