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Using Animation to Study Cell Structure - NYTimes.com

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Using Animation to Study Cell Structure - NYTimes.com

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Robert A. Lue

Overview | How can animations help convey the dynamic nature of cellular processes? What can we learn from animation that cannot be learned as easily from still images? In this lesson, students watch high-definition animations that depict the processes of DNA transcription and translation, and then write voice-over scripts.

Materials | Science textbooks, computers with Internet access, projection equipment

Warm-Up | Show the animation "The Inner Life of the Cell."

Afterward, ask: What is this video about? What clues give you that idea? Do you recognize any of the structures highlighted in the video? If you had to write a paragraph describing this animation, what would you write?

Next, show the Times video "The Animators of Life":

Note that in the video, Robert A. Lue says: "If you were flying in the mitochondria, it would be like flying over the Grand Canyon. It would be the most spectacular landscape you can imagine." Ask: How does his use of language differ from other descriptions you have read of cells and organelles? How does the kind of animation that he describes, and that you saw in the video, change the way you think of cells?

You may wish to pause and rewind the video to give students time to jot down the colorful words and phrases, and even the body language, Dr. Lue uses to describe the mitochondria.

Related | In the article "Where Cinema and Biology Meet," Erik Olsen reports on the growing field of scientific animation:

Dr. Lue is one of the pioneers of molecular animation, a rapidly growing field that seeks to bring the power of cinema to biology. Building on decades of research and mountains of data, scientists and animators are now recreating in vivid detail the complex inner machinery of living cells.

The field has spawned a new breed of scientist-animators who not only understand molecular processes but also have mastered the computer-based tools of the film industry.

"The ability to animate really gives biologists a chance to think about things in a whole new way," said Janet Iwasa, a cell biologist who now works as a molecular animator at Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Iwasa says she started working with visualizations when she saw her first animated molecule five years ago. "Just listening to scientists describe how the molecule moved in words wasn't enough for me," she said. "What brought it to life was really seeing it in motion."

Read the entire article with your class, using the questions below.

Questions | For discussion and reading comprehension:

1. What is molecular animation?

2. What are some of the cellular processes molecular animators have shown?

3. What benefits are there in using molecular animation to show cellular processes?

4. What are some of the challenges in developing accurate animations of molecular processes?

5. How do scientists think visualizations such as animation will change science education? Do you think this is a helpful new direction in teaching science concepts?

Activity | Tell students that they will view an unnarrated animation of either DNA transcription or translation, two of the initial steps involved in making proteins. Working in small groups, they will write scripts to accompany the animations. To do this, they will need to refer to the material their textbook provides on these two processes. They also may find current information on transcription and translation in the Scitable e-book "Essentials of Genetics."

To get started, first show students the animation "The Immune System - Fighting Infection by Clonal Selection," which illustrates how the immune system fights off a strep throat infection.

Ask: How does the narration complement the animation? How does the animator use sound effects to enhance the video? Do these special effects enhance your learning? Or do you find them distracting? Have students pay attention to the timing of narration, noticing, for example, when the narrator pauses as animation proceeds. They might use this video as an example of one way in which to narrate their animations on transcription and translation.

Or, they might take a more entertaining, adventure-based approach to their narration, using an animation like "Molecules to the Max" as inspiration. They may even choose to write songs like They Might Be Giants's "Meet the Elements" or the "Large Hadron Rap" to accompany the animations, as long as they are scientifically accurate.

Next, divide the class into pairs or small groups. Have half of the groups view "DNA Central Dogma Part 1: Transcription" and the other half view "DNA Central Dogma Part 2: Translation." Tell them that their task will be to write a script to accompany the animation they have been assigned.

As students watch the videos, ask them to identify and sketch in their journals the following structures as depicted in the animation (they may need to also refer to their textbook or other resources to accomplish this task):

DNA
Gene
Messenger RNA (mRNA)
Transcription factors
RNA polymerase
Ribosome
Amino acid
Protein
Nucleotide
Transfer RNA (tRNA)
Codon
Anticodon

They should identify and refer to these structures in the scripts they write.

