Cells are the basic building blocks of life. In this activity, take a tasty tour of the cell components that make cells tick!
You will need
- 2 ¾ cup (360 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup (225 g) unsalted butter (room temperature)
- 1 ½ cup (300 g) white sugar plus about ¼ cup more for coating
- 1 large egg (room temperature)
- Green food dye
- Different colours of premade writing icing in squeezable tubes
- A variety of tasty chocolate and/or sweets. We used Reese’s peanut butter cups, chocolate chips, peanut M&Ms, marshmallows and sprinkles.
- Spoon or spatula
- Medium mixing bowl
- Large mixing bowl
- Refrigerator
- Baking paper
- Oven tray
- Oven mitts
Safety
When dealing with food, use clean hands and clean equipment. Be safe when using the oven, wear oven mitts and ask an adult to help you out.
Be mindful of allergies if you’re using peanut lollies.
What to do: Make your cookies
Combine flour and baking soda together in a medium-sized mixing bowl.
Soften the butter by leaving it at room temperature for an hour or by heating it in the microwave for 30 seconds.
Put the butter in the large mixing bowl and use a spatula to mash it until it is smooth.
Gradually add in the sugar into the butter, a little at a time, mixing as you go.
Mix in 1 large egg to the sugar-butter mixture. Because you used raw egg, don’t eat the dough until it’s been baked in the oven.
Add the flour mixture gradually, a little at a time, mixing as you go until you get dough. This takes a bit of elbow grease so ask an adult to take turns with you!
Split the dough in half, putting one half in the medium mixing bowl. Add several drops of green food dye to the dough in the large mixing bowl and mix it in.
Chill the dough for one hour in the refrigerator.
Preheat the oven to 190 °C.
Line a tray with baking paper.
Pour some more sugar in a small bowl.
Form the dough into golf-ball-sized balls and roll each ball in the sugar to coat. We need the cookies to be on the bigger side so all the cell components fit!
Space the balls apart from one another on the tray and smoosh them into discs.
Pop them in the oven for 12-15 minutes and then take them out. Always wear oven mitts when using the oven and ask an adult for help with this step.
Let the cookies cool for at least 10 minutes.
Print out the following image (optional)
The anatomy of a plant cell as compared to an animal cell. Credit: ©iStock.com/ Vitalii Dumma
What to do: Decorate
your cells
Take one plain cookie – this will be your animal cell – and put it on a plate. Take one green cookie – this will be your plant cell – and put it the plate.
Give your plant cell cookie a cell wall with green icing all around the edge. Don’t do this for your animal cell cookie.
Give both of your cell cookies a nucleus by pressing in a large round lolly. We used Reese’s peanut butter cups.
Give both your cell cookies an endoplasmic reticulum by drawing zig-zags of icing close to the nucleus. We used red icing.
Give your plant cell cookie a vacuole by smooshing a marshmallow on top. The animal cell cookie should have a smaller vacuole. So, tear one marshmallow in half and smoosh one half of it on the animal cell cookie.
Give both your cell cookies a Golgi apparatus by drawing more zig-zags in a different icing colour. We used black icing.
Give both your cell cookies a few mitochondria using oval-shaped treats. We used yellow peanut M&Ms.
Give just your plant cell cookie a chloroplast with a green oval-shaped treat. We used green peanut M&Ms.
Give both your cell cookies some lysosomes with a few chocolate chips.
Finally, give both your cell cookies some ribosomes by sprinkling on some sprinkles!
You can choose to do all or most of the decorations in icing, if you prefer.
What’s happening?
Every living thing is made of cells. You are made up of about 68 trillion cells*! Each cell is like its own city with different “buildings” carrying out different jobs that keep the cell alive. Microbiologists call these buildings, “organelles.” In this activity, lollies represent each kind of organelle.
*that includes about 30 trillion human cells plus another 38 trillion bacteria cells, mostly found on your skin and in your gut. That’s a grand total of 68 trillion cells!
Your cell’s organelles
As you discovered while decorating, animal and plant cells are actually quite similar! For example, both types of cells are surrounded by a cell membrane that helps keep good stuff inside and helps transport other stuff out. The jelly-like liquid inside the cell membrane is called the cytoplasm. This is represented by the cookie dough.
Let’s start with the organelles that both cookies have:
A peanut butter cup nucleus, which is like the city hall and library. This organelle gives instructions to the other cell organelles. These instructions come from DNA, which is housed in the nucleus.
A red icing endoplasmic reticulum, or ER for short. The ER is like the city’s factory, where many of the cell’s proteins and fats are made or processed.
Lots of sprinkle ribosomes, which are like the construction workers of the cell. They turn instructions from the nucleus into proteins the cell can use. They can be found free-floating in the cytoplasm and attached to parts of the ER.
A black icing Golgi apparatus, which is like the post office of the cell. It takes proteins and fats from the ER, sorts them and sends them off to different parts of the cell.
Some yellow M&M mitochondria. Mitochondria are like the power plants of the cell, helping turn sugar into energy that other cell organelles can use.
Some chocolate chip lysosomes, which are like the recycling plants of the cell. They break down old parts of the cell for reuse and disposal. In animal cells, small vacuoles also play a part in waste disposal.
A plant cell’s organelles
Here are some different organelles inside plant cells:
A green icing cell wall on the outside of the cell membrane. This fortress-like organelle helps keep the plant from wilting. And if the plant wilts, it helps keep the stems and leaves from losing their shape.
A larger marshmallow vacuole. One of its main jobs is to work with the cell wall. Together, they keep the right amount of pressure inside the cell so it stays firm. Sometimes, a plant vacuole can fill up almost all the space inside a cell.
Some green M&M chloroplasts, which act like the solar farm of the cell. They turn sunlight into sugar through photosynthesis. They also make plant cells look green!
Those are some of the main organelles found in animal and plant cells but there are several more! Use the image above if you want to add them to your cookie cells.
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