Lesson Summaries

HUMAN AND SOCIAL BIOLOGY Lesson

UNIT 1 - Living Organisms and the Environment

Situations
2

Cells

OBJECTIVES

At the end of this lesson you will be able to:

a) Describe the structure of unspecialized plant and animal cells

b) State the functions of cell organelles
c) Identify specialized cells

(See Chapter 4 pages 15-22 in textbook)

SECTION ONE – UNSPECIALISED PLANT AND ANIMAL CELLS

CELLS
All living things are made up of cells which are the building blocks of the bodies of organisms.

Both plant and animal cells have certain common structures such as: a nucleus, cytoplasm, cell
membrane, mitochondria and ribosomes.

Observe the structure of a typical cell shown on the following page; it is a diagram of a cell as if observed
through a high-powered electron microscope.

1
Both plant and animal cells have these structures shown above. However a plant cell also has: a cell wall,
chloroplasts and a very large vacuole. Look at the diagram below and note the different structures in a
plant cell.

2
 ASSESSMENT

Draw a table and compare the similar and different structures in a plant and animal cell by studying the
diagrams above. Two have been done for you as an example.

STRUCTURE PLANT CELL ANIMAL CELL

Cell wall X

Nucleus

FUNCTION OF CELL ORGANELLES

ORGANELLE LOCATION DESCRIPTION FUNCTION

cell wall plant, not *outer layer *support (grow tall)
animal *rigid, strong, stiff *protection
*made of cellulose *allows H2O, O2, CO2 to
pass into and out of cell
cell membrane both *plant - inside cell wall *support
plant/animal *animal - outer layer; *protection
cholesterol *controls movement of
*selectively permeable materials in/out of cell
*barrier between cell and
its environment
*maintains homeostasis

nucleus both *large, oval *controls cell activities

plant/animal
nuclear both *surrounds nucleus *Controls movement of
membrane plant/animal *selectively permeable materials in/out of
nucleus
cytoplasm both *clear, thick, jellylike *supports /protects cell
plant/animal material and organelles organelles
found inside cell
membrane

3
 endoplasmic both *network of tubes or *carries materials through
reticulum plant/animal membranes cell
(E.R.)
ribosome both *small bodies free or *produces proteins
plant/animal attached to E.R.
mitochondrion both *bean-shaped with inner *breaks down sugar
plant/animal membranes molecules into energy
vacuole plant - *fluid-filled sacs *store food, water, waste
few/large (plants need to store
animal - large amounts of food)
small
lysosome plant - *small, round, with a *breaks down larger food
uncommon membrane molecules into smaller
animal - molecules
common *digests old cell parts
chloroplast plant, not *green, oval usually *uses energy from sun to
animal containing chlorophyll make food for the plant
(green pigment) (photosynthesis)

SECTION TWO – SPECIALISED CELLS

Cells become specialized to carry out one special function. These cells have a different shape and even
organelles. Some examples include: eggs and sperms, nerve cells, muscle cells and red blood cells.
Here are some specialized cells.

Red blood cells

4
Nerve cells

Muscle Cells

5
 ASSESSMENT

1. Label the typical plant cell shown below.

2. Fill in the missing information.

ORGANELLE LOCATION DESCRIPTION FUNCTION

cell wall plant, not *outer layer
animal *rigid, strong, stiff
*made of cellulose
cell membrane both *support
plant/animal *protection
*controls movement of
materials in/out of cell
*barrier between cell and
its environment
*maintains homeostasis

nucleus both *large, oval

plant/animal
nuclear both *Controls movement of

6
 membrane plant/animal materials in/out of
nucleus
cytoplasm both *clear, thick, jellylike
plant/animal material and organelles
found inside cell
membrane

endoplasmic both *network of tubes or *carries materials through

reticulum plant/animal membranes cell
(E.R.)
ribosome both *small bodies free or *produces proteins
plant/animal attached to E.R.
mitochondrion both *bean-shaped with inner *breaks down sugar
plant/animal membranes molecules into energy
vacuole plant - *fluid-filled sacs *store food, water, waste
few/large (plants need to store
animal - large amounts of food)
small
lysosome plant - *small, round, with a *breaks down larger food
uncommon membrane molecules into smaller
animal - molecules
common *digests old cell parts
chloroplast plant, not *green, oval usually *uses energy from sun to
animal containing chlorophyll make food for the plant
(green pigment) (photosynthesis)

Do the end of chapter questions on pg. 25 of the text.