Allow ample time for students to watch the videos, rewinding and replaying as needed, and develop their scripts. Encourage them to use lively language in their scripts, and, as they develop them, to practice narrating them as the animations play.

When scripts are complete, have students "perform" them as voice-overs for the class as the animation plays.

When all students have presented their scripts, reconvene the class. Show them the animations from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute on DNA transcription and Lead a short discussion about the variety of approaches students took to these animations, compared with these two. Ask: Did any one approach teach you the material more effectively than the others? What features of the animation or narration did you find most useful?

When you have finished sharing and discussing student scripts, you might circle back to the original article. Remind students of Dr. Lue's comment about the movie "Star Wars": "Luke's initial dive into the Death Star, I've always thought, is a very interesting way how one would explore the surface of a cell."

Show the scene (at least the beginning of the scene, plus a few seconds at around minute nine) to which Dr. Lue refers. Ask: What similarities do you see, if any, between the Death Star and a cell? Do you think Dr. Lue might have used this scene as inspiration for some of the animated visualizations of the cell he produces today? How?

Going Further | For a different perspective on using video to teach science concepts, show students "Protein Synthesis: An Epic on the Cellular Level," a 1971 film about protein synthesis ( recreated in 2006) - the same process they just wrote scripts for.

Ask: How did the filmmakers identify the key molecules and cellular structures in the process of translation? How did they show the dynamic nature of protein synthesis? What similarities do you see in this video and the animations you viewed in the lesson? Does dance, combined with narration, help you visualize cellular processes? Why or why not? How might you adapt this approach to produce an educational video on an aspect of cellular biology today?

Students interested in creating their own DNA-based dance (and dance video) might find further inspiration in the creation and performance of "The DNA Dance," created at James Madison University based on the New York Times series "The DNA Age."

And, to continue teaching the basics of protein synthesis, you may have students visit the University of Utah's "Transcribe and Translate a Gene" interactive, where they create an mRNA transcript of a gene, then decode the corresponding amino acid sequence to build a protein.

Standards | This lesson is correlated to McREL's national standards (it can also be aligned to the new Common Core State Standards):

Language Arts
1. Demonstrates competence in the general skills and strategies of the writing process
2. Uses the stylistic and rhetorical aspects of writing
4. Gathers and uses information for research purposes

Life Skills: Life Work
2. Uses various information sources, including those of a technical nature, to accomplish specific tasks

Life Skills: Working with Others
1. Contributes to the overall effort of a group
4. Displays effective interpersonal communication skills

Science
4. Understands the principles of heredity and related concepts
5. Understands the structure and function of cells and organisms

Technology
4. Understands the nature of technological design
6. Understands the nature and uses of different forms of technology

Visual Arts
5. Understands the characteristics and merits of one's own artwork and the artwork of others

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Jennifer Cutraro and Holly Epstein Ojalvo

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Biology in Film: Using Animation to Study Cell Structure

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Robert A. Lue Overview | How can animations help convey the dynamic nature of cellular processes? What can we learn from animation that cannot be learned as easily from still images? In this lesson, students watch high-definition animations that depict the processes of DNA transcription and translation, and then write voice-over scripts.

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The smallest objects that the unaided human eye can see are about 0.1 mm long. That means that under the right conditions, you might be able to see an amoeba proteus, a human egg, and a paramecium without using magnification. A magnifying glass can help you to see them more clearly, but they will still look tiny.

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SOIL TEST STUDY GUIDE - Quiz: Wednesday, April 8TH, 2015

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SOIL TEST STUDY GUIDE - Quiz: Wednesday, April 8TH, 2015

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Use this study guide to help you prepare for this upcoming quiz!

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Come and Explore!

