Inquiry Training Model

Lesson Title: Bubbles and Bi-Layers

Targeted Grade Level: 9th

Academic Subject: Science/Biology

Lesson Goals:

The Learner will investigate how a cell membrane regulates what enters and
exits the cell, how cell membranes are fluid/flexible, and how cell membranes can
self-repair through the exploration of the “Bubble and Bi-Layers Lab”. The learner
will be able to explain the importance of the phospholipid bilayer in a cell and why
we identify it as a “fluid” model.

Lesson Objectives:

 Investigate the properties and characteristics of the cell membrane

 Explain the importance of the phospholipid bilayer in a cell
 Demonstrate an understanding of why the cell membrane is a “fluid model”

Materials/Resources Needed:

 Science notebook for notes during the lab

 Teacher model of cell membrane printed on piece of paper (one per
class/lesson)
 Teacher’s bubble jar/wand (small wedding-favor type is perfect)
Each lab table needs the following set up ahead:
 Flat pan (silver disposable cooking ones – small rectangle is the perfect size)
 Bubble solution in pan (store bought is easier and cheaper, but can be made
with water, dish soap, and glycerin/corn syrup – consistency is hard to get
perfect though)
 Pre-made “membrane frame” by teacher (4 straws connected creating a
square)
 Pencil
 Paperclip
 Paper towels for clean up if needed

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  Large sticky- note

Lesson Components:

Phase 1: Confrontation with the Problem

The teacher begins the lesson with having students recall the prior
information learned over the structure of the cell membrane. The teacher will
quickly review the structure of the cell membrane and identify key points such as it
also being called the phospholipid bilayer due to the phospholipids that make it up,
that the cell membranes are in charge of what enters and exits the cell, and that
they can self-repair and allow products to be imported and exported without being
destroyed. The teacher will ask guided questions such as “How does the cell
membrane protect the cell?” and “What determines what can enter and exit
through the cell membrane?”
Students will observe the teacher using a printed image of the cell
membrane on piece of paper as a model of the cell membrane. The teacher will use
this in the recall of prior knowledge. This leads up to the question of “Is the
membrane of a cell a solid, liquid, or a gas?” which the teacher will introduce as the
question we are trying to figure out today. The teacher prompts students to discuss
and ask questions. The teacher guides this process without doing the inquiry. The
students should be the ones discussing and inquiring about these questions. The
teacher can answer such questions with “yes” or “no” not an explanation. The
teacher can use more elaborated statements than “yes” or “no” with comments
such as “you are absolutely correct” “Isn’t that interesting?” “Not necessarily” and/or
“We haven’t established that it is not ___ yet.”
** Teacher notes: Lead student questioning to question when we think of
cells, we have seen them under microscopes and could identify them as solids, but
items can enter and exit through the membrane, so could we identify the
membrane as a solid or a liquid? Or would the membrane be a gas? Could it be
none of these things? (expect the “None of these things?” emphasized to add to the
puzzling idea of the state of matter a cell and the cell membrane .. expect reactions
of statements such as the only other even slightly possible thing is a plasma!? Cells
cannot possibly be plasma! That would be intense! Which is absolutely correct-
only.)**

Phase 2: Data Gathering – Verification

Phase 3: Data Gathering – Experimentation

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 These two phases of verification and experimentation data gathering are
described as different phases, but student thinking can alternate between the two,
so they are combined in this lesson plan.
After many questions from students discussing the state of the cell
membrane, the students will return to observing the teacher using a printed image
of the cell membrane on piece of paper as a model of the cell membrane. The
teacher will make a point of modeling that the paper is a solid, and If I wanted to
poke my finger through it, I would have to poke through the paper and rip it to get
to the other side. The teacher can point out the model “isn’t perfect” to probe for
students question.
The students should identify that the paper does not self-repair. They should
question if the paper is a good representation of the cell membrane. These
questions should pose more questions to the students’ thinking and help them
gather more information to verify if the cell membrane is a solid or a liquid.
The teacher will introduce another model they can use for the cell
membrane, a bubble! The teacher will intrigue the students more by a personal
example of blowing a bubble from a small bubble container and popping it when
touching it, then blowing a bubble and get it to “stay” on the bubble wand (this
takes some practice, but slow and steady makes them not pop!). Students will then
be directed to the lab set up at their table. The teacher can point out that this
model might be better than the paper, but still is “not perfect” and wants the
students to explore the process to identify and understand the cell membrane
better.
Students will explore this concept by completing the bubble lab and
identifying if the cell membrane is a solid or liquid using three main points.
Students will write their questions they encounter, observations, and thought
process in their science notebooks as they go.
1) Fluidity - is the cell membrane rigid like a cell wall or flexible?
2) Flexibility – can molecules move freely and be arranged in any shape?
3) Self-repairing – can the membrane seal back after a product moves through it?
Students will be able to experiment and explore the idea of the soap

Phase 4: Organizing, Formulating an Explanation

The students will work in their lab groups to come to a conclusion and
connect it to the information they have observed. Students will use a sticky note to
come up with a group decision of if the cell membrane is a solid or a liquid and a
short explanation why based on their observations. The groups are able to help
make intellectual connections together and construct clear explanations of why
they came to that conclusion. The groups will take turns sharing their sticky-note.

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Phase 5: Analysis of the Inquiry Process
The teacher will address all students and identify that students should come
to the conclusion that the cell membrane is not a solid, but a liquid, and is made of
two layers of molecules that are attracted to each other. The teacher can identify
the conclusions of each point addressed.
1) The cell membrane is a fluid arrangement- AKA the Fluid Mosaic Model.
2) The cell membrane is flexible and molecules can move freely through the plane.
They can take almost any shape and not lose their attraction.
3) The cell membrane can self -repair tears in the lipid bilayer much like a bubble
due to the attraction between the phospholipids.
Students should have made a connection to the fact that if you put your
pencil, finger, or paperclip in the soap solution prior to poking through the bubble
membrane with it, it should pass easily to the other side. The soap bilayer is less
flexible than the cell membrane because a cell membrane usually has support from
the cytoplasm of the cell and the external environment of the cell. Whatever you
are doing to the soap can virtually be done to the cell membrane!
Student groups will analyze their pattern of inquiry, connections,
observations, and questions they came up with while exploring the bubble lab. The
students will identify areas of improvement and connections they could have
missed. Lab groups will share one way they can improve next time they conduct the
inquiry process.

Evaluation:

Students will be evaluated on the process using their lab write up and writing
a conclusion based on the experiment and inquiry process. Students will identify
their strengths in this process and areas they need to improve for next time when
they conduct the inquiry process. The teacher will read through the write ups and
give feedback based on the process they conducted. The teacher will return the
writeups at the beginning of the next class and begin the class by discussing areas
and conclusions/connections that the class as a whole might have identified. The
teacher will provide feedback and direction as students move through thr lab and
can check for understanding along the way.

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