Incredible Edible Cell
With the new technology that is being accessible to students and instructors, presenting our lessons become more interesting and exciting.
Like this simple project of the Jell-O edible cell, it makes it easy to do different cell structures at a very cheap price. Using these props also makes it interesting for students to remember the anatomic cells. Candies are also good to use and after the lesson then students will have fun eating the goodies.
I really like this idea of using candies for cells and also using liquorice for veins is an awesome idea. It will engage the student in showing the development of the cell as well as how the blood travels the circulatory system.
Yowanda, I'm so glad you like this idea and I hope it helps your students learn.
Great idea of using candies to show the students the development of cell, they can also eat them when the presentation is finished.
I used this activity with one of my classes in a survivor style challenge review. I had a mix of students at various stages of education and was trying to come up with a fun way to review things new and old for all of the students without leaving anyone left out. An anatomy teacher came by to be the judge and pick the winning team. Some students at first thought that their cells were all wrong, but what the anatomy teacher had pointed out was that actually all of the cells were correct that they were just in different stages of their life cycle. The students loved it and still talk about it to this day. Many even posted pictures to the Facebook accounts prior to eating them.
I'm so glad you had positive results with this.
I love this idea. I have had students make cells out of play-doh, but what could be more fun and educational than playing with food. I can't wait to try it out.
I love this project.... I let my students use a round cake as the cell... different layers of icing as cell membranes and of course the different candies! the students really enjoy it and learn alot!
I use this idea with cupcakes and let them decorate the top. The students always remember the cell by the item they put on the cupcake!!!
Linda, this is a fast and easy adaptation.
Michele Deck
I used a similar approach with the layers of the skin. What we did was a derivation of my Aunt's Death by Chocalate layer cake. I picked up the ancillary supplies at the grocery store and the students assigned each ingredient to a corresponding layer of skin. They had to explain the differences in the layers, functions, micro and macro anatomy, etc. It was fun and a nice treat at the end of lecture! The best part about this is that I had to do no cooking as all of the respective parts are precooked so it lends itself to classroom construction.
William, I'm so glad that you have described your success with this creative and delicious idea.
Michele Deck
This is a great idea. Not only can the students identify the cells, they can eat the product too after the lesson!
Georgia, using as many senses as possible makes this a great learning strategy.
Michele Deck
During a classroom evaluation with one of our didactic instructors, I observed that she very effectively used a sack of candy that had been provided to each student to demonstrate priniciples of dental materials. For instance, long licorice sticks can be a little stretchy and can demonstrate tensile strength.
This was a review session and became both an interesting learning tool and a reward for making it through to the end of the term.
DeeAnne, this is a wonderful idea, thank you for sharing this with us.
Michele Deck
I have used this learning method with my cosmetology students to teach 'Skin Structure/Layers of the Skin'. I use various ingredients to illustrate the layers of the skin such as jello or cool whip for the epidermis, blueberries for the dermis and sponge cake for the hypodermis. The students better understand the functions of the layers and enjoy the desert. This has come to be one of my favorite chapters.
Dorothea, this is a very clever way to teach this. It provides a memorable treat, too.
Michele Deck
Our skills lab instructor for Fundamentals I uses teaching strategies similar to this one. I feel it is an easy way to visualize course content and it makes learning fun. I am going to share this idea for sure.
I have used this idea when teaching A&P however, I used a raw egg to demonstrate and used various other items to use for the other parts of the cells. I put it on the overhead projector so that the entire class could watch as we built the cell. No eating it of course but hey, treats could be given too just for fun.
