Cells

Ch. 13
 Guiding questions:
• What is a cell and how do you think it
functions?

• How are cells like factories or cities?

• What is this
picture about?
 Background Information:
Every living thing