Cell Organelle Stations Digital Lab | Prokaryotic vs Eukaryotic Cells & Organelle Function Investigations

Students rotate through interactive stations to investigate organelle functions using real diseases, poisons, organisms, and scientific evidence.

This digital stations lesson introduces cell organelles through a set of structured, problem-based activities that move students beyond memorization and toward conceptual understanding. Students encounter organelles in multiple contexts—comparison, malfunction, analogy, adaptation, and scientific discovery—so they learn not just what organelles are, but why they matter.

Rather than relying on notes alone, this lesson uses stations to require students to apply organelle knowledge in unfamiliar situations, strengthening transfer and long-term understanding.

Lesson Structure

Students rotate through five stations, each designed to highlight organelle structure and function in a different way:

Station 1: Cell Type Comparison
Students compare viruses, prokaryotes, and eukaryotes to identify which structures are present or absent and what that means for cellular function.

Station 2: Organelle Malfunction
Using a reference sheet, students analyze either genetic diseases or poisons to determine which organelles are affected and how those malfunctions produce specific symptoms.

Station 3: Organelle Analogies
Students complete an analogy-based memory activity that matches organelles to functional equivalents, reinforcing purpose and role rather than location alone.

Station 4: Unusual Organisms
Students examine atypical organisms (such as parasitic plants) and reason about how their cellular structures may differ from closely related organisms.

Station 5: Scientific Discovery
Students explore historical experiments that revealed organelle function and match each experiment to the organelle it helped explain.

What Students Practice

• Organelle structure and function
• Comparison of cell types
• Cause-and-effect reasoning
• Application of biology concepts in new contexts
• Scientific reasoning and evidence
• Vocabulary in meaningful use

Why Teachers Use This Lesson

• Moves students beyond memorization
• Encourages reasoning and discussion
• Works well for stations or small groups
• Supports diverse learners through varied task types
• Integrates reading, analysis, and application
• Minimal prep required

Format

This resource is a digital stations lesson (Google Slides compatible).

Includes:
✔ Five complete station activities
✔ Student recording slides
✔ Reference materials
✔ Teacher answer key
✔ Printable literacy-based exit ticket

Best Fit For

• Middle school life science
• High school biology
• Cell structure and function units
• Review or enrichment
• Inquiry-based instruction
• Sub plans or station days

Grade Level Recommendation

Recommended grade range:
Grades 7–10

Primary placement

• Grade 8 life science

• Grade 9 biology

Why this range fits

This lesson goes well beyond basic organelle identification and requires students to:

• Compare prokaryotic vs. eukaryotic cells

• Apply organelle function to diseases, poisons, and real organisms

• Interpret scientific evidence and historical experiments

• Make claim–evidence–reasoning arguments

• Navigate choice-based differentiation (blue square vs. black diamond)

That cognitive load is ideal for:

• middle school students who are ready for conceptual biology, and

• high school students in introductory or standard biology courses.

Upper end justification (Grade 10)

• The How the Heck Do We Know This? station

• The experimental reasoning and historical science context

These elements work especially well for:

• on-level Grade 9–10 biology

• honors Grade 9

• review or enrichment in Grade 10

Lower end caveat (Grade 7)

• Best suited for advanced Grade 7 or classes with strong scaffolding

• Teachers may choose to omit the black diamond claims or limit station choices

To preview this lesson, click here.

Cross-Curricular Connections:

• ELA Integration: Students summarize information from each station to practice informational writing.

• Art Integration: Diagram labeling and creative analogies (e.g., “cell city” representations).

Daily slide + literacy - based exit ticket included with purchase

Join the Lesson Laboratory and Teach for Tomorrow!

NGSS (Next Generation Science Standards)

• HS-LS1-2: Develop and use a model to illustrate the hierarchical organization of interacting systems that provide specific functions within multicellular organisms. (connection: organelles as specialized sub-systems within the cell)
  

• HS-LS1-3: Plan and conduct an investigation to provide evidence that feedback mechanisms maintain homeostasis. (connection: organelles such as lysosomes, mitochondria, and membranes supporting balance and function)
  

• Science & Engineering Practices: Developing and using models; Planning and carrying out investigations; Engaging in argument from evidence.

• Crosscutting Concepts: Systems and system models; Structure and function; Cause and effect.

Common Core Alignment 

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.9-10.4: Determine the meaning of scientific vocabulary (mitochondria, chloroplast, ribosome).
  

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RST.9-10.7: Integrate visual and textual information (organelles and their functions).
  

• CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.WHST.9-10.2: Write short explanations summarizing organelle functions and relationships.