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Wroclaw University of Science Cell Art Competition
To celebrate the opening of the new building of the Wroclaw University of Science there has been
organized a competition; The cell art competition.
Since the building is new and still quite plain, it needs some artwork to decorate the walls at the main
entrance. The University invites any student between 8 and 18 years old to submit their representation of
either a plant or an animal cell.
It is your job to enter this competition with your fellow classmates!
Wroclaw University of Science Cell Art Competition
This is a great opportunity for an interdisciplinary and cross-curricular project! Art and science go
hand in hand in this event creating a link between these disciplines and society in general. Get to
know the human cell as well as the plant cell, including their composition and organelles!
You don’t have to know everything about the cell; you just need a bit of curiosity!
Come on! Start learning more about the cell, ask the experts or check it out in the library. Then
get some materials and start your own cell drawing.
Requirements:
Your drawing should be an accurate representation of either a plant or an animal cell with all its
main cellular organelles and structures.
You should also state what each of the organelles’ functions are and be able to present these.
The submissions will be judged a team of professionals from the fields of art, science, education
and communication, according to the following criteria:
a. Scientific representation and content
b. Communication of science: what cellular structures are shown and how are their
functions explained
The winning artwork will be woven into a canvas painting and will be displayed at the main
entrance of the new Science building. Good luck!
In order to spread our chances of winning you will work in pairs. One couple will be drawing the animal
cell and the other couple will be drawing the plant cell.
Complete the following table (on the next page) to organize the main structures of your cell. This may
help make your artwork more accurate.
You can use the books provided or the computers to find extra information on the internet (don’t forget
to list your sources!). At the end of this lesson you will have to present your drawing in class.
I wish you all good luck!
ANSWERS
Cell structure/organelle:
Function:
Plasma/cell membrane
Membrane enclosing the cell
Nucleus
Membrane-enclosed organelle containing
most of the cell's genetic material
Organelle active in synthesis,
modification, sorting, and secretion of
cell products
Photosynthetic organelle; converts
energy of sunlight to chemical energy
stored in sugar molecules
Outer layer that maintains cell’s shape
and protects cell from mechanical
damage; made of cellulose, other
polysaccharides, and protein
Organelle where cellular respiration
occurs and most ATP is generated
Cytoplasm: The contents of the cell
bounded by the plasma membrane; in
eukaryotes, the portion exclusive of the
nucleus.
Cytosol: The semifluid portion of the
cytoplasm (the liquid found inside cells).
Complexes that make proteins; free in
cytosol or bound to rough ER or nuclear
envelope
Prominent organelle in older plant cells;
functions include storage, breakdown of
waste products, hydrolysis of
macromolecules; enlargement of vacuole
is a major mechanism of plant growth
Network of membranous sacs and tubes;
active in membrane synthesis and other
synthetic and metabolic processes; has
rough (ribosome-studded) and smooth
regions
Cytoplasmic channels through cell walls
that connect the cytoplasms of adjacent
cells
Golgi apparatus
Chloroplast
Cell wall
Mitochondrion
Cytoplasm and cytosol
Ribosome
Vacuole
Endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
(Rough ER and Smooth ER)
Plasmodesmata
In plant cells but not in
animal cells:
-Chloroplasts
- Central vacuole
- Cell wall
- Plasmodesmata
Present in
Animal cell?
yes
Present in
Plant cell?
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
no
yes
no
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
yes
no (or a very
small one at
best)
yes
yes
yes
no
yes
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