Discover the amazing world of soils with images and information from the Dig It! The Secrets of Soil exhibit from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. This exhibit was on display at the Museum from July 18, 2008, through Jan 10, 2010.
Watch the new curator-led tour of the exhibit to join the Dig It! experience and get inspired by soils!
While the physical exhibition is now closed, the exhibition content will be available on this web site indefinitely and new web content will be added over the coming months including a new soil blog.

New Interactives Online:

New Videos Online:

Chef's Challenge >>
Soil: The Secret Ingredient >>
Get Soil Savvy! >>
Matters of Life and Death >>

Educational Materials:

Online Activities, bookmarks, and interactives
To order printed materials and CDs email us

Featured Topics

The Big Picture Game

How well do you know the world beneath your feet? Take our Soil Quiz and find out!

The Chef's Challenge Video

Two top chefs compete to create the best soil recipe from the same secret ingredient.

Get Soil Savvy!

Explore the importance of good soil management practices to global climate and human health.

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Discover the amazing world of soils with images and information from the Dig It! The Secrets of Soil exhibit from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History. This exhibit was on display at the Museum from July 18, 2008, through Jan 10, 2010. Watch the new curator-led tour of the exhibit to join the Dig It!

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How Coal is Formed - Environment for Kids

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How Coal is Formed - Environment for Kids

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How Coal is Formed - Environment for Kids

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Rock Cycle Style - The Rock Cycle - YouTube

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Rock Cycle Style - The Rock Cycle - YouTube

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Try to learn the lyrics to help you study for Friday's Quiz about the Rock Cycle!

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A GREAT WAY TO STUDY FOR YOUR QUIZ THIS FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 27TH, 2015!! CLICK ON THE CARDS TO LEARN ABOUT THEM, AND THEN PLAY SCATTER TO PRACTICE YOUR SKILL OF IDENTIFYING AND DESCRIBING THEM!

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Rock Cycle Vocabulary Flashcards | Quizlet

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Start studying Rock Cycle Vocabulary. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.

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Vocabulary Flashcards for Friday's Quiz - 2/27/15

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Vocabulary Flashcards for Friday's Quiz - 2/27/15

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Study Guide for Friday's Rock Cycle Quiz - 2/27/15

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Study Guide for Friday's Rock Cycle Quiz - 2/27/15

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BBC - KS3 Bitesize Science - Rocks : Activity

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BBC - KS3 Bitesize Science - Rocks : Activity

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Newsela | NASA's Curiosity finds a key that may unlock a Martian mystery

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Newsela | NASA's Curiosity finds a key that may unlock a Martian mystery

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Newsela is an Instructional Content Platform that supercharges reading engagement and learning in every subject.

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Interactives . The Rock Cycle . Types of Rocks

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Interactives . The Rock Cycle . Types of Rocks

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Interactives . The Rock Cycle . Types of Rocks

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Teacher resources and professional development across the curriculum

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The Rock Cycle is a group of changes. Igneous rock can change into sedimentary rock or into metamorphic rock. Sedimentary rock can change into metamorphic rock or into igneous rock. Metamorphic rock can change into igneous or sedimentary rock.

Igneous rock forms when magma cools and makes crystals. Magma is a hot liquid made of melted minerals. The minerals can form crystals when they cool. Igneous rock can form underground, where the magma cools slowly. Or, igneous rock can form above ground, where the magma cools quickly.

When it pours out on Earth's surface, magma is called lava. Yes, the same liquid rock matter that you see coming out of volcanoes.

On Earth's surface, wind and water can break rock into pieces. They can also carry rock pieces to another place. Usually, the rock pieces, called sediments, drop from the wind or water to make a layer. The layer can be buried under other layers of sediments. After a long time the sediments can be cemented together to make sedimentary rock. In this way, igneous rock can become sedimentary rock.

All rock can be heated. But where does the heat come from? Inside Earth there is heat from pressure (push your hands together very hard and feel the heat). There is heat from friction (rub your hands together and feel the heat). There is also heat from radioactive decay (the process that gives us nuclear power plants that make electricity).

