Cell Membrane and Transport Lab

Teacher Activity Guide

Cell Membrane and

Transport Lab
Teacher Activity Guide
1

Part One: Cell Transport Lab

Students will use a soapy film during an analogous lab experience to
see what substances are able to cross the cell membrane easily. This
lab gives students a hands-on experience working with the
hydrophobic and hydrophilic nature of the cell membrane. This lab
gives students an introduction to passive transport.
Students read the background information and answer the prelab
questions.
Teacher Notes:
I used Dawn dish soap in a 4 by 4 square glass Tupperware. I used
yarn for the string.
Teacher Answer Key PreLab Questions:
1. Where is the cell membrane located? On the outside of the cell
2. What is the function of the cell membrane? Decides what can
enter or leave the cell
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3. What is another name for the cell membrane? Plasma

membrane. Can be described as having a lipid bilayer.
4. What does selectively permeable mean? Selectively permeable
means that some substances can enter while others cannot
5. What is the difference between active and passive transport?
Passive transport does not require energy while active transport
does. Passive transport includes osmosis and diffusion moving
substances along the concentration gradient. Active transport is
able to move things against the concentration gradient.
Expected Results From Part One Lab:
Dry finger = pops film
Wet finger = enters without popping film
Soapy finger = enters without popping film
Dry condiment Cup = pops film
Soapy condiment cup = enters without popping film
Teacher Answer Key Part One Conclusion Questions:
1. What part of the cell does the soapy solution in the frame
represent? Cell membrane
2. What does your finger represent in this demonstration?
Something trying to enter the cell
3. What does the condiment cup allow you to do? It allows you to
pass objects that would otherwise pop the film
4. What does the condiment cup represent in a real plasma
membrane? This represents proteins in the plasma membrane
that provide channels or tunnels for the passage of molecules or
ions.
5. How does the soap film demonstrate the selectively permeable
nature of the plasma membrane? A dry finger pops the film while
a wet finger does not thus demonstrating the selective nature of
the cell membrane.
Part Two: Exploring Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic
Now students will experiment with various substances to see what
pops the film and what they are able to pass through the cell
membrane without popping the film. Students will use the blank lab

report form to record the steps of their investigation. Remind students

that they can mix substances together to create a solution.
The teacher should decide whether to have each group test one
substance or have each group test several different substances. I had
each group test a different substance and then the groups shared their
data. Then students used the class data to do their analysis.
Students should only use the front page of the lab report form.
Teacher Answer Key Part Two Conclusion Questions:
1. What substances were you able to poke through the film without
popping it? What do these substances have in common?
Depends on what you tested
2. What substances popped the film? What do these substances
have in common? Depends on what you tested
3. What is the difference between hydrophilic and hydrophobic?
Hydrophilic means lipid soluble or water loving and hydrophobic
means water hating.
4. Why is the cell membrane called a lipid bilayer? Because there
are two layers of lipids with the hydrophilic ends on the outside
and the hydrophobic ends on the inside.
5. If the soapy film was actually the cell membrane, what
substances you tested would need assistance being transported
into the cell? All substances that popped the film would need
assistance being transported into the cell
Bonus Question:
Why is it important that the cell membranes are composed of lipids?
Lipids do not dissolve in water because of their hydrophobic tails faces
out. Thus the cell membrane will not dissolve in the water inside or
outside of the cell.
Part Three: Passive Transport Demonstrations
Teacher Answer Key
Demonstration #1
1. The colander represents what organelle of a cell? Cell membrane
2. The salt is small enough to pass through, but the beans are too
large. In a cell, water, carbon dioxide, and oxygen are small
enough to cross the cell membrane but larger particles cannot
cross. The cell membrane is selectively permeable, which means
that some substances pass though while others do cannot.

