Educational Resources
Research data, tools, & information available now that can can be used for teaching
Introduction
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In our research, the Allen Institute for Cell Science collects thousands of 3D microscopy images and movies of our fluorescently tagged human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPS cells). We analyze these images to uncover and study underlying mechanisms that drive the complex multi-scale organization and dynamics of the cells.
Many educators have incorporated data, tools, and information they found on allencell.org into how they teach biology. Below, you’ll find ready-to-use lesson plans that use allencell.org data and tools in lessons for high school and college students, as well as quick-start guides for some of our datasets and tools that are most popular with educators. |
Teaching materials
Lesson plans
Learn about principles of cell biology with these short, ready-to-use, fully online activities by Allen Institute staff.
- Healthy Cells, Healthy Bodies introduces middle school students to the link between cellular health and human health. Includes materials needed for a teacher to give the prepared presentation and a video of a scientist giving the presentation that can be played in class.
- Introduction to Microscopy in Biology introduces principles of cell image analysis, with two levels of an interactive activity available for early or advanced high school students. Includes materials needed for a teacher to give the prepared presentation and a video of a scientist giving the presentation that can be played in class.
- Mitosis and Microscopy introduces principles of mitosis and image analysis to advanced high school to early college students. This lesson includes all virtual lab activity materials, as well as a webinar for teachers demonstrating the lesson.
- Visit the Education outreach page on allen institute.org to find additional resources for teaching cell biology, posters for your classroom, and materials for teaching neuroscience and immunology.
A virtual laboratory on cell division using a publicly-available image database
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This ready-to-use, fully online virtual lab experiment teaches principles of mitosis, aimed towards college students.
A virtual laboratory on cell division using a publicly-available image database. Shelden EA, Offerdahl EG, Johnson GT. CourseSource: Evidence-based teaching resources for undergraduate biology education, May 2019.
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How teachers use our resources (videos)
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Three educators who use various resources from allencell.org in their classrooms presented their curricula and data applications to an audience at the American Society for Cell Biology's 2018 ASCB | EMBO Annual Meeting. The speakers present their applications of these data, tools, and approaches in classrooms ranging from high school to advanced college levels.
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Career perspectives: Behind the Scenes of Science
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Behind the Scenes of Science is a webinar series for educators and students to meet the professionals who make our research possible and get a glimpse of the many different careers in science. The series includes interviews with team members from the Allen Institute for Cell Science and other divisions of the Allen Institute.
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Online tools popular with teachers
Get started with some of our engaging resources that are particularly popular with educators. For a brief overview of our research goals, process, and cells, see What We Do.
Quickstart Guide for Teachers
In-depth tips for new users, detailed information on how to view and interact with the data and online tools highlighted in this section, and use cases for each resource in classrooms and curricula.
Visual guide to human cells
This interactive resource designed specifically for students demonstrates major cell structures and their functions in an illustrated model of a real human cell. The illustrated cell model is accompanied by microscope images and videos, written explanations of each structure's function, and illustrations and explanations for each cell structure in each stage of mitosis.
Integrated Mitotic Stem Cell
This visual essay introduces an advanced data-driven model and visualization tool that captures human cell division. This model and the visualizations in the essay follow 15 cell structures through the whole cell cycle.
Cell Feature Explorer
Plot measurements of cell features (e.g. surface area vs volume of various organelles) on an interactive graph and interactively view 3D images of over 200,000 individual human cells including cardiomyocytes.
For a ready-to-use activity applying the Cell Feature Explorer, try the Mitosis and Microscopy (high school level) lesson.
3D Cell Viewer
Browse and view this collection of almost 25,000 individual human cells, as well as over 7,000 cell colony sections (fields of view).
For a ready-to-use activity using the 3D Cell Viewer, try our Introduction to Microscopy in Biology (high school level) or A virtual laboratory on cell division using a publicly-available image dataset (college level) lesson.
About our cells
Observations about cell behavior seen in select cell lines, through both images and video, demonstrate the function of cell structures through vivid visualizations.
Quickstart Guide for Teachers
In-depth tips for new users, detailed information on how to view and interact with the data and online tools highlighted in this section, and use cases for each resource in classrooms and curricula.
Visual guide to human cells
This interactive resource designed specifically for students demonstrates major cell structures and their functions in an illustrated model of a real human cell. The illustrated cell model is accompanied by microscope images and videos, written explanations of each structure's function, and illustrations and explanations for each cell structure in each stage of mitosis.
Integrated Mitotic Stem Cell
This visual essay introduces an advanced data-driven model and visualization tool that captures human cell division. This model and the visualizations in the essay follow 15 cell structures through the whole cell cycle.
Cell Feature Explorer
Plot measurements of cell features (e.g. surface area vs volume of various organelles) on an interactive graph and interactively view 3D images of over 200,000 individual human cells including cardiomyocytes.
For a ready-to-use activity applying the Cell Feature Explorer, try the Mitosis and Microscopy (high school level) lesson.
3D Cell Viewer
Browse and view this collection of almost 25,000 individual human cells, as well as over 7,000 cell colony sections (fields of view).
For a ready-to-use activity using the 3D Cell Viewer, try our Introduction to Microscopy in Biology (high school level) or A virtual laboratory on cell division using a publicly-available image dataset (college level) lesson.
About our cells
Observations about cell behavior seen in select cell lines, through both images and video, demonstrate the function of cell structures through vivid visualizations.