Download Plant Cells: Cells With Walls Questions

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Plant Cells: Cells With Walls
By Brandi Waters
You've already learned that all living things are made up of cells. Each
cell is a living building block. One cell can make up a simple organism.
Hundreds, thousands, or even millions of cells can be put together to
build bigger and more complex organisms. Cells are not all the same.
The cells that make up your skin are different from the cells that make
up your blood. The cells in a fish are not the same as the cells in a dog.
The cells in a rose are not the same as the cells in a tree. Cells need to be
different to do different jobs. Even though there are many kinds of cells,
all cells can be put into one of two groups: plant cells and animal cells.
Today, you are going to learn about plant cells.
Trees, grass, flowers, and moss are all plants. They are all made up of
plant cells. What makes a plant cell different from an animal cell? One
difference is that plant cells have cell walls. A cell wall is layer of stiff
material that goes all the way around the outside of the cell. A cell wall helps to protect the cell from damage. It
also helps to hold the shape of a cell. Animal cells do not have cell walls. Plant cells also have structures that help
them make their own food using sunlight. These structures are called chloroplasts. Chloroplasts are what give
plants their green color. Animal cells do not have these structures. They cannot make energy from sunlight.
What does a plant cell look like? Imagine a cardboard box. The box represents the cell wall. Imagine that there is a
sealed plastic bag inside the box. This bag represents a structure called the cell membrane. It is thin and flexible. It
holds the cell together. The bag is filled with a slimy liquid. The slimy liquid contains different colored balloons
that float in it. In a plant cell, this slimy liquid is called cytoplasm. Inside the cytoplasm are organelles that do
different jobs inside the cell. The nucleus is one of the organelles in the cytoplasm. The nucleus holds the plant's
DNA, the "blueprints" of what the cell will look like and what it will do. Vacuoles are another kind of organelle
inside the cell. Vacuoles are storage closets for the cell. They store food and water that the cell can use when they
are needed. Both plant and animal cells have vacuoles, but in plants, the vacuoles are much, much larger. Empty
vacuoles are the reason that plants begin to wilt when they need water! Chloroplasts and mitochondria are two
organelles in the cell that are used to make energy for the plant. Organelles called the Golgi apparatus and the
endoplasmic reticulum help move things in and out of the cell. All of these structures work together to make a
living plant cell.
Plant Cells: Cells With Walls
Questions
1. There are ______ main groups that all cells can be put into.
A. seven
B. fifty
C. two
D. five
2. Which of these is NOT a plant?
A. grass
B. a tree
C. moss
D. a mushroom
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3. Name two things that make plant cells different from animal cells?
4. The job of the ______ is to hold all of the parts of a cell together.
A. cell wall
B. vacuole
C. Golgi apparatus
D. cell membrane
5. The ______ holds the cell's DNA.
6. ______ give plants their green color.
A. The Golgi apparatus
B. Vacuoles
C. The cell wall
D. Chloroplasts
Use the description above to draw a picture of a plant cell. Label each structure.
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Explain what happens to make a plant wilt.
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