Cells Investigation
What are cells? How do cells play a part in the development of the world? What is
the function of cells? These are the questions, which I had to answer when conducting my
investigation. I looked into the microscope at multiple different substances, which gave me
a clear view at all the cells within them. Looking at these substances, I was able to see a
variety of different cells; in different stages of development; some cells in a more advanced
stage than others, but still gave me a clear view at them in their development. The human
body contains many different organs, such as the heart, lung, and kidney, with each organ
performing a different function. Cells also have a set of "little organs," called organelles,
which are adapted and/or specialized for carrying out one or more vital functions. Both
eukaryotic and prokaryotic cells have organelles but organelles in eukaryotes are generally
more complex and may be membrane bound. “This image, is of Mr. Miller’s saliva; you
can clearly see all cells, and cell membranes, and as well as some cells in the stage of
mitosis.” You can also see some prokaryotic cells in which are different from eukaryotic
cells because of the nucleus; eukaryotic cells don’t have a nucleus, as appose to prokaryotic
cells which do have a nucleus. Prokaryotic cells are the small clear circles, containing
smaller substances as well on the inside of it. Eukaryotic cells are the cells that are inside
the larger blue cell in the middle, but are small and black.
Human cells are no different than animal cells. So human and animal cells are
heterotrophic requiring complex organic molecules and producing energy through
cellular respiration. Additionally, animal cells have centrioles and may have cilia
or flagella. During mitosis, the cytoplasm of the cell is divided by formation of a
cleavage furrow. Animal cells tend to be smaller than human cells.
This is a photo of a snail that we took out of Mr. Miller’s fish tank. As you can
clearly see the snail is not showing any cells, at this magnification. Even though
you can’t see any of the cells, they are almost exactly the same as those of Mr.
Miller’s cheek. Animal cells are like a eukaryotic cell, but have a plasma
membrane and organelles. are one of the structurally complex cell type, and by
definition are in part organized by smaller interior compartments, that are
themselves enclosed by lipid membranes that resemble the outermost cell
membrane.
Animal and plant cells have some similarities and differences.
Understanding basic cell structure helps to understand how plant cells differ from
animal cells. Both animal and plant cells have some similar structural elements.
First off they are both eukaryotic, which means they have a defined nucleus. The
nucleus contains chromosomes. It is protected and covered by the cytoplasm;
which is a watery or gel-like liquid. Further, animal and plant cells have a cell
membrane that covers the cell. This lets the cell exert control, in most cases, over
what can penetrate the cell, and what cannot. Animal cells like the snail do not
have rigid cell walls like plant cells. This allows animal cells to form and adopt
various shapes. A type of animal cell called the phagocyte cell can even absorb
other structures. This ability is not inherent in plant cells. But unlike Animal cells,
plant cells have chloroplasts for the utilization of sunlight and this is what also
gives plant cells their green color. It is with the help of chloroplasts that contain
chlorophyll, the plant cells perform the function of photosynthesis which is a
process absent in animal cells. This next photo of Aloe gell, will give you a perfect
view point of what to look for in comparison to the snail. Even though it’s not
really a comparison, because of the snail’s gelatinous form; you can’t really see
any of the cells that it produces It will still give you a good idea of what to be able
to look for in the different photos.
This is the Aloe gell,
which was taken from an aloe plant in Mr. Miller’s room. As you can compare it to
the snail, you will be able to see that there is not a huge difference, but a slight
difference between the two. The reason that you can see all the individual cells
within the aloe is because, Plant cells also contain a larger central vacuole
compared to animal cells. Also, while animal cells depend on an analogous system
of gap-junctions that allows communication between cells, the plant cells use
linking pores in their cell wall to connect to each other and pass information.
Different forms of terrain, or environment, will also play a part in what and where
cells are in their development.
This is the picture of a plant that was at
the bottom of Lake Dylan, and was preserved in my fish tank. I scrapped some of
the slime/ goo off of the leaf and found this beautiful discovery. Not only is this
clear in terms of what cells you can see. For example, you can see more than one
cell in the stage of mitosis, and several in the form of meiosis. This is beautiful,
because it gave me so much to work with and define what the cells were what
stage of development the cells were in. There is another major difference between
plant and animal cells. While the previous turn carbon dioxide into sugar, it is the
animal cells that break the sugar back down to carbon dioxide to make energy.
This also shows the cyclic functions of Nature and the interdependence of
organisms through which Life on earth revolutionizes. Cells are some of the most
important things to all living things on this earth. They are the building blocks, to
our species, they are they are the thing that keeps us alive. They are the thing that
holds our DNA, and our DNA is what tells living things apart. The Cell walls, and
Cell Membranes, are the guardians of every single cells in a living body, they are
the thing that makes the cells what they are; by protecting from virus, bacteria, and
other harmful outside objects. Cells are very interesting things, that us as humans
haven’t fully finished exploring yet. It may never be finished but we can each do
something that will help our earth in its development by creating every opportunity
we have to discover and explore what could just be the key to world success.