What's so great about a little Cell? - Life Sciences Outreach Program

What’s so great about a littleCell?Relating Cell Structure toFunction in the Immune System

The cell is the most basic unit of life, performing all of the functions necessary forlife. In the eukaryotic vertebrate cell these functions are performed by variousorganelles within the cell. The cell membrane plays a role in the dynamic processof molecular movement in and out of the cell. At this level of organization weclearly see connections between the structure of the cell and its function.When our bodies are presented with invading pathogens, such as bacteria, virusesor parasites, our cells of the immune system must respond quickly and withpurpose in order to overcome the infection. Structure and function play animportant role in the specificity of the immune response. What is invading thebody? How will the cells respond? And how will the infection be controlled? Ourimmune system makes good sense! Form fits function.

You will choose a cell in the immune system.Through investigating web resources andresearching on your own, you will learn about thestructure and function of your cell. You will developan annotated bibliography to document yourresources. Once knowledge is gained, you will showyour understanding by addressing specific promptsabout your cell.

T CellsT Helper CD4+http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/animations/tcell/tcell_frames.htmT Cytotoxic CD8+http://www.cellsalive.com/antibody.htm

Generalhttp://press2.nci.nih.gov/sciencebehind/immune/immune01.htmhttp://www.cellsalive.com/toc.htm#immunhttp://www.blink.uk.com/immunoanimations/index1.htmlhttp://brodylab.eng.uci.edu/cgibin/jpbrody/animation/files/12-974484448.htmlhttp://www.albany.net/~tjc/immune-system.htmlhttp://www.learner.org/channel/courses/biology/units/hiv/index.htmlhttp://science.nhmccd.edu/biol/ap2int.htm

Virus infectionhttp://www.dukecancervaccines.org/latestflash.htm

Dendritic Cellshttp://CSI.Washington.edu/education/info/dendritic.html

Natural Killer Cellshttp://www.cat.cc.md.us/courses/bio141/lecguide/unit3/intro/nk/nk.htmlhttp://www.cancervaccines.com/media/natural_killer_cells.cfm

Bacterial Infectionhttp://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/disease/animations.html

Mast Cellshttp://www.cellsalive.com/mite1.htm

Phagocytic Cellshttp://www.cellsalive.com/mac.htm

Wow!! You must know a lot.Now you will develop an annotatedbibliography of the resources youviewed.

Use your annotated bibliography guide sheet todevelop your annotated bibliographyClick here to view Student Sheet

Finally……..Use your critical thinking skills to addressprompts on your student sheet.Click here to return to beginningClick here to view Student Sheet