- 1). Purchase a 12-inch Styrofoam sphere or half-sphere from a craft store. If you buy a full sphere, cut it in half carefully with a box cutter.
- 2). Cover a workspace with newspaper and place the half-sphere flat side down. Spray the curved side only with Styrofoam-friendly spray paint, to represent the cell membrane. Check the label on the can if you’re not sure whether the paint is appropriate for this project, because some paint will eat away at Styrofoam. You may need to spray on two coats of paint for full coverage. Let the paint dry before proceeding.
- 3). Cut a paper towel tube in half with your box cutter or scissors to end up with a shorter tube. Spray paint it, if desired, and then glue one end of the tube perpendicular to the rounded side of the half-sphere; when the tube is standing on its other end, the flat side of the Styrofoam will be vertical or at a slight upward diagonal. This orientation will give viewers the best view of your cell model.
- 4). Cut a hole out of the center of the cell’s flat side, about three inches in diameter. This hole will be the cell’s nucleus.
- 5). Wad up several pipe cleaners into a jumble of spirals. Insert those spirals into the nucleus to represent the chromatin, the part of the cell that contains DNA. Roll a small ball of modeling clay and stick it onto a toothpick. Stick the toothpick into the side of the nucleus so that the ball, representing the nucleolus, floats among the chromatin.
- 6). Construct other components of a cell from modeling clay, using a picture of a cell to guide you in shaping the clay. Make mitochondria, lysosomes, ribosomes, the smooth and rough endoplasmic reticulum and other cell anatomy. Insert a toothpick into each sculpted part and stick the toothpick into the Styrofoam cell so that the clay sits flush with the foam.
- 7). Write the name of each part of the cell onto a small label. Glue the label to a toothpick and insert the appropriate toothpick into each part.
- 8). Glue the paper towel roll securely to a base, such as a sturdy piece of cardboard or wood, so that the cell stands up.
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