Teaching about Cell Transport - Animations and Other Resources

Teaching Cell Transport is one of my favorite topics to teach.  Usually it's late October and my students have gotten through biochemistry and the organelles and are wondering how it all fits together.  Watching the light bulbs in my students' heads go on when they finally understand how materials get in and out of the cell is exciting!  

This subject really lends itself to showing animations.  Fortunately, there are some really great free animations on the web!  Here are a bunch that I have used in the past.  I find that the more animations I show during this unit, the better students understand the unit.  They really love them and I know many of my students like to have a link list to study from at home! (These links work as of 11/21/2014.)

Diffusion: 
http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072495855/student_view0/chapter2/animation__how_diffusion_works.html

http://esminfo.prenhall.com/science/BiologyArchive/lectureanimations/closerlook/diffusion.html

http://www.stolaf.edu/people/giannini/flashanimat/transport/diffusion.swf

Osmosis:
http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072495855/student_view0/chapter2/animation__how_osmosis_works.html

http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/9834092339/student_view0/chapter38/animation_-_osmosis.html

http://www.stolaf.edu/people/giannini/flashanimat/transport/osmosis.swf

Facilitated Diffusion:
http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072495855/student_view0/chapter2/animation__how_facilitated_diffusion_works.html

http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire/content/chp05/0502001.html

Active Transport:
http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0072495855/student_view0/chapter2/animation__how_the_sodium_potassium_pump_works.html

http://sites.sinauer.com/neuroscience5e/animations04.02.html

Secondary Active Transport:
http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/9834092339/student_view0/chapter5/secondary_active_transport.html

http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire/content/chp05/0502002.html

Endocytosis and Exocytosis:
http://highered.mheducation.com/olcweb/cgi/pluginpop.cgi?it=swf::535::535::/sites/dl/free/0072437316/120068/bio02.swf::Endocytosis+and+Exocytosis

http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire8e/content/cat_040/0504003.html

Other Resources for Teaching Cell Transport

Two year olds like osmosis coloring pages too.
Hey, gotta start 'em young, right?

There is a limit to animations.  Some students have limited access to a computer at home that will play these animations.  Smartphones often have trouble playing online animations (at least in my experience).  I also firmly believe students need something in their hands, a paper resource to write on, take notes on, in order to absorb the material.  This is why I created my Cell Transport Coloring Activity Pages.  Each process, diffusion, osmosis, facilitated diffusion, active transport, and endo/exocytosis, has its own coloring page and questions that are meant to get students thinking on a higher level.

Within this bundle of activities, I have my favorite resource for teaching about the sodium potassium pump. I have a page with 6 diagrams that show students step-by-step what happens in the sodium potassium pump cycle and another coloring page connecting this important transporter to the sodium glucose transporter.

You can find my Cell Transport Activities here:

What unique activities do you do when teaching cell transport?  I am always looking for new ideas to try!  Let me know in the comments!