At-Home Activities

Choose an object in your home and describe how each type of microscope could be used to elicit information about its structure. Describe what you would expect to see, and how the object would have to be prepared in order to visualize it under each type of microscope.

Compose a summary table of all the organelles found in plant and animal cells. Include a description of their functions.

Review the different experiments performed by Needham, Redi, Pasteur and Spallanzani. For each experiment, use point-form notes to summarize the results and their impact.

Conduct the Try This activity (page 165) at home. You may want to take a series of photographs to record the changes you observe over time.

With the permission and cooperation of a younger sibling, measure the ratio of that sibling's body parts and compare it to your own.

Use a variety of resources to conduct your research on the issue identified in this lesson. Keep track of the sources you use (library books, periodicals, Internet sites, etc.). Discuss your findings with family members and solicit their views on the issue.

The Chapter Review (pp. 172-173) in your textbook lists all the Key Expectations you have covered in the chapter and identifies the specific lessons in which the knowledge and skills have been developed.

You can use the Key Expectations list to help you create a personal study guide in preparation for an end-of-chapter test:

1. Copy down the list of learning expectations from your textbook.
2. For each learning expectation, locate the appropriate lesson(s) in the unit where the expectation was covered. These are identified in parentheses at the end of each expectation (e.g., 5.2).
3. Flip to the appropriate lesson(s) for each expectation and make study notes of the key ideas or skills you learned.