Duration: 130 min
Plant and
animal cells
Grades: 6 - 8
CCSS, NGSS
What are cells?
 Cells are tiny building blocks that make up all living things.
 They are so small you need a microscope to see them.
 Some living things, like bacteria, are made of just one cell, while others, like
us, have trillions of cells working together.
Light and Electron Microscope
• A light microscope is a piece of equipment which allows you to see
very small objects. It uses light and lenses to magnify things.
• Electron microscopes are big and expensive, but they can magnify
specimens up to 1 million times.
Parts of the Light Microscope
Plant cells
• Plant cells are often larger than animal cells, so it is easy to see
them under a microscope.
The structure of a plant cell
• 1. Cell wall
• 2. Cell membrane
• 3. Cytoplasm
• 4. Nucleus
• 5. Large vacuole
• 6. Chloroplast
• 7. Mitochondrion
Animal cells
• Animal cells are generally smaller than plant cells.
Main structure of animal cells
• 1. Cell membrane
• 2. Cytoplasm
• 3. Nucleus
• 4. Mitochondrion