Cell Biology Introduction
Introduction to Cell Biology
Section 1A – Vocabulary
Below is a list of all of the biology vocabulary terms used in the Unit. By the end of
the Unit, you will be able to write a working definition of each term and correctly
use each term in your OCAs, tests and written materials.
 abiogenesis
 Endosymbiotic Theory  phase contrast microscope
 Anton von Leewenhoek  eukaryote
 prokaryotes
 Archaea
 eyepiece
 protist
bacteria
fine
adjustment
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
 RNA
 cell
 light source
 Robert Hooke
 cell membrane
 Lynn Margulis
 Rudolf Virchow
 cell theory
 magnification
 scanning electron microscope
 chem autotrophs
 Matthias Schleidan
 stage clips
 coarse adjustment
 multicellular organism  Theodore Schwann
 compound microscope
 objective lens
 transmission electron microscope
 cyanobacteria
 origin of life
 unicellular organism
diaphragm



Section 1B – Mastery Objectives and Critical Skills
 Summarize the modern cell theory.
 List the main contributors to the modern cell theory and their work.
 Explain the origin of mitochondria and chloroplasts based on the endosymbiotic
theory.
 List the four main types of microscopes and the advantages of each.
 Draw and label the parts of a simple compound light microscope
 Use the dissecting and compound microscopes to make a realistic rendering of a
microscope specimen and calculate its magnification.
Section 2A – Required Readings
 Miller and Levine: pp169-173
 Abernathy, Robert, “The Rotifers”
Section 2B – Relevant Websites
Refer to the class wiki http://nnhsbiology.pbworks.com
Cell Biology Introduction
Section 3 – In Class Activities
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Lecture and Power point slides
Introduction to Microscopes Lab
Protists Lab
Section 4 – Outside Class Assignments
Thoughtfully answer each of the following questions or tasks. Include all your
reasoning and work wherever it seems appropriate. Type the question and then the
answer. Go in order. Due dates for each assignment will be given in class. (Please
remember - homework that is passed in late is automatically discounted 15% and 0%
after the unit test.)
1) Develop hierarchical concept maps for each of the following collections of
terms. But now we are adding one more requirement. Begin by creating a table
with three columns. In the first column place the term, in the second you may
copy and paste a definition. In the third column you must rewrite the definition
in simple English that a 7th grader can understand. Once your table is complete,
you may create your hierarchical concept map with its descriptive linking
phrases and clear logical organization.
a) Abiogenesis, RNA, origin of life, prokaryotes, endosymbiosis, eukaryote,
chem. autotrophs, archae, cyanobacteria
b) Cell, cell theory, unicellular organism, multicellular organism, protist
2) Make a table with two columns. In the first column, list a contributor to the
modern cell theory. In the second column, list his/her contribution to the
theory.
3) Why are cyanobacteria so important to our planet and us? Provide three specific
facts and explain how these facts support life on our planet.
4) Bacteria are everywhere, even on us.
a) Draw (do not copy and paste someone else’s diagram) and label the
structures in a typical bacterium.
b) List three types of food bacteria use and the general names of those types
of bacteria.
c) What makes a bacteria “bad” or “good”?
5) The endosymbiotic theory had a profound effect on the theory of evolution.
a) What is the endosymbiotic theory?
b) Why was it such a revolutionary idea?
c) Use the endosymbiotic theory to explain the evolution of plant cells.
Cell Biology Introduction
6) Jack Szostak said “Life emerged from chemistry, then after that it’s just
details.” Explain his statement and then give an example of how this statement
might be true.
7) Make a two column table. In the first column list the type of microscope. In
the second column list its advantage in studying cells.
8) Consider a compound light microscope like the one used in class.
a) Explain why the field diameter for your compound microscope is wider under
a low power magnification and narrower under a high power magnification.
b) Explain to your 7 year old cousin why an amoeba looks so big when you look
through a microscope but that it’s almost invisible to the naked eye.
9) Read the short story “The Rotifers” by Robert Abernathy and answer the
following questions.
a) What power was Harry’s microscope?
b) How did these organisms resemble “funny little people”?
c) What is the derivation of the word “rotifer”? Is it a good name?
d) Why was Harry interested in a “wrong way” microscope acting like a
telescope?
e) Why did Harry kill the whirligig beetle?
f) How did the rotifers act later when Mr. Chatham looked at them?
g) Why did Mrs. Chatham think that the microscope was ruining Harry’s eyes?
h) Where did Mr Chatham get the information that whirligig beetles eat
rotifers? Where did Harry get his information?
i) What did Mrs. Chatham do with the dirty pond water when Harry got sick?
j) What did you think about Mrs. Chatham’s actions when you read the article?
k) What was the cause of Harry’s illness?
l) Why did the rotifers make Harry sick and want to kill humans?
m) What did the rotifers keep telling Harry?
n) Do you think that humans would respond the same way as the rotifers did if
we found out that we were not the only forms of intelligent life around?
Explain your answer in at least a couple of sentences.
Cell Biology Introduction
10) Why to cell biologists use stains to look at cells?
11) There are many types of microscopes. Each provides a different way of looking
at very small objects.
a) What is the difference between how a light microscope operates and an
electron microscope operates?
b) What are the advantages of using a light microscope versus an electron
microscope to look at cells?
Cell Biology Introduction
12) As you have observed, amoebas are curious protists and may reflect a time when
simpler life forms prevailed.
a) Using your lab notes, reading and any other resources you choose, draw an
amoeba and label the following structures: pseudopodium, contractile
vacuole, nucleus, and food vacuole.
b) Fill in the following table indicating the functions of each of these
structures in the amoeba’s life:
Pseudopodium
Contractile Vacuole
Nucleus
Food vacuole
c) From your own observations and your reading, how does an amoeba move and
why does it change shape as it moves?
d) Does an amoeba have a head and a tail? Why or why not – what is your
evidence?
e) If an amoeba brings its food inside itself in order to digest it, why doesn’t
the amoeba digest itself in the process?
13) Based on your lab work and reading, make a list of the properties all living things
exhibit. Did you observe these properties in all or only some of your protist
samples? Cite your evidence.
14) Based on your assigned reading and lab observations, explain how you think
paramecium, amoebas, euglena and stentors and Volvox move (locomote). Use
diagrams to clarify if necessary. Use lines to show a typical path for each
protist.
15) Make a sketch of your own or some other human’s digestive system (mouth,
throat, stomach, intestines, anus). Show where the food enters your or some
human’s body, gets digested, and leaves your body. Label all the involved organs.
Next to this sketch, draw a picture of a paramecium or amoeba or stentor or
tetrahymena you observed in class. Label the features involved in digestion and
show where the food enters, leaves and gets digested. How are you and the
single celled organism the same in this regard? How are you different?
Cell Biology Introduction
16) Although all of the species you observed in the protist lab exist in fresh water,
each has unique structures and behavior patterns that allow it to survive along
side the other protists. Each species is adapted to a specific niche in the pond.
For each species you observed in the lab, describe the niche in the pond where
it might best survive; i.e. out compete the other protists. Think about how it
gets its food, how it escapes its predators, what it eats, how it defends itself,
or whether it is plant like or animal like.