Cell Theory

Start with Plant and Animal Cells Compared so students meet the main parts, then use the two labeling sheets as practice. Save Cell Theory and Using a Microscope for the days around a microscope lab.

Read how Hooke and Virchow helped build cell theory, then number five scientists in order. A theory is a well-tested explanation that is supported by a large body of evidence. The directions on the page read: Read the passage and study the timeline. Then answer the questions on page 2. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 6th Grade living things, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with cells. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Plant cells have a stiff cell wall, chloroplasts and one large central vacuole. Animal cells have no cell wall and only small vacuoles or none, and they have centrioles that most plant cells lack. Plant and Animal Cells Compared has students sort these parts into a Venn diagram.

All living things are made of one or more cells, the cell is the basic unit of structure and function in living things, and all cells come from cells that already exist. The Cell Theory sheet traces these ideas through Hooke, Leeuwenhoek, Schleiden, Schwann and Virchow.

Multiply the eyepiece power by the objective power. A 10x eyepiece with a 40x objective gives 400x. Using a Microscope has students complete a table of these products and work backward from a 600x total.