CLIL lesson for TKT CLIL – Chiara Cappa – Liceo Scientifico Respighi - Piacenza

CLIL lesson on cells

 Time: 1 hour
 Number of students: 20
 Age: 14-15
 Level: Pre-intermediate (B1)
 Subject: Biology
 Learning outcomes: at the end of the lesson students should be able to:

odescribe the basic structures of plant and animal cells and the functions of the main
structures
 Content-obligatory language: relative clauses, passive form, adjectives
 Functions: describe, identify, compare
 Resources: website www.bbc.co.uk/learning
 Materials: adapted materials prepared by the teacher (texts, visuals, recordings)
 Tools: IWB

 Activity 1 : Scaffolding:

The 3D cell

Communicative and cognitive skills: Identifying, classifying, anticipating, inferring from

observation.

To pre-teach words such as: cell, nucleus, membrane, cytoplasm, mitochondria, proteins, vacuole
... the teacher goes to link http://www.centreofthecell.org/interactives/exploreacell/index.php
present on the BBC website on the right bar and shows the main parts of the cell. Then she invites
students to identify the main parts and repeat aloud their names until they’ve been memorized.
She check the correct pronunciation and also that the students know the Italian translation of the
words (if they don’t know it, it will be provided by the teacher).

 Activity 2: Listening:

Communicative and cognitive skills: understanding a speaker, remembering, identifying details,

collecting information, classifying, comparing data, organising information into tables.

The teacher goes to link

http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/learning/bitesize/standard/biology/investigating_cells/cells_and_
diffusion_rev2.shtml

and play the Naked Scientists explanation of the structure of cells. Time: 4:34.

Ex. 1a: Students listen and complete the statements, listed on a handout previously given to
students (see worksheet 1). The recording is played twice and paused from time to time to allow
students the time to write. Then the questionnaire is checked. Answers:
 CLIL lesson for TKT CLIL – Chiara Cappa – Liceo Scientifico Respighi - Piacenza

1. blocks 8. energy / food

2. one 9. plant
3. millions 10. space
4. animal 11. function
5. specialise 12. light
6. membrane / bag 13. human
7. red blood

Ex. 1b: Students listen again and chose among the words given to fill in a grid (see worksheet 2-
note that the words highlighted in yellow have been deleted on students‘ sheet).

 Activity 3: Reading:

Communicative and cognitive skills: skimming, scanning and locating information, defining,
agreeing with a partner, naming, applying.

In pairs, students read the text given and do the matching exercise (see worksheet 3).

Matching is checked. The teacher asks students to read the text again and underline the unknown
words. Then she explains the meaning, sometimes giving the Italian translation of the words.

 Homework: Labelling:
Communicative and cognitive skills: naming, recycling, reviewing, applying, agreeing with a partner.
Students label diagrams of animal and plant cells, like these, and compare them in pairs in the
following lesson:
CLIL lesson for TKT CLIL – Chiara Cappa – Liceo Scientifico Respighi - Piacenza

WORKSHEET 1
Ex. 1a: Listen and fill in the gaps:

1) Cells are literally the building ................. of life.

2) All living things are made up of ........ or more cells.
3) In a person there are ................. of cells
4) There are significant similarities between all ............ cells and all plant cells.
5) Cells can ...................... to carry out specific jobs
6) The key thing that defines a cell is having a cell ................... which is like a
..............
7) All cells have a nucleus. A notable exception is human .............. ............
cells.
8) Animal and plants need ...................... The mitochondria are the power
house of the cell, turning ............ into energy.
9) ................. cells have special modifications.
10) A vacuole is just a ........... within the cell.
11) There is a close relationship between the structure and the ................ of a
cell
12) Root cells don’t have any chloroplasts because in the ground there’s not
much ...........
13) Sperm and red blood cells are specialized .................. cells.

Tot..../15
 CLIL lesson for TKT CLIL – Chiara Cappa – Liceo Scientifico Respighi - Piacenza

WORKSHEET 2
Ex. 1b: Listen again and write the words next to their correct definition.

mitochondria cytoplasm cell membrane

nucleus permanent vacuole
cell wall ribosomes chloroplasts

Function of cells which animal and plant cells have in common

Part Function

Nucleus contains genetic material, which controls the activities of the cell

Cytoplasm most chemical processes take place here, controlled by enzymes

cell membrane controls the movement of substances into and out of the cell

Mitochondria most energy is released by respiration here

Ribosomes protein synthesis happens here

Extra parts of plant cells

Part Function

cell wall strengthens the cell

Chloroplasts contain chlorophyll, which absorbs light energy for photosynthesis

permanent vacuole filled with cell sap to help keep the cell turgid
 CLIL lesson for TKT CLIL – Chiara Cappa – Liceo Scientifico Respighi - Piacenza

WORKSHEET 3

Cell structure

All animals and plants are made of microscopic units called cells. We can see more structures
clearly if we use stains to colour specimens before putting them under the microscope. Stains are
coloured dyes which are absorbed by some cell structures but not by others.
Animal cells and plant cells have features in common, such as a nucleus, cytoplasm, cell
membrane, mitochondria and ribosomes. In addition to these structures plant cells also have a
cell wall made of cellulose which provides a tough but permeable outer casing for the cell, and
may also have chloroplasts which carry out photosynthesis and a sap vacuole which is a of water
and solutes.
The image below shows plant cells as seen under the microscope. The chloroplasts can be seen as
round green structures within the cells.

Note that cells may be specialised to carry out a particular function. Dissolved substances pass into
and out of cells by diffusion. Water passes into and out of cells by osmosis.

Matching:

1. cellulose a) the passing of water into and out of cells

2. vacuole b) the passing of dissolved substances into and out of cells
3. cell wall c) the basic unit of life
4. stains d) microscopic structures containing chlorophyll
5. chloroplasts e) coloured dyes absorbed just by some cell structures
6. diffusion f) an outer casing for the cell
7. cell g) a space in a cell containing water and solutes
8. osmosis h) a carbohydrate which forms the cell wall in plant cells