Science 9
• Students will be expected to:
• Recognize that the nucleus of a cell contains genetic
information and determines cellular processes
• Look around the classroom and observe, note and
report differences and similarities among members of
the class
• Physical traits such as hair and eye colour,
attached/detached ear lobes, tongue rollers/nonrollers
“What causes people to be the same and yet
different?”
“Are there similarities and differences in other
species?”
• The cell was first described by Robert Hooke in
1665 while he was looking at cork under a
microscope
• He was really looking at cell walls, not cells
• Anton van Leeuwenhoek observed living cells in
blood, bacteria and single-celled organisms
• Robert Brown was the first to describe a nucleus
in plant cells (1820); it was also discovered in
animal cells a few years later
• Schwann and Schleiden concluded that plants
and animals are composed of cells
• All living things are composed of one or more
cells
• The cell is the functional unit of life
• Most cells have to be seen with the aid of a
microscope
•Uses light and multiple lens to see
small organisms and cells
• Uses beams of electrons, limited to only looking at a
single layer of cells but with much more
magnification than light telescopes
• Only dead cells can be observed
•Uses reflection by electrons hitting the
surface of the cell
•Produces a three dimensional image
• What we can see under
a microscope as far as
the cell goes has helped
us to create a model of
what a cell looks like
with all its parts. This is
a plant cell.
• The entire cell is covered with a cell membrane which
controls what goes into and out of the cell
• The nucleus acts as a control centre, directing the cell’s
activities
• Genetic information is organized into threadlike
structures called chromosomes
• Each chromosome contains different genes
• Genes are units of genetic information that
determines the specific characteristics of an
individual
• The cytoplasm is the area where work is done
• Nutrients are absorbed, transported and processed
• It contains many different organelles, which is a
specialized structure inside the cell