CELL SONGS

Using song to help students learn science is a powerful tool. Below are some songs
which help students learn about cells. My research indicates that the songs should be
played more than once. I give students a copy of the lyrics to glue in their science
notebook. The songs are on YOUTUBE and have videos as well.
On the next few pages I have included the lyrics, too. Many of my students say that
they use the songs in middle school and high school biology, too. They make wonderful
refreshers at that point when the students need to connect past learning with more
advanced concepts.
CELLS CELLS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-zafJKbMPA8

CELL SONG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rABKB5aS2Zg

CELLS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZK6YP1Smbxk

MITOSIS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPLTDVXCEqQ

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1_uez5WX1o

CELLS CELLS

Original Rap by Ms. Quitmeyer

Today's the day were gonna learn about the cell
If I teach it okay, you'll know it very well
So listen up 6th graders-no room left for haterslets talk about the building blocks of life- cells that make us.
Chorus:
Cells, cells they're made of organelles
Try to pull a fast one, the cytoplasm gels
The nucleus takes over controllin' everything
The party don't stop 'till the membrane blocks the scene
Inside the vacuole we can float around for hours
Running round with chloroplasts, lovin' sunlight showers
Cells, cells, they're made of organelles
First things first, there's two different typesanimal and plant cells that make up all life.
The little things that make up microscopic cells,
The main structures- yeah, we call them organelles.
Now let's break it down and get some informationHow do cells work? It's a crazy combination!
-ChorusThe cell membrane is the border patrol,
Who can cross over? The membrane lets 'em know
The gooey stuff inside, is called the cytoplasm
It holds the organelles- don't worry, plasm-has 'em!
In the middle of the cell you'll find the big brain,
The nucleus surrounded by nuclear membrane
Don't forget the vacuole filled up with water
It's a basic need for life when this rap keeps getting hotter!
-ChorusThe mitchondria's something every cell needs,
Breaking down the food and releasin' energy.
There's a place inside the cell where chemicals are stored, the squiggly golgi
bodies, releasin' even more.

Yo hangin' in the cell is endoplasmic reticulum, synthesizin' enzymes for

respiration, and um...
If you still think that this rap is whack, remember ribosomes making proteins
gettin' jacked!
-ChorusLookin at the plant cell, weird and green
two more parts is all it takes you see?
Cell wall knows what's up when it comes to keepin' structure
Strong with cellulose, this cell can't get much tougher.
C-H- L-O- R-O -- Plast,
These little green machines are havin' a blast
Photosythenisizing- filled with chlorophyll
-they hit the cell club, runnin' up a high bill-

CELL SONG
Glen Wolkenfeld

I went into a cell, to get out of the rain,

and there was the gatekeeper, the cell membrane.
I went into a cell, and what did I see, the mitochondria, it's the energy factory.
I went into a cell, and said "who drives this bus" and found myself talking to the
boss, the nucleus.
I went into a cell, to recover from a spasm, and found myself swimming in some
clear cytoplasm.
I went into the nucleus to ask how to get home, and got genetic info, stored in a
chromosome.
I went into a cell, and stretching o' so far, was a thin and wavy network, it's called
the E.R.
I went into a cell, trying not to be perplexed, by the packaging and sorting in the
Golgi complex.
I went into a cell, and said "who makes proteins here?" and somebody
responded "it's the ribosome, my dear."
I went into a cell, and was feeling pretty fine, till a lysosome engulfed me, and
dissolved me in enzymes.
I went into a cell, and was feeling pretty nimble, till a centriole lassoed me, tying
me up in a spindle.
I went into a plant cell to see how trees get so tall, and all around the outside was
a rigid cell wall.
I went into a plant cell, "why's it so green I asked?" "'Cause I make food from
sunlight," said a green chloroplast.
I went into a plant cell to see how plant cells store food, when a vacuole informed
me that he was the storage dude.
So when you go inside a cell, remember what you see, There's over a trillion
cells in both you and me.
Just sing this song if you ever feel confusion, and remember active transport is
the opposite of diffusion.

Cells
by They Might Be Giants
Life is made out of cells and cells make copies of themselves
And they make copies of themselves and they make copies of themselves
Different cells have different jobs - but they all have one thing in common
Inside of every cell is a twisted ladder a recipe for life called DNA
The directions are written out in the ladders rungs where they can be found
In every cell of everything that lives
A cell knows what it has to do to grow into some moss or a shrew
Algae or a kangaroo - Bug or a sunflower
Dwight David Eisenhower - A frog, a fish, or you
Cells are small too small to see but together they can make a tree
Within the cell theres a tiny spiral staircase
That tells the cell just how its going to grow
The instructions are spelled out in letters one on every step
In a language that the cell knows how to read
Inside a cell is a tiny double-helix another fancy word for DNA
Which could also be a spiral stair case which could also be
A twisted ladder which could also be a spring
Which could also be a spiral stair case which could also be
A twisted ladder or a crazy looking spring!

MITOSIS
This is for the kids, you know
Yeah, keep this.
Im about to tell yall the five steps of mitosis
But not that corny way, you know....

I is for interphase is that one? the step before mitosis has begun.
Ps for prophase is that two? The chromosome doubles on thats what they do.
M is for metaphase is that three? The chromosomes line up as you can see.
A is for anaphase is that four? As chromosomes run away from the core.
T is for telephase, is that five? Dot.
Two daughter cells remain in both of our lives, Ike.
Mitosis tells all my cells to divide.
Each cell puts chromosomes to opposite sides
and makes daughter cells that are two of a kind.
two of a kind.