So, what does the heat do to the rock? It bakes the rock.

Baked rock does not melt, but it does change. It forms crystals. If it has crystals already, it forms larger crystals. Because this rock changes, it is called metamorphic. Remember that a caterpillar changes to become a butterfly. That change is called metamorphosis. Metamorphosis can occur in rock when they are heated to 300 to 700 degrees Celsius.

When Earth's tectonic plates move around, they produce heat. When they collide, they build mountains and metamorphose (met-ah-MORE-foes) the rock.

The rock cycle continues. Mountains made of metamorphic rocks can be broken up and washed away by streams. New sediments from these mountains can make new sedimentary rock.

The rock cycle never stops.

Back |Next

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The Rock Cycle is a group of changes. Igneous rock can change into sedimentary rock or into metamorphic rock. Sedimentary rock can change into metamorphic rock or into igneous rock. Metamorphic rock can change into igneous or sedimentary rock. Igneous rock forms when magma cools and makes crystals.

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Shows great examples of landforms created by weathering as well as how different rocks form (extrusive igneous rocks).

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Classzone.com has been retired and is no longer accessible. Because of the age of this application, the programs supported by this platform are not able to benefit from the technological improvements in accessibility, security, and HMTL5 (non-Flash) that we have incorporated into our newer programs and platforms in recent years.
Learn more about HMH's newest classroom solutions.
If you want to retrieve your user data from the platform that is no longer accessible, please contact techsupport@hmhco.com or 800.323.9239 and let us know that you're contacting us about user data extraction from Classzone.com.

Please note, user data extraction does not include program content.

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Classzone.com has been retired and is no longer accessible. Because of the age of this application, the programs supported by this platform are not able to benefit from the technological improvements in accessibility, security, and HMTL5 (non-Flash) that we have incorporated into our newer programs and platforms in recent years.

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Interactives . The Rock Cycle . The Rock Cycle

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Interactives . The Rock Cycle . The Rock Cycle

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Interactives . The Rock Cycle . The Rock Cycle

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A useful way to illustrate how the three main types of rock are related to one another and how changes to rocks happen in a recurring sequence is the rock cycle. It can be presented in a diagram like the one below.

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oxford university museum of natural history

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Please read this rubric (points column 3) carefully to learn about how to earn an A on this project!

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Weathering and Erosion Problem of the Week

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Weathering and Erosion Problem of the Week

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This assignment is now due Thursday, Feb. 12th, 2014. We will take some time to work on this in class because it is worth 15 points, but I encourage students to collect the images or draw pictures of weathering, erosion, and deposition at home. YOU ARE ONLY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANSWERING THE FIRST FOUR QUESTIONS!

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Erosion Information (To help complete the PROBLEM OF THE WEEK - NOW DUE THURS. FEBRUARY 12TH) - CLICK THE PURPLE "SOURCE" BUTTON IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE SCREEN TO OPEN THIS DOCUMENT ONCE A NEW WINDOW OPENS.

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Erosion Information (To help complete the PROBLEM OF THE WEEK - NOW DUE THURS. FEBRUARY 12TH) - CLICK THE PURPLE "SOURCE" BUTTON IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE SCREEN TO OPEN THIS DOCUMENT ONCE A NEW WINDOW OPENS.

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Hello students and families! Here is a copy of the what I gave at school today to learn about the different forms of erosion. This will help in the completion of the weathering and erosion problem of the week.

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Weathering and Deposition Information (To help complete the PROBLEM OF THE WEEK - DUE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH) - CLICK THE PURPLE "SOURCE" BUTTON IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE SCREEN TO OPEN THIS DOCUMENT ONCE A NEW WINDOW OPENS.

