Download Lesson 6 Plant vs. Animal Cells

Lesson 4 Plant vs. Animal Cells
1. Know and understand how plant and animal
cells are different.
2. Understand why these differences are
present and necessary.
3. Be able to correctly label plant and animal
cells.
Modes of Nutrition

There are many subtle differences between plant
and animal cells. The different modes of
nutrition is where the biggest differences occur.
Chemoheterotrophs

Animals are Chemoheterotrophs. This means
they must consume chemicals from other
organisms to make energy. Thus their cells
contain lysosomes, membrane enclosed
organelles that contain digestive enzymes to
break down food molecules for energy.
Animal Cells
Animal cells must be
somewhat plastic
(able to change
shape) due to the
needs for mobility of
animals. Thus
animal cells often
contain fibrous
materials that allow
the cell to change
shape. Also animal
cells have only a
flexible membrane
as an outer border.
Photoautotrophs

Plant cells produce their own food by
capturing sunlight and using its power to
remove carbon from CO2 to produce sugar
for energy by photosynthesis. Organisms
that do this are known as photoautotrophs.
Plant Cells

To do this plants have specialized organelles
called chloroplasts. Also plants must support
long stems and leaves, to do this they have stiff
cell walls and large vacuoles filled with water to
keep the cells rigid.
Plant and Animal Cells Compared

Plant and animal cells also have numerous
similarities. Most of these come in the areas of
intracellular transport and waste excretion.
From an evolutionary point of view what
might this mean in terms of the ancient
ancestry of plants and animals?
Questions for Review
1. What is the main reason for differences between plant
and animal cells?
2. What organelle supplies plants with energy and what
process does it use?
3.
What organelle supplies animal cells with energy and
how does it do this?
4.
Transport within plant and animal cells is done in the
same fashion. Why would this have been kept the same
(evolutionarily speaking) when so many other things
have been altered?
5.
The nutritional needs of plants and animals are very
different. Which would have survived best in a
primordial earth that had very little oxygen or organic
material available?