How does the cell sustain itself?

The goal in this game is to prevent the cell from dying of alcohol poisoning. Each turn molecules of alcohol move into the cell. At a certain level, the cell dies. Players perform and coordinate the cell’s activities to metabolize the alcohol. To win the game, players will have to use glucose to produce ATP that powers their actions in the cell, to build and repair organelles, and to create different enzymes and distribute them to various parts of the cell.

Through this game students gain a better understanding of what the parts of a cell do by actually doing the things that occur in that part, instead of simply reading the text or having me lecture. However, students also gain an appreciation for the complexity of a single cell; that all the actions they took and timed correctly are part of a dynamic system that is incredibly robust.