Lesson 6: Toxicants in action: What changes the cell?

In this lesson students explore a variety of toxicants and chemicals that illustrate potential cellular mechanisms of action. By the end of the lesson, students should be able to create a concept map/schematic of basic cellular processes and how these processes can be modified by external chemical influences (i.e. toxicants). This lesson is intended to support the discussion of the biological activity of toxicants (how do chemicals change the cell?).

This is a two-day lesson involving both the toxicant information and the integration of these data into a working understanding of the cell and points of influence/regulation. Students start the lesson by developing a visual conceptualization of the neuron (as a picture of a cell, or a schematic of neuron function). Then students are asked to interpret information about the cellular targets of chemicals (Toxicant Data Sheets). Finally, students integrate these ideas into a working model of how a neuron’s function can be regulated by external chemicals.