Membrane Transport

Membrane Transport Lesson with
Candy Models
David Welch, ASU GK-12 Fellow
Sam Rua, Superior High School
Spring 2011
Lesson Overview
Presented is a lesson plan for creatively presenting the concepts of passive and active transport across cell membranes. Two days of activities are presented. The first day is centered
around students working by themselves and eventually in pairs to make small models of
membranes out of candy. After students make the models they are presented with a variety
of situations to model by adding in other types of candy to act as various biological factors.
This setup allows for visualizations of membrane structure and function, concentration gradients, and mechanics of transport. The second day focuses on an experiment in osmosis
across membranes. Students create their own experiment based off a given setup to test a
single factor they believe could effect osmosis. Students then carry out the experiment as a
class and analyze results.
1.1
Purpose
This lesson will give the students chances to visualize transport phenomena that would not
be visible at the macro scale. Additionally this activity will allow students to work with their
own materials and with a team to simulate various cellular transport phenomena. Students
will also gain valuable experience with experimental procedure and good scientific methods.
1.2
Keywords
Diffusion, Passive Transport, Active Transport, Osmosis, Membranes, Candy

1
1.3
Target Audience
This lesson was designed for high school biology classes.
Standards Met
The Arizona High School Science Standards which are met through this lesson are:
Strand 1 - The inquiry process. This includes forming observations, questions, and
hypotheses, testing and analyzing, as well as communicating results.
Strand 4, Concept 1, PO3 - The importance of water to cells.
Strand 4, Concept 1, PO4 - Analyze mechanisms of transport
Strand 4, Concept 3, PO2 - Analyzing how organisms are influenced by their environment by a combination of biotic and abiotic factors.
Strand 4, Concept 5, PO2 - Describe role of organic and inorganic chemicals
Strand 5, Concept 1 - The structure and properties of matter.
Materials
Day 1
Many varieties of candy are used to simulate membranes and other elements. Any variety will work as long as the students are given a good
explanation of what each candy represents. It is best to pick candy that
somewhat resembles the components they represent. For example, candy
corn works well to represent a phospholipid because it has a larger end
and a smaller end (hydrophobic and hydrophilic). M&Ms that are blue
works well for water. Life savers work well to represent channel proteins. Sugar is represented well with smarties. Ions are represented well
with different colors of M&Ms. Carrier proteins are well represented by
gummi bears (think that the arms are to hold ions to move them, also
the color of the gummi bear could need to correspond to the appropriate
ion to make it selective).
paper towels
Day 2
sausage casing
string
sucrose
beakers
timer
triple beam balance
paper towels
Day 1 Activities
The lesson should begin with a brief overview of cell structure ending with
an introduction to the cell membrane and the importance of movement of
things into and out of the cells. Students should be told that this lesson will
help them visualize how different biological factors move across the membrane. Students should also be instructed that they should draw what they
do throughout the experiments.
Students should be instructed to wash their hands or use sanitizer and
place a paper towel down to work on. Candy should then be distributed and
students should note what each piece represents.
The first activity the students should complete is the construction of a
phospholipid bilayer. Students should note the alignments of the hydrophobic
and hydrophilic sides. A single vertical membrane to separate the left and
right sides of the paper towel works best.
The students should then put all their other components to the left side of
the membrane. This should lead to a discussion of which substances can make
it through the membrane and why (use figure 1 as a guide). Transmembrane
proteins can be omitted from this step.
Students can then remove all the components except for water which
should be spread equally on either side of the membrane. Students should
then introduce various amounts of sugar to either side of the membrane and
then move water around to compensate. This should show the students how
the volume can change thanks to the need to equal out concentrations. Allow
students to try various sugar additions and water movements.
Figure 1: Example diagram of passive behavior of various components.
Students should then work with a partner to combine resources to make