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Weathering and Deposition Information (To help complete the PROBLEM OF THE WEEK - DUE THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 12TH) - CLICK THE PURPLE "SOURCE" BUTTON IN THE BOTTOM RIGHT HAND CORNER OF THE SCREEN TO OPEN THIS DOCUMENT ONCE A NEW WINDOW OPENS.

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Hello families and students! Here is a copy of what I gave at school today to learn about weathering and deposition. This will really help your child answer the questions on the weathering and erosion problem of the week I gave them. I will post a copy of the weathering and erosion problem of the week later this evening.

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Interactives . The Rock Cycle . Types of Rocks

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Interactives . The Rock Cycle . Types of Rocks

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Read through each page of this interactive site and complete the activities to help you understand how each type of rock forms and changes within the rock cycle. As you finish up, create a slide (on your current slideshow) about how each rock may change (morph) during the rock cycle!

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Study these words to get ready for Thursday's test, moved to 1/29/15, about rocks!

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Rock Types, Characteristics, & Properties Flashcards | Quizlet

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Start studying Rock Types, Characteristics, & Properties. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools.

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Rock Characteristics & Properties Study Guide: THE TEST HAS BEEN MOVED TO THURSDAY JAN.29TH, 2015 DUE TO THE 2-HOUR DELAY TODAY.  Please continue to study your foldables and study guide at home to prepare for participating in class discussions and activities before Thursday's test. 

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Rock Characteristics & Properties Study Guide: THE TEST HAS BEEN MOVED TO THURSDAY JAN.29TH, 2015 DUE TO THE 2-HOUR DELAY TODAY.  Please continue to study your foldables and study guide at home to prepare for participating in class discussions and activities before Thursday's test. 

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Do this assignment to practice and prepare for the quiz on Wednesday of this week! We will go over the answers tomorrow (Tuesday, Jan. 27th, 2014) in class.

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Click on the link to join my Quizlet Science Class

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Click on the link to join my Quizlet Science Class

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Join my Quizlet Class and start studying key vocabulary for Wednesday's Quiz about Rocks!

To Join:

1. Ask your parents for help signing up (Make sure to include your first and last name in your username so I can track your progress).

2. Once you are signed up, search for Westgate Middle School, and then look for my class, under the "Classes" section, OR you may simply click on the link below and the purple source button once you are signed up.

3. Click on the class and the class set "Rock Types, Characteristics, & Properties

4. Read through the flashcards (you may listen to them read to you by turning on the audio button).

5. After reading through them and studying them, click on learn OR test to see what you remember.

6. Then, play the scatter game to show off your vocabulary skills...try to beat your own score!!

7. Download the Quizlet app on your device to practice when you are bored waiting in line or traveling!

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Ms. Michael's 6th grade Science Class at Westgate Middle School, East Liverpool, Ohio | Quizlet

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Quizlet is a lightning fast way to learn vocabulary.

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Use these websites to find the answers to questions on the rock scavenger hunt. Just be sure to be the summarize the information you find in your own words!

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Uploaded by Ashlee Michael on 2015-01-07.

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A screen cast all about the three rock groups: igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic!

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Uploaded by Ashlee Michael on 2015-01-09.

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Highlight key ideas in the text that matches each colored highlighter.

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Click on the Font Size Visualization to analyze what your classmates decided was the most important information about the characteristics of minerals and how they form. Then, use this data to record your own summaries in your graphic organizer.

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Create an experiment to test your own energy system, and explain how mass is conserved and energy changes forms.

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Create your own energy system and explain how mass is conserved and energy changes forms.

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Visit each site in the document below in order to complete your Matter Web Quest!

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Here are the key vocabulary you will find on the quiz along with images to help you identify examples of each

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Matter Quiz on Wednesday, November 12th, 2014:  Atoms, molecules, and compounds, oh my!

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Matter Quiz on Wednesday, November 12th, 2014:  Atoms, molecules, and compounds, oh my!

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Click on the file below to access my study guide! Online tools are located on page 2 of this study guide to help you better prepare for it.