Make an animal cell out of candy for a sweet science project that will steal the stomachs of your classmates. By purchasing an oversized, prebaked sugar cookie, you will save valuable time on this project. Since you will need only one of several candies, look in the bulk candy bins where you can buy candy by the pound for your cell organelles. If you cannot find a candy listed here, look for available candies that have the same physical characteristics as the organelles that are represented.
- White frosting
- Large sugar cookie
- Spatula
- Sour Punch rope candy
- Strawberry puff
- Gobstopper
- Fruit Leather
- Nerds Rope
- 1 teaspoon candy sprinkles
- Miniature peanut butter cup
- 6 gumballs
- Boston baked bean
- 5 jelly beans
Prepare this project no more than 24 hours ahead of time so the cookie and frosting are safe to eat.
Spread a thick layer of white frosting over the surface of a large sugar cookie using a spatula. This will serve as cytoplasm.
Line the top edge of the cookie with Sour Punch rope candy to form the cell membrane.
Press a strawberry puff into the center of the frosted cookie, as the nucleus. Dip one side of a Gobstopper into the white frosting and push it into the top of the strawberry puff for the nucleolus.
Fold a piece of fruit leather into an accordion shape and place it somewhere near the strawberry puff in the frosting; this is the smooth endoplasmic reticulum (ER) of the cell. Lay a piece of Nerds rope in the frosting next to the smooth ER to represent the rough ER.
Sprinkle 1 teaspoon of candy sprinkles over the surface of the frosting to create the cell’s ribosomes. Position a miniature peanut butter cup, ridges facing up, on the cookie cell for the Golgi body. Press six gumballs all across the frosting for the lysosomes.
Push a Boston Baked Bean near the nucleus as the centrosome. Add five jelly beans at random across the frosting for the cell vacuoles.
Things You'll Need
Tips
References
Tips
- Prepare this project no more than 24 hours ahead of time so the cookie and frosting are safe to eat.
About the Author
Miranda Brumbaugh enjoys covering travel, social issues, foster care, environmental topics, crafting and interior decorating. She has written for various websites, including National Geographic Green Living and Dremel. Brumbaugh studied in Mexico before graduating with a Master of Science in sociology from Valdosta State University.
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