Osmosis Practice

This activity was created for remote learning for students to practice identifying hypotonic and hypertonic solutions and determining which direction water will flow.

The activity features 4 slides with cells in various solutions of glucose or glucose + sodium. Next to each graphic is a chart that asks students to answer questions about the % in and out of the cell.

The final slide shows a graphic of a T-tube with a semipermeable membrane divider for students to label (drag and drop).

This topic can be challenging for some students, because they can’t quite visualize why water is moving toward the side with the most solutes. I teach them that the rule is “salt sucks” and then expand that to other stuff, like sugar. The questions also require students to do a little math (add and subtract) to determine what percentage of water is in and out of the cell. This can also help them understand that water will flow toward the area with the lower percent of water. Like with regular diffusion, water will flow down the concentration gradient.

Student slides are available for free. The TpT link leads to the answer key plus a PowerPoint version of the activity.