Spotlights
Building their own plant cells
Woodlawn biology students learn by creating - 12/18/07

Building their own plant cells
Science teacher Maggie Toolin and her students display their work.

To teach her students about cell structure, Woodlawn High School science teacher Maggie Toolin could have simply recited the facts:

  • Every living thing is made up of a million little cells.
  • Within each cell are many tiny organelles.
  • Organelles are the specialized compartments of a cell that perform specific functions, such as mitochondrion, the Golgi apparatus, and chloroplast. If you think of a cell as a body, the organelles would essentially be the same as our organs.

Building their own plant cells
Students enter the mock cell.

But for Toolin’s students, the learning process involved a lot more than sitting in the classroom and taking notes. This fall, she led her 10th grade classes to the library media center to begin an in-depth research project on the plant cell. Instead of reading quietly and taking notes, more than 150 students paired up and began the construction of their own organelles.

“Students were able to learn what the actual proportion of an organelle is to a cell,” explained Toolin. “They had to use mathematics, technical engineering, and even art to calculate and construct a to-scale organelle.”




Building their own plant cells
Students hold a model organelle.

As the students were creating their organelles, Toolin created a to-scale cell. The biology students were then able to carry their organelles through the cell to demonstrate how the various elements of a plant cell work together. Afterwards, the students worked in teams to create PowerPoint presentations to share their research findings with their classmates using interactive whiteboard technology.

Using SAFARI Montage video clips, Woodlawn High’s library media specialist Rebecca Frager presented lessons on avoiding plagiarism and properly citing sources. She also shared with students PowerPoint presentation techniques.


Building their own plant cells
Teams of students present their model organelles.

“The entire project was an excellent example of how collaboration with the library media specialist can result in engaging lessons that increase student engagement and achievement,” beamed Frager.

 

 

 

 

Safari Montage Video-On-Demand System

In October 2006, Baltimore County Public Schools became the first school system in Maryland to purchase SAFARI Montage, an award-winning video-on-demand and digital media management system.

Under the leadership of Superintendent Dr. Joe A. Hairston, the school system’s Department of Technology and Office of Library Information Services jointly funded Safari Montage for all BCPS schools. Installation was completed and the system was operational by the end of January 2007.

Using SAFARI Montage, teachers can use their desktop computers to easily search and select from a library of 1,200 educational videos and then integrate video clips into their lessons. These high quality videos have been created by National Geographic, PBS, the History Channel, Biography, NOVA, Scholastic, the BBC, and many other leading producers and are aligned to the Maryland Voluntary State Curriculum. Teachers can search for videos or video clips by grade level, keyword, subject, or curriculum standards.

In addition to providing teachers and classrooms with immediate access to quality multimedia, BCPS is using the system to develop and deliver professional development programs produced by The Education Channel and to enable teachers to better share model lessons and suggested video playlists.

Story by Allyson C., a senior at Towson High School and an intern in the BCPS Office of Communications. Sidebar by Diana L. Spencer, communications officer. Photos courtesy of Woodlawn High School.

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