How to Make a 3D Plant or Animal Cell Picture

The minuscule cells in plants and animals are easier to understand on a larger scale

Plant and animal cells are very complex, and understanding all the parts can be difficult, especially without a hands-on representation of what these cells look like. Creating a 3D picture of a plant or animal cell is an educational project that will allow students to creatively explore different ways to make the tiny parts of the cell come to life in a much bigger way. The materials for this project provide plenty of room for substitution, and a quick trip to a craft store should yield everything you need for your finished cell.

Things You'll Need

• Styrofoam
• Clay or craft supplies
• Straight pins or wooden skewers
• Adhesive labels
• Toothpicks

Instructions

1. Identify the parts of the cell that will need to be represented. A plant cell contains a cell membrane, cell wall, chloroplast, cytoplasm, endoplasmic reticulum, golgi body, nucleus, mitochondrion, ribosomes and vacuole. An animal cell contains a cell membrane, cytoplasm, golgi body, endoplasmic reticulum, lysosome, mitochondrion, nucleus, nuclear membrane, ribosomes and vacuole.

2. Create a base for your 3D cell. A piece of Styrofoam works well for this purpose. You will need a material that you can poke toothpicks and pins into.

3. Craft each part of the cell from a 3D object. Mold various colors of clay into appropriate shapes for the various cell components. You can also use a variety of craft supplies, such as pipe cleaners, pom poms, sequins and beads to represent different parts of the cell.

4. Secure the parts of the cell to the base by inserting straight pins through the top of each item and into the Styrofoam below. If you have items that are too large for straight pins, mount these pieces on wooden skewers instead.

5. Write the name for each part of the cell on half of a sticky label. Fold the label in half around a toothpick so that the sticky sides adhere to one another, and the label makes a flag.

6. Stick the toothpick flags into the Styrofoam beside each part of the cell to identify the various components.

References

• Teacher Vision: Plant and Animal Cell
• Science Fair Projects: How to Make a 3D Model of a Plant Cell

Resources

• Projects: 3D Cell Model Project