Cell City Activity
Sir Richard Branson, the billionaire entrepreneur from England and owner of Virgin Galactic, wants to build his
own city in the state of Texas. He wants to use this city to produce little statues of famous scientists, such as
Leeuwenhoek1, Schwann2, Schleiden3, Virchow4, and Hooke5. Because he is a billionaire and somewhat
eccentric, he has insisted that the city be built based on a model of a human cell (animal). He has hired YOU to
design the city! If you are successful, Sir Richard Branson will appoint you the mayor of Cell City, and the only
one who holds the secret blueprints to the statues of the scientists (and you will get a good grade).
Mr. Branson wants you to choose a nice piece of land on which the buildings of the city can be built. Then you
need to design the shape of the city by drawing its borders. Sir Richard has also insisted that the following
structures be built in the city:
Power plant: burns coal to produce electricity for the
city and the statue factories
Roads: allows the citizens of Cell City to get from one
place to another
City Hall: where the mayor works; location of the
blueprints for the statues of the scientists
Recycling center: a place where all of the garbage in
the city is broken down so it can be reused
Grocery stores: places where the citizens of Cell City
can go buy water and food
Post office: a place where the scientist statues are
packaged and shipped out of the city
Statue factories: places where the citizens make the
scientist statues according to the blueprints from city
hall
It is up to you to check that each of these structures have a function related to the organelles in an animal cell.
Then, design the city and make sure that the similarity between Cell City and the animal cell is accurate!
Directions
1. Complete the Cell City/Animal Cell comparison chart on the front of your assignment sheet. Write down the
name of each organelle from an animal cell that matches up to the structure in Cell City. Then, describe the
function of the animal cell organelle next to its name.
2. Color the organelles in the animal cell diagram using a different color for each type of organelle. Create a key
for each color by coloring in a box with your chosen color and then writing down the organelle and Cell City
structure that matches it.
3. Draw your design for Cell City in the blank space next to the animal cell diagram. Draw all of the
parts/structures that are listed in the chart on the front of your assignment sheet. Color each part/structure with
the color that matches the key and the appropriate organelle in the animal cell.
4. Individually answer the analysis questions on a separate sheet of paper and staple it to your Cell City
Assignment Sheet then submit it to your teacher.
1
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/leeuwenhoek.html
http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Schwann.html
3
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/527571/Mathias-Jacob-Schleiden
4
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/629797/Rudolf-Virchow
5
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/hooke.html
2
Analysis Questions
1. Sir Richard Branson has changed his mind and decided that Cell City should be
based on a plant cell. Which two additional organelles are found in a plant cell that
you haven’t already found in an animal cell?
2. What are the functions of the plant cell organelles from Question #1?
3. What building/structure could be used to represent each of the organelles from
Question #1? Explain how each structure has a similar function to the organelle on
which it is based.
4. How would the grocery stores in Cell City be different if it was based on a plant
cell instead of an animal cell?
Cell City/Animal Cell Comparison Chart