a larger membrane. The larger membrane should allow students to model
what happens during endocytosis, exocytosis, phagocytosis, and pinocytosis.
Students should be able to simulate something similar to figure 3. The single
wall should then be formed into a ring to represent a cell. Students should
then repeat the sugar-water concentrations they did previously but this time
identify what this would do to the shape of the cell. Students should define
hypertonic, hypotonic, and isotonic solutions and describe what happens in
each case.
The concept of transmembrane proteins for transport should then be introduced. Channels (maybe represented by lifesavers) should be inserted into
the membrane. Carriers should also be introduced. Ideas of selectivity can
be addressed possibly by a color code among the candy selected. The function of carrier proteins as uniporters, symporters, and antiporters should be
touched on. Finally students should model the behavior of Na+-K+ pump.
Students should be asked to consider what would happen if this process is
performed in reverse.
Finally students should be left to consider the complexity of these processes
when they are all combined together while they consume the candy.
Figure 2: Example layout of candy components to model the cell. The candy corn represents
phospholipids which are arranged in a bilayer to create an cellular structure.
Day 2 Activities
The students should first be introduced to the idea of a simple diffusion

experiment. The general setup of a high concentration sugar solution being
placed in a water permeable membrane (sausage casing) and then dipped in
water should be discussed. Osmosis should be identified as the phenomena
under investigation. Students likely wont have a good grasp on how this
happens so as a class they will identify factors that could effect osmosis.
An experiment should then be decided on as a group and students should
work together to perform it. Suggested experiments should be varying sugar
concentration placed in the membrane, varying the volume of the casing,
varying temperature, varying concentration of another factor - really anything
goes as long as they can test it.
Students should identify independent and dependent variables and solidify
a procedure that they will all follow. Students should prepare their samples
and then perform the experiment, conducting measurements of water diffusion every 5 minutes by taking the mass using the triple beam balance.
Students should be able to fill in the worksheet with appropriate information
and analysis.
It is important to provide guided instruction throughout the activity. Stu-
Figure 3: Diagram of endocytosis and exocytosis that students can simulate.
dents should be able to solve many problems on their own but it is important
to provide a good basic experimental setup as well as keeping the students
reasonable in their choice of variables. Groups of 3-4 should work best.
After about 20 minutes students should come back together and share
data on the board. The class should have a discussion on the results and also
discuss possible sources of error.
5.1
General Procedure
Take a sausage casing about 5 inches long, fold one end over about half
and inch and tie tightly with string
Fill casing with desired sugar solution and then tie end same as other
Place in beaker with water
Remove, slightly dry with paper towel, measure mass on balance
Place back into beaker with water for 5 minutes
Measure mass, repeating every 5 minutes for 20-25 minutes
Candy Membrane Worksheet

Name
Date
Candy Code:
ATP
K+
sugar
phospholipid
Na+
H2 O
O2
transport protein
Draw a picture of the membrane you make out of phospholipids:
Where did the water go when the concentration of sugar changed?
Define hypertonic in your own words. Where does the water go?
Define hypotonic in your own words. Where does the water go?
Define isotonic in your own words. Where does the water go?
Draw what happens in endocytosis/exocytosis in a few steps with simple

drawings:
Describe the difference between channel and carrier proteins:
What happens when a Na+-K+ pump is run in reverse?
Osmosis Worksheet
Name
Date
Describe the experiment:
Identify the independent variable:
Identify the dependent variable:
Draw the experimental setup:
Data:
Graph:
Conclusions:

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Membrane Transport Lesson with

Diffusion, Passive Transport, Active Transport, Osmosis, Membranes, Candy

This lesson was designed for high school biology classes.

Figure 1: Example diagram of passive behavior of various components.

Students should then work with a partner to combine resources to make

The students should first be introduced to the idea of a simple diffusion

Figure 3: Diagram of endocytosis and exocytosis that students can simulate.

Candy Membrane Worksheet

Draw a picture of the membrane you make out of phospholipids:

Where did the water go when the concentration of sugar changed?

Draw what happens in endocytosis/exocytosis in a few steps with simple

Describe the difference between channel and carrier proteins:

What happens when a Na+-K+ pump is run in reverse?

Identify the independent variable:

Identify the dependent variable:

Draw the experimental setup:

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