My goal is to make interactive science notebooks engaging for 5th grade and middle school science students while improving science test scores. NGSS expert, teacher, tpt author, mom, & widow

Wacky History of the Cell Theory- 6th Grade Science

MS-LS1-1Conduct an investigation to provide evidence that living things are made of cells; either one cell or many different numbers and types of cells. [Clarification Statement: Emphasis is on developing evidence that living things are made of cells, distinguishing between living and non-living things, and understanding that living things may be made of one cell or many and varied cells.]

This is one lesson in the unit teaching this standard.
Did you know that Newton and Hooke had a serious feud or that Leeuwenhoek looked at the bacteria on his teeth? We learned lots of goofy facts along with the history of the cell theory from the TedEd video: Wacky History of the Cell Theory. Rubric here.


Students created poster projects on their scientists showing their contribution to what we know about cells. Great job 6th graders!








Scientists: Each group/student was assigned one below. This worked best in groups of 1 or 2.
  1. Zacharias and Hans Janssen
  2. Robert Hooke
  3. Anton Van Leeuwenhoek
  4. Matthias Schleiden
  5. Theodor Schwann
  6. Robert Remak
  7. Louis Pasteur
  8. Rosalind Franklin
  9. Jonas Salk

Research: What contribution did the scientist make to the discovery of cells.
For 1-6: Watch the TedEd talk  “The Wacky History of the Cell Theory”
Louis Pasteur- TedEd talk “More Than Just a Milkman”
Rosalind Franklin- TedEd talk “DNA’s Unsung Hero”


Poster: Create a poster about the scientist and his/her contribution to what we know about cells. The poster should…

  • Have each group member’s name in the top right corner
  • Have the scientist’s name large enough that it is easy to see
  • The year the scientist made his/her discovery or the years he/she lived.
  • A large drawing showing the scientist’s contribution
  • One sentence telling about how the scientist contributed to our knowledge about cells.