Materials Required:
Round cake (pre-baked)
Plain white icing
Yellow icing (cytoplasm)
Red Vines or red licorice (cell membrane)
Pull ‘n’ Peel Twizzlers, orange (Golgi complex)
Pull ‘n’ Peel Twizzlers, red (endoplasmic reticulum)
Peanut butter cup (nucleus)
Circle sprinkles (ribosomes)
Sweet Tarts (lysosomes)
Mike and Ike candies (mitochondria)
Jelly beans (vacuoles)
Knife (for cutting candy)
Plates and utensils for serving
Steps Involved:
Prepare the Cake Base: Bake a round cake and let it cool completely. Once cooled, frost the cake with plain white icing to create a smooth surface for decorating.
Create the Cytoplasm: Spread a thin layer of yellow icing over the entire surface of the cake, symbolizing the cytoplasm, the gel-like substance that fills the cell.
Add the Cell Membrane: Wrap Red Vines or red licorice around the edge of the cake to form the cell membrane, which controls what enters and exits the cell.
Place the Nucleus: Position a peanut butter cup in the center of the cake. The outer chocolate layer represents the nucleus, while the creamy center represents the nucleolus, the site of ribosome production.
Form the Golgi Complex: Use the orange Pull ‘n’ Peel Twizzlers to create the Golgi complex by winding them tightly into a small coil. Place this near the nucleus to represent the organelle responsible for packaging and distributing materials within the cell.
Add the Endoplasmic Reticulum: Loosely wind the red Pull ‘n’ Peel Twizzlers to form the endoplasmic reticulum, which surrounds the nucleus and helps in the transportation of materials. Place it around the nucleus.
Scatter the Ribosomes: Sprinkle circle sprinkles around the yellow icing and along the red Twizzlers (endoplasmic reticulum) to represent ribosomes, which are responsible for protein synthesis.
Place the Lysosomes: Position a few Sweet Tarts around the cake to represent lysosomes, the organelles that digest and remove waste.
Add the Mitochondria: Place a few Mike and Ike candies on the cake to represent mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cell that produces energy.
Include the Vacuoles: Finally, add a couple of jelly beans to the cake to represent vacuoles, which store nutrients and waste products.
Discuss and Enjoy: Encourage students to discuss the function of each organelle as they identify the candies on the cake. Once the discussion is complete, serve and enjoy the edible cell model.
Reflect: Reflect on how the activity helped in understanding the animal cell’s structure and how each candy corresponds to a specific organelle’s function.