Note you may do your comic by hand or you may use the following site: http://www.makebeliefscomix.com/

Cells are awesome.  One time, about 38 years ago, a bunch of cells got together and decided to be me for a few years and my life was never the same.  True story.  Because of this awesomeness, cells deserve more than just a simple page or two in a text book.  They deserve to be immortalized in an epic story of totally epic proportions.  It is this epic task that I now pass on to you.  You must make a comic strip/graphic novel in which you make it clear how epically awesome the cell is.  You can do a wide variety of things, such as:

a.     Using the cell parts as your characters in an adventure

b.     Use the cell as the setting for an adventure

c.     Use the cell parts as your characters and other cell parts as the setting

d.     Have a cell go on a quest

e.     Have a hero go on a quest for a cell

f.      Have a cell go on a quest for a hero

g.     Have a quest go on a hero for a cell

h.     Quest a hero a cell on go have

i.      Some other arrangement of those same words

j.      Etc.

To do this cells project justice you must first learn about how epically awesome cells are.  To aid your learning on this subject, I have put together a list of videos and websites that might be of use to you.  Start by visiting the sites and watching the videos to gain a basic understanding of the material.  (If you have a computer, click the link.  If you have a Smartphone, scan the QR code.)  Take notes on what is there so you can have all the information from many different places all in one location.  Put your initials in the box next to the video or website to let everyone know that you have actually visited it.

When you have completed the “learning” portion of the project, you can then move on to the “activity” part.  This is where your comic/graphic novel comes in.  You must include the following somewhere in the comic:

1.     Explanations of the important structural bits and functions of the following cell parts:  cell membrane, nucleus, ribosome, vacuole, golgi apparatus, mitochondria, chloroplast, endoplasmic reticulum, cytoskeleton, lysosomes, and intercellular  junctions.

2.     Cell vocabulary.  This includes organelles, processes (like diffusion and osmosis), etc.  It is no good making an epic graphic novel about a humble cell’s growth from simple pupil to wizened master ninja if you don’t learn any vocabulary while doing it.  Don’t just throw in a word here and there – make sure you use it properly.

The comic must be neat, tidy, and easy to read.  I leave the artistic style up to you.

A quick note on length.  I am not one to specify how long a particular essay or comic has to be, but I do expect a certain “completeness” to the project.  If your project is 30 pages long but leaves out key parts, don’t expect the its length to save your grade.  On the other hand, if your project is only 1 page long but contains all of the necessary bits, you will be just fine*.  Typical projects are more than ”a few” and less than “too many” pages long.

I look forward to reading these!