Students compare and contrast passive and active transport by playing a game to model this phenomenon. Movement through cell membranes is also modeled, as well as the structure and movement typical of the fluid mosaic model of the cell membrane. Concentration gradient, sizes, shapes and polarity of molecules determine the method of movement through cell membranes. This activity is associated with the Test your Mettle phase of the legacy cycle.

This is a lab activity which the teacher can use to guide students to carry out experiment to observe osmosis

Biology is designed for multi-semester biology courses for science majors. It is grounded on an evolutionary basis and includes exciting features that highlight careers in the biological sciences and everyday applications of the concepts at hand. To meet the needs of today’s instructors and students, some content has been strategically condensed while maintaining the overall scope and coverage of traditional texts for this course. Instructors can customize the book, adapting it to the approach that works best in their classroom. Biology also includes an innovative art program that incorporates critical thinking and clicker questions to help students understand—and apply—key concepts.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Define osmosis and explain its role within moleculesExplain why osmoregulation and osmotic balance are important body functionsDescribe active transport mechanismsExplain osmolarity and the way in which it is measuredDescribe osmoregulators or osmoconformers and how these tools allow animals to adapt to different environments

This 19-minute video lesson looks at diffusion and osmosis. [Biology playlist: Lesson 36 of 71].

By the end of this section, you will be able to:Explain why and how passive transport occursUnderstand the processes of osmosis and diffusionDefine tonicity and describe its relevance to passive transport

Worksheet that goes over the types of transport associated with a cell membrane.

Students learn about the different structures that comprise cell membranes, fulfilling part of the Research and Revise stages of the legacy cycle. They view online animations of cell membrane dynamics (links provided). Then they observe three teacher demonstrations that illustrate diffusion and osmosis concepts, as well as the effect of movement through a semi-permeable membrane using Lugol's solution.

Learn about diffusion, osmosis, and concentration gradients and why these are important to cells. Created by Sal Khan.

This work consists of original content and adapted OpenStax content. Each image is attributed with the source page in the figure description, in accordance with each respective license. OpenStax content has been remixed into the “Theory and Background,” “Lab Examples,” and “Relations to Health Sciences” sections of this work. OpenStax remixing consists of rearrangement and minor instructional design augmentations. All other sections within this work are originally created content.

Hank describes how cells regulate their contents and communicate with one another via mechanisms within the cell membrane.

Chapters:
1) Passive Transport
2) Diffusion
3) Osmosis
4) Channel Proteins
5) Active Transport
6) ATP
7) Transport Proteins
8) Biolography
9) Vesicular Transport
10) Exocytosis
11) Endocytosis
12) Phagocytosis
13) Pinocytosis
14) Receptor-Mediated Endocytosis

This is a laboratory manual designed for an Introductory Biology Course. Topics covered include Data and Literature, Basic Scientific Skills, the Scientific Method, Macromolecules, Diffiusion and Osmosis, Enzymes, Microscopes and Cells, Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis, The Cell Cycle, Mitosis and Meiosis, Genetics and DNA Fingerprinting. Each lab has a pre-laboratory assignment and post-laboratory assignment for students to complete. Additional resources referenced in the lab are provided, as well as grading rubrics for every assignment and a Lab Instructor Manual that contains lab notes and results from the lab exercises. A recipe list for all reagents is also included. 

This activity is a classroom lab where the students gather data on the affect water has on gummy bear candies and develops an experiment based on a new question regarding a not plain water solution. Students will perform calculations and graph their results.

Using ordinary household materials, student “biomedical engineering” teams design prototype models that demonstrate semipermeability under the hypothetical scenario that they are creating a teaching tool for medical students. Working within material constraints, each model consists of two layers of a medium separated by material acting as the membrane. The competing groups must each demonstrate how water (or another substance) passes through the first layer of the medium, through the membrane, and into the second layer of the medium. After a few test/evaluate/redesign cycles, teams present their best prototypes to the rest of the class. Then student teams collaborate as a class to create one optimal design that reflects what they learned from the group design successes and failures. A pre/post-quiz, worksheet and rubric are provided.

Through two lessons and five activities, students explore the structure and function of cell membranes. Specific transport functions, including active and passive transport, are presented. In the legacy cycle tradition, students are motivated with a Grand Challenge question. As they study the ingress and egress of particles through membranes, students learn about quantum dots and biotechnology through the concept of intracellular engineering.