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Allen Institute
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Healthy Cells, Healthy Bodies
Materials Library
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Healthy Cells, Healthy Bodies

Introduce fundamental concepts in cell biology using images of human cells from the Allen Institute for Cell Science

About this lesson:

Healthy Cells, Healthy bodies is a ~30 minute presentation explaining the links between cells and the whole human body, and between cell health and human health, targeted to grades 6-8. Learn The teaching materials include ready-to-use slideshows for teachers to present, videos of Allen Institute for Cell Science cell biologists presenting the same material, and activities using the open data from the Allen Cell Explorer.

The Allen Cell Explorer is an open data set featuring tens of thousands of research-grade cell images. Students use open data accessible from the site for the activity, and the presentations feature additional images from these datasets. Students are also encouraged to refer to the Visual Guide to Human Cells, an interactive resource developed specifically for students that explores and explains the functions of cell structures.

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Reading & Resources:

Five things we still don't know about cells

Picture one of your cells. Chances are you’re thinking about the fried-egg-reminiscent illustration.
Read
The Visual Guide to Human Cells lets users rotate, zoom in and out, and highlight different structures inside a 3D model of a human stem cell.

Visual Guide to Human Cells

Take a look inside healthy human cells with the Visual Guide to Human Cells.
Visit
Human Stem Cell Observations

Allen Cell Explorer: Cell Structure Observations

Observations about microscopy videos for 16 cell lines in the Allen Cell Collection
Visit

Meet the authors:

1/3

Kaitlyn Casimo, Ph.D., M.Ed.

Manager, Education & Engagement
Sue Ludman Headshot

Sue Ludmann, M.S.

Senior Research Associate

Helen Anderson

Research Associate

Additional author(s):

  • Melissa Hendershott, Ph.D.