L2: What is a cell?
Wednesday, August 10th, 2011
Cell Vocabulary
Cell: the smallest unit of a living thing
Organelle: a small subunit within a cell that has a specific function (job)
Eukaryotic Cell: all plant and animal cells; have a nuclear membrane; 10 x bigger
than prokaryotic cells
Prokaryotic Cell: bacterial cells; have no nuclear membrane
Cell Membrane: protects the cell and holds in the contents of the cell.
Cytoplasm: the gelatin-like liquid in the cell that holds a cyto-skeleton and
organelles and gives the cell its shape.
Vesicles: transports proteins in the cell
Mitochondria: turn food into energy
Golgi Apparatus: packs up proteins and secretes (sends) it out
Endoplasmic Reticulum: have ribosomes that make proteins
Enzymes: help start reactions to break down proteins or waste
Lysosome: place where proteins and waste are broken down by enzymes
Nucleus: holds the nucleolus, where the DNA is protected
Nucleolus: holds the DNA
DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid): gives instructions to the organelles to tell them
what to do; holds genetic material
Vacuoles: stores water, waste and enzymes
Cell Wall (plants only): a rigid wall that supports the plant in standing up
Chloroplast (plants only): the place that turns sunlight into energy
Diagram of an animal cell
Diagram of a plant cell
What is a cell?
you fill its vacuole.
All in a cell.
You wonder what a cell is
To make the plant rigid and stand up
like a pole
Trillions of them too.
or what good it brings?
A cell is the basic unit of all
living things.
You started off as one in fact,
But animal cells are different—
No chloroplasts or cell wall
But they are similar overall.
then divided in two and on and on,
Except plants make energy from the
sun with their chloroplasts,
until now you have trillions of cells in
you.
While animals use mitochondria
Animals and plants both have cells.
They are shaped like a peanut and
make energy from food.
Working hard inside them
are organelles
They work like little power plants, a
food court or a snack bar.
with the nucleus to guide them,
The more energy a cell needs,
telling them what to do.
The more of them there are.
Organelles float in cytoplasm day
after day wrapped in a cell
membrane so they don’t swim away.
Well mighty mitochondria are
powerful, its true
But plant cells also have a cell wall
to keep the cell from bursting
Ribosomes use their tiny homes to
assemble proteins for you
The golgi apparatus takes those
proteins and ships them out.
when you give it to much water
It pops out like a stack of pancakes.
because you think the plant is thirsty.
But the sunlight goes right through
that wall
as the plant gives gratitude
because it is absorbed by the
chloroplast
That is what this organelle is all
about.
The ball shaped lysosome is
important too
Lyse means cut up, you know.
and turned into food.
Their enzymes break down, use
nutrients,
And when you give it water
Because waste has to go.
So there you have it.
Brilliant and tireless.
Essential to life.
And all at work in you.
MYTH OR FACT?
In your future!
Science HW #3: What is a cell?
Name: _____________________________________
College: ____________________________________
Date: ______________________________________
Subject: ____________________________________
1. What structure keeps harmful chemicals out of animal cells? ___________
2. What organelle(s) act(s) as “the boss” inside of a cell? ________________
3. If you wanted to find DNA, where would you look? __________________
4. If a cell has waste it needs to store, where will it store it? ____________
5. The dots on the endoplasmic reticulum represent ____________________
6. What is the gelatin-like mixture that flows throughout the cell? _________
7. What part of the cell makes proteins? ___________________
8. Which structures break down food and release energy? ______________
9. What substance do Golgi bodies prepare for secretion? _______________
10. What is an interesting fact you learned from the reading about cells?
_________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
Extra Credit: Draw, color, and label an animal or plant cell on a blank sheet of paper or
write a poem or rap that teaches about its parts and how they work.