Download Cell Membrane Function: Controls what enters and leaves the cell

Cell Membrane
Function: Controls what enters and leaves the cell
Structure: Thin layer of molecules with channels or pumps to allow substances to
pass through
Cell School Analogy: Fence, doors
ALL cells have a cell membrane; if the membrane breaks, the cell falls apart!
See the diagrams and microscope images of cells.
Cell Wall
Function: Gives certain cells shape and support
Structure: Rigid (Solid, hard, firm), surrounds the cell membrane
Cell School Analogy: Brick walls
Only found in plant cells, some prokaryotic cells, and fungi
See the diagrams and microscope images of cells.
Nucleus
Function: Contains the DNA of the cell; the DNA is the instructions for all of the
cell’s structures and functions
Structure: Located toward the center of the cell; dense; surrounded by a
nuclear membrane
Cell School Analogy: Instructor, principal
DNA can’t leave the nucleus
See the diagrams and microscope images of cells.
Cytoplasm
Function: Contains many substances dissoved in water; allows for the
movement and transport of materials through the cell
Structure: jelly-like fluid that surrounds all of the organelles inside the cell
Cell School Analogy: halls
Contains a lot of stuff! Made of about 80% water.
See the diagrams and microscope images of cells.
Mitochondrion
Function: Converts food into a form of energy (ATP) the cell can use
Structure: a bean-shaped structure with two membranes
Cell School Analogy: People after lunch; Electrical transformers; appliances
POWER HOUSE of the cell! ENERGY! Like a power plant, converting energy the
cell can use to do what it needs to do.
Where Cellular Respiration occurs
See the diagrams and microscope images of cells.
Chloroplast
Function: Uses light energy to create food from water and carbon dioxide.
PHOTOSYNTHESIS!
Structure: flattened structure with layers of membranes inside; GREEN due to
the chlorophyll pigment inside
Cell School Analogy: Cafeteria
Only found in plants and algae
See the diagrams and microscope images of cells.
Vacuole
Function: Stores various substances in the cell; in plants, stores water that helps
the plant cell to maintain structure
Structure: In animal cells, small sacs distributed throughout the cytoplasm; in
plants, large central sac that takes up a large majority of the cell
Cell School Analogy: backpack, lockers
Ribosome
Function: Produces proteins based on instructions from DNA (Proteins are how
your cells perform ALL of their functions, they aren’t just food!)
Structure: Tiny proteins that look like dots throughout the cytoplasm. Also found
all over the Endoplasmic Reticulum
Cell School Analogy: Students! (They make all the products of the school!)
Golgi Apparatus
Function: Packages and transports substances around the cell
Structure: flattened stacks of membranes
They package things in vacuoles; same as golgi bodies/golgi complex
Endoplasmic Reticulum
Function: Location of protein synthesis (where the ribosomes make most of the
proteins); sends them off to the rest of the cell
Structure: flattened stacks of membranes covered in ribosomes
Lysosomes
Function: Break down / digest substances inside the cell
Structure: a sac like a vacuole full of digestive enzymes
Lots are found in white blood cells because they attack and break down
harmful invaders in your body