3. The movement of water molecules through a selectively permeable

membrane is called osmosis
Demonstration #2
1. What happened to the food coloring after it entered the beaker? It
spread out
2. Diffusion is the movement of particles (like the food coloring) from
areas of high concentration to an area of low concentration until the
concentration in both areas is uniform.
3. How does this idea of diffusion relate to the smell when you spray
perfume in a room? The perfume will spread out in the room,
diffusing like the food coloring in the beaker of water.
4. How is osmosis related to diffusion? Osmosis is a type of diffusion. It
is the diffusion of water.
Part Four: Egg-citing Egg-speriment
Now students will experiment with osmosis and diffusion by
submerging their de-shelled egg in a substance of their choice. As a
measurement of change students will record observations regarding
mass, circumference, texture, and color.
First students will remove the eggshell by soaking it in vinegar. Vinegar
is an acid called acetic acid (CH3COOH).2 White vinegar from the store
is normally 4% vinegar and 96% water. Eggshells are made of calcium
carbonate (CaCO3). The acetic acid in the vinegar reacts with the
calcium carbonate in the eggshells to make calcium acetate plus water
and carbon dioxide bubbles that you immediately see on the surface of
the egg once it is submerged in vinegar.
Teacher Background Information:
The chemical reaction is
2 CH3COOH + CaCO3 = Ca (CH3COO)2 + H2O + CO2
Acetic Acid + Calcium carbonate = Calcium Acetate + water + Carbon
dioxide
I have also read the reaction written as 3
CaCO3+ 2 CH3CO2H = H2CO3 + 2CH3CO2
Calcium Carbonate + Acetic Acid = Carbonic Acid + Acetate
The egg will get slightly bigger after soaking it in vinegar because
some of the water in the vinegar solution entered the egg through
osmosis. Eggs membrane is making an effort to equalize the
2 From Naked Eggs and Flying Potatoes by Steve Spangler page 87
3 From Human Body Explorations Naked Egg Experiment published by Exploratorium

concentration of water on both sides of the membrane. Students can

gently rub the sides of the egg to encourage the removal of the shell.
Be careful they do not rub too hard because they will pop the egg.
Once all the calcium carbonate shell is removed you are left with a
white membrane. The de-shelled eggs are a good model of human
cells. The white membrane of the egg is selectively permeable like cell
membrane in human cells as well as the egg being a single cell. The
white membrane of the egg is actually two membranes held tightly
together.
After the eggshell is removed they will soak it in water to reset the
egg. The next day students bring in the substance of their choice. I do
not let the kids bring any alcohol or bleach. Anything too alkaline or
basic will simply pop the egg.
Teacher Answer Key: Egg-Speriment Conclusion Questions
1. Why did we remove the eggshell first? We remove the eggshell
(or calcium carbonate) so we are left only with the white
selectively permeable membrane to model a cell membrane.
2. What happened to the egg when it was placed in vinegar?
Explain why this happened or what process occurred? The egg
bubbles because of a chemical reaction between the calcium
carbonate and the acetic acid. The eggs mass grew and the
circumference expanded because water from the vinegar
solution entered the egg.
3. What do you think would happen if you placed the egg in syrup?
Explain your answer. The egg would shrink and lose mass
because the water in the egg is exiting the egg to try to balance
the low concentration of water on the outside of the egg.
4. How did the appearance of your egg change over the past week?
(color, texture etc). depends on what substance they used. If the
egg is soaked or buried in a substance where the concentration
of water is lower than the inside of the egg, the water will move
from the egg across the membrane into the solution. As a result
the egg will lose mass and reduce the circumference. This is
what will happen if the egg is put in syrup, salt or baking soda. If
the egg is placed in distilled water or some substance where the
concentration of water is higher outside the egg, the water
moves into the egg and increases mass and circumference.
5. How did your egg change as far as mass and circumference
when placed in the liquid of your choice? What process occurred?
Depends on substance

6. If you placed an indoor plant in a high concentration of salt

water, what would happen? Why? Cells would lose water and die.
This would be due to osmosis and the movement of water (in
high concentration in the cells) from the inside to the outside of
the cell.
7. Were your hypotheses correct for how the egg would change
over the course of the experiment? Use data from the
experiment to support your answer. Answers vary.
8. Draw a graph of your results (time on the x axis and
circumference or mass on the y axis). Answers Vary
9. The red blood cells labeled A are normal cells. B cells are in a
hypotonic solution and C cells are in hypertonic solutions.
Teacher notes:
I do not let the kids bring any alcohol or bleach. Anything too
alkaline or basic will simply pop the egg.
Students can gently rub the sides of the egg to encourage the
removal of the shell. Be careful they do not rub too hard
because they will pop the egg.
Circumference measurements are usually inaccurate because it
is hard to measure at the same place each day. This provides for
an interesting discussion about sources of error.
One of the conclusion questions refers to what would happen if
the egg was put in syrup. I try to make sure not too many kids
use syrup for their experiment and I may challenge a talented
student that used syrup by changing the question to some
substance they didnt use like distilled water or salt.
Example substances students can soak their egg in include salt,
salt solution, distilled water, honey, soda, juice, rubbing alcohol,
baking soda, sugar.

California State Standards:

Life Science Grade Seven
Cell Biology
1. All living organisms are composed of cells, from just one to many
trillions, whose details usually are visible only through a microscope. As
a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know cells function similarly in all living organisms.
Investigation and Experimentation
7. Scientific progress is made by asking meaningful questions and
conducting careful investigations. As a basis for understanding this
concept and addressing the content in the other three strands,
students should develop their own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
a. Select and use appropriate tools and technology (including
calculators, computers, balances, spring scales, microscopes, and
binoculars) to perform tests, collect data, and display data.
c. Communicatethelogicalconnectionamonghypotheses,science
concepts,tests conducted, data collected, and conclusions drawn from
the scientific evidence.
Biology/Life Sciences
Cell Biology
1. The fundamental life processes of plants and animals depend on a
variety of chemi cal reactions that occur in specialized areas of the
organisms cells. As a basis for understanding this concept:
a. Students know cells are enclosed within semipermeable membranes
that regulate their interaction with their surroundings.
Additional Teacher Background information:
Passive Processes
The two important passive processes of membrane transport are
diffusion and filtration. Diffusion is an important transport process for
every cell in the body. By contrast, filtration usually occurs only across
capillary walls. Recall that all molecules possess kinetic energy and are
in constant motion. At a specific temperature, given molecules have
about the same average kinetic energy. Since kinetic energy is directly
related to both mass and velocity (KE = 12mv2), smaller molecules
tend to move faster. As molecules move about randomly at high
speeds, they collide and ricochet off one another, changing direction
with each collision. Although individual molecules cannot be seen, the
random motion of small particles suspended in water can be observed.

Diffusion
When a difference in concentrations exists, the net effect of this

random molecular movement is that the molecules eventually become

evenly distributed throughout the environment, that is, the process
called diffusion occurs. Hence, diffusion is the movement of molecules
from a region of their higher concentration to a region of their lower
concentration. Its driving force is the kinetic energy of the molecules
themselves. There are many examples of diffusion in nonliving
systems. For example, if a bottle of ether was uncorked at the front of
the laboratory, very shortly thereafter you would be nodding as the
ether molecules became distributed throughout the room. The ability
to smell a friends cologne shortly after he or she has entered the room
is another example. The diffusion of particles into and out of cells is
modified by the plasma membrane, which constitutes a physical
barrier. In general, molecules diffuse passively through the plasma
membrane if they can dissolve in the lipid portion of the membrane (as
in the case of CO2 and O2). The diffusion of solutes (particles dissolve in
water) through a selectively permeable membrane is called diffusion.
The diffusion of water through a selectively permeable membrane is
called osmosis. Both diffusion and osmosis involve the movement of a
substance from an area of its higher concentration of one of its lower
concentration, that is, down its concentration gradient. Certain
molecules, for example glucose, and ions move through the membrane
by a passive transport process called facilitated diffusion. The
transported substance either (1) binds to protein carriers in the
membrane and is ferried across or (2) moves through water-filled
protein channels. As with simple diffusion, the substance moves down
in concentration gradient.