TEACHING SESSION PLAN

Module: Cell Biology & Genetics Level / Stage (6,7,8) 8

Year: 1

Title of session/ topic:

Movement of water across membranes- osmosis
Length of session: 2.5 hours

Mark the type of session:

Lecture ☐ Tutorial ☐ Lab X Studio ☐ Workshop ☐

Module Outcome (What module outcome(s) is the class/session aligned to):

This lab session is aligned to learning outcomes 1 (Describe the structure and function of cells) and
2 (Identify, and describe structures and functions of cell organelles) of the module.

Class/Session Outcomes: Upon completion of this session, you should be able to: (Share
with students e.g. Write on board /slide/ project image at beginning of lecture for students)

- Set up and perform an experiment according to a protocol to investigate water

movement in onion cells and red blood cells

- Identify a plasmolysed cell using microscopy

- Compare and contrast the effects of tonicity on water movement in plant (onion) and
animal (blood) cells

- Accumulate data and present it in table and graph format

- Make firm conclusions as regards osmosis in plant and animal cells

Select & Prioritise Your Content:
For the session, decide what material is used in class and what material the students should study
independently and/or online. To do this, think about the material and its relative importance and
prioritise and list in the appropriate quadrant.
In Class or in a Live
Online Class Independent Learning
(Support Learning) (student completes on their own)
have a clear
understanding of osmosis
Student to be able to gain understanding and knowledge on
be able to follow a lab
osmosis in advance of the lab
protocol
Student to complete a report based on the background, aims,
be capable of using a
methods and results. This will form part of their continuous
Priority microscope correctly assessment
(Need be able to prepare onion
to epidermal slides
know)

3
Importance of tonicity The students are shown a number of YouTube clips at the start
and water movement in which demonstrate osmosis in plant and animal cells. The URLs
Supple cell biology
mentar are made available to them on their Moodle page also.
y Relevance of osmosis to
safe blood transfusion
Learnin practice
g (Nice
to
know)

Material in quadrants 1 and 3 typically become the focus during classes. Quadrants 2 and
4 represent material students could study themselves and use the VLE/Moodle and
online learning objects to support this learning.
Teacher Activity Student Activity

Stage 1 (1-30 mins:

Stage 1 (1-30mins): - Arranging their lab partners
- reading the protocol, and following
- Introducing the background, aims,
instructions from the tutor
materials and methods
- Ensuring safety
- Demonstrating to the students the
- Watching URLs
preparation of the onion cell slides, and
- Setting up the microscope
how to set up and use the microscope
- Showing YouTube introductory video

Stage 2 (30-120 mins):

- Performing the experiment and careful

consideration of health & safety
Stage 2 (30-120 mins):
- Rigorously adhering to timing of the
- Monitoring the students progress experiment
throughout, and responding to their - Working with a partner, organising and
questions and queries liasing throughout
- Highlighting continuously the importance
of good laboratory practice, health and
safety issues, and waste disposal

Stage 3 (final 30 mins):

- Accumulating the data and the results

- Discussion the results with the lab partner
Stage 3 (final 30 mins):
- Listening for instructions as regards the lab
- Using the white board to demonstrate the write up/report
handling and presentation of the data - Tidying up the lab space, removal of waste
- Providing guidelines for writing the lab materials, hand washing etc
report based upon today’s lab session -
- Highlighting and summarising the day’s
work-planning for next session
- Providing feedback on previous lab
session
Note digital student engagement tools required for this session/lesson:

YouTube video

Teacher Reflection:

What worked well? The most important aspect of today was that the students were given lots of

time to prepare good slides, which then made it easy for them to identify plasmolysis, and therefore

were more easily able to achieve the learning outcomes for this session. Also, having a lab partner

rather than doing this alone meant that they could liaise throughout the tasks, and I could see that

for some this helped with confidence. The students were encouraged to write on the whiteboard,

and to ask lots of questions and I felt that they were adequately prepared for the writing of the lab

reports. What did not work well? There are some aspects of the lab practical which from a

methodology point need to be considered before doing this again. For example, some chose the

wrong part of the onion, meaning they got poor results in terms of microscopy and had to repeat.

To what extent did you address different domains of learning? I feel I could look at other ways to

demonstrate plasmolysis, maybe even choosing a different method. I feel that possibly the inclusion

of an online video of me choosing the correct part of the onion, uploaded to their Moodle page

might be of help, to be viewed in advance of the practical.

What would I do differently next time? I feel that a short pre-practical quiz, or screencast on

Moodle would benefit the prior learning for this session. In addition, I would try to focus more on

different types of cells, for example red blood cells although there is more planning with

implementing this in terms of health and safety.