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How Living Things Grow: An Introduction to Cell Division

Lesson Plan
Grade 1
English

How Living Things Grow: An Introduction to Cell Division

At a Glance

  • Subject: Life Science
  • Topic: Introduction to Cells and Cell Division (Mitosis)
  • Duration: 45 minutes
  • Setting: Whole group instruction followed by hands-on modeling stations
  • Essential Question: How do living things grow bigger and heal when they get hurt?
  • Key Concepts:
  • All living organisms (plants, animals, and people) are made up of microscopic building blocks called cells.
  • Cells grow and divide into two identical cells through a process called cell division (mitosis).
  • Cell division is the reason we grow taller, get bigger, and heal from cuts and scrapes.
  • Key Vocabulary:
  • Cell: The tiny building block that makes up all living things.
  • Divide: To split into separate parts.
  • Copy: To make something that looks exactly the same.
  • Heal: To fix or repair a damaged part of the body.
  • Materials Needed:
  • Two different colors of modeling clay or playdough per student
  • Plastic craft plates and child-safe plastic dough cutters (or craft sticks)
  • Chart paper and markers for whole-class anchor chart
  • Visual comparison cards (e.g., small plant vs. large tree, baby hand vs. adult hand, skinned knee healing over time)


Objectives & Learning Outcomes

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
  • Identify that all living things are composed of tiny living units called cells.
  • Explain in age-appropriate terms how one cell makes a copy of itself and splits into two identical cells.
  • Connect the process of cell division to observable everyday phenomena, such as growing out of clothes and the healing of minor skin wounds.
  • Demonstrate the simple steps of cell division using a physical hands-on model.

Measurable Student Outcomes ("I Can" Statements)

  • "I can explain that my body is made of tiny building blocks called cells."
  • "I can show how one cell splits into two cells using playdough."
  • "I can name two ways cell division helps me: growing bigger and healing scrapes."


Standards Addressed

Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)

  • 1-LS1-1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
  • Target Standard: Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs.
  • Curricular Connection: Builds the foundational biological understanding of organismal growth and physical repair mechanisms.
  • 1-LS3-1 Heredity: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
  • Target Standard: Make observations to construct an evidence-based account that young plants and animals are like, but not exactly like, their parents.
  • Curricular Connection: Introduces the foundational biological principle that dividing cells produce exact duplicate copies of themselves to maintain tissue and organism identity.

Disciplinary Core Ideas (DCI)

  • LS1.B: Growth and Development of Organisms
  • Living things grow and develop over time by adding new cells through cell division.

Crosscutting Concepts (CCC)

  • Patterns: Recognizing that the cycle of "grow, copy, divide" is a consistent, repeating pattern in living things.
  • Scale, Proportion, and Quantity: Understanding that huge living organisms are made from millions of tiny parts that are too small to see with our eyes alone.

Science and Engineering Practices (SEP)

  • Developing and Using Models: Using physical modeling dough to represent how one parent cell duplicates its components and pinches in the middle to create two complete daughter cells.

Cells and Growth Quiz

Directions

Read each question carefully and choose the best answer.

1. What are all living things, like plants, animals, and people, made of?
  • A) Small pebbles and rocks
  • B) Tiny building blocks called cells
  • C) Drops of water and juice

2. When one cell divides, what does it do?
  • A) It goes to sleep
  • B) It floats away into the air
  • C) It splits into two identical cells

3. How does cell division help your body after you scrape your knee?
  • A) It changes the color of your clothes
  • B) It makes new cells to heal your skin
  • C) It makes your shoes grow bigger

4. Why do children grow taller and need bigger shoes as they get older?
  • A) Their old shoes shrink in the closet
  • B) Their bodies make more cells by dividing
  • C) They drink warm milk before bed

5. What is true about the two new cells formed when a cell splits?
  • A) They are exact copies of the original cell
  • B) They look completely different from each other
  • C) One is a cell and one turns into a grain of sand