South Dakota Science MS-LS1-1
The Standard
Plan and carry out an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different types and numbers of cells. (SEP: 3; DCI: LS1.A; CCC: Scale/Prop)
South Dakota Science Standards (2024) · From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students plan a microscope comparison, then observe a single-celled organism and samples from a multicellular organism. They draw cell borders and use their observations to explain what each organism is made of.
What Mastery Looks Like
- A student can outline one Paramecium as one living cell and identify many cells in onion tissue. They can compare onion skin and root cells to show that cells in one organism can have different shapes.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think several Paramecium in one microscope view are parts of one organism. They may mistake a nucleus inside an onion cell for a separate cell, or think one cell cannot be alive.
How to Assess It
- Show micrographs of a Paramecium, onion skin, and onion root. Ask students to outline cell borders, identify the single-celled organism, and explain what the onion images show.
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Have groups choose a magnification, inspect prepared Paramecium and onion skin slides, then draw cell borders and count cells in each view.
Ask students to write: How do your sketches show that a Paramecium is one cell but an onion is made of many?
Give pairs micrographs of Paramecium, onion skin, and onion root to sort by cell number, then ask them to point to borders as evidence.
Place a clear jar of pond water beside a Paramecium micrograph, and ask why clear water might still contain living things.
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Printable MS-LS1-1 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- HS-LS1-1
Construct an evidence-based explanation for how the structure of DNA determines the structure of proteins which carry out the essential functions of life throug...
- MS-LS1-3
Construct an evidence-based argument for how the body is a system of interacting subsystems composed of groups of cells, tissues, and organs.
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