Cell Parts at Work

About this resource

A limp, floppy lettuce leaf goes into a bowl of ice water — and about 30 minutes later it’s crisp and crunchy again. What happens inside its cells to make it crisp? Every cell is a tiny system — and each part has a job that keeps the whole cell alive. In this one-week, 5-level Cell Parts & Organelles Model unit for middle school science (NGSS MS-LS1-2), students investigate a real mystery, then use their evidence to crack the case.

Cell Parts at Work is part of Science Unlocked, a series of mystery-driven lesson sets. Every set opens with a real, surprising phenomenon, builds the science one level at a time, and ends with students solving the mystery in a claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) write-up.

Topics: cells, plant and animal cells, claim evidence reasoning (CER), science phenomenon, review games.

What's included

• Teacher Deck (86 slides, PowerPoint). Answers are highlighted on the slides. Speaker notes tell you what to say and do, what to watch for, and how to support students or push GT students further. Prep slides and answer keys are hidden, so they skip during a slideshow.
• Interactive Student Deck (51 slides, PowerPoint + PDF). Students type in boxes, drag cards and check marks, and rate their confidence. Assign one copy per student in Google Classroom or your LMS.
• Google Slides versions of both decks. Click a button in the Google Slides Links PDF to make your own copy in Google Drive.
• Teacher Guide (24-page PDF). The standard, a week at a glance, a materials list, misconceptions to watch for, a run-of-show for every level, answer keys and sources.
• Student Printable (16-page PDF + a low-ink greyscale copy). The same tasks on paper in 12 pt type, for students without devices, sub days, or anyone who learns better with a pencil. Slide numbers match the Student Deck.
• Self-grading digital activity. SCORM 2004 and SCORM 1.2 packages for an LMS that accepts SCORM uploads, a web package, and a single HTML file that opens in any browser. Notes, sorts, matches, tables and multiple-choice items grade themselves, and students get a copy-and-paste backup of their work. A 2-page teacher quick start is included.
• Two whole-class review games that open in any browser: a Jeopardy-style game (6 categories, 30 clues) and Trashketball, where teams answer on whiteboards and then shoot for points.
• Kahoot! and Blooket import files. 48 review questions, one file per level plus an all-levels file, with a printable answer key.
• Start Here guide, HTML & SCORM how-to guide and Terms of Use, so you know which file to open first.

The 5 levels (about one 45–50 minute class each)

1. The Limp Lettuce. A cell is a system, inputs & outputs, what a model is. Key activities: Limp Lettuce mystery, live kitchen test, Inputs/Outputs sort.
2. Parts With Jobs. Nucleus, membrane, cytoplasm, mitochondria, cell wall, chloroplasts, vacuole. Key activities: Label an animal cell, Cell City model match, “Where the model breaks”.
3. Plant vs. Animal. Compare cells, membrane vs. wall (structure leads to function). Key activities: Label a plant cell, 3-way sort, microscope views, Build Your Own Cell Model.
4. Water In, Water Out. Osmosis, the membrane as gatekeeper, vacuole, wall. Key activities: Potato strip lab, red onion views, salt-water model, Balloon-in-a-Basket.
5. Crack the Case. Stretch HS-LS1-2: cells leads to tissues leads to organs leads to systems (water delivery). Key activities: Blue Celery, Stretch CER, Limp vs. Crisp model, final CER.

Built for real classrooms

• Every level follows the same routine: "I can" targets with a confidence check, a warm-up, copy-it notes with a word bank, hands-on practice, a checkpoint students must pass to unlock the next step, and an exit ticket. A 10-item Mini Quiz wraps up the week.
• Level 1 opens with a Power-Up on the earlier-grade ideas this standard builds on (2-LS2-1, 4-LS1-1, 5-PS1-1, 5-PS3-1, MS-LS1-1).
• The last level includes a high school Stretch (HS-LS1-2) that every student tries and advanced students can take further.
• Hands-on lab (Crisp or Floppy? Potato Lab). Student materials list: 2 clear cups, tape and a marker; Water, table salt (1 tablespoon); 4 potato strips, all the same size (teacher-cut); Metric ruler, paper towels, timer; Optional: a balance to measure mass (g). Safety notes are on the slides and in the Teacher Guide.
• Support is built in: word banks, sentence starters and support notes on the slides, plus GT extensions.

Standards

• NGSS MS-LS1-2: Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and ways the parts of cells contribute to the function.
• SEP: Developing and Using Models · DCI: LS1.A · CCC: Structure and Function
• Stretch: HS-LS1-2
• CCSS connections: 6.EE.C.9, SL.8.5

Try the digital activity first

• Not sure the self-grading activity will work in your LMS? Download the FREE HTML & SCORM Sample and test it with your students before you buy.

Save with a bundle

• Cells & Body Systems (5 sets)
• Middle School Life Science (21 sets)
• Science Unlocked Mega Bundle (all 89 sets)

Teach next

• Built From Cells (MS-LS1-1)
• Systems in Space (MS-LS1-3)
• The Atom Shuffle (MS-LS1-7)
• Message Received (MS-LS1-8)

More from Mystery Lab Learning

• See every Science Unlocked set, and follow to hear when new ones are added, at Mystery Lab Learning.

Good to know

• The illustrations in this resource were created with AI image tools, and AI tools helped draft the lesson text. Every slide, answer key and lab step was then fact-checked against the sources listed in the Teacher Guide and proofread.
• Kahoot!, Blooket, Jeopardy!, Google Slides and PowerPoint are trademarks of their owners. This resource is not affiliated with or endorsed by them.
• License: one teacher, for use with their own students. Please buy an additional license for each colleague who uses it.