Abstract
- Given the idealized way in which cells are depicted in textbooks, it is no surprise that many students leave the biology classroom with misconceptions centered on cellular structure. For example, many students leave biology classrooms with the misconception that all mitochondria assume the “football” shape that is often depicted in texts (Storey, 1990) but they can actually span a range of shapes where they can exist as individual organelles or form a “high branched interconnected tubular network” (Karp, 2005, pp. 183). In light of such misconceptions and the call for the integration of biology and imaging sciences (Sullivan, 2000), we developed an activity which utilizes the Cell Image Library (http://www.cellimagelibrary.org/) to teach students about the diversity of cellular structure and the correlation of a cell’s structure to its function. This lesson invites students to use the Cell Image Library while addressing the following objectives: • Convey the importance of the relationship between structure and function • Develop an awareness of the diversity of cellular architecture • Articulate the function of cellular organelles • Compare and contrast images from various techniques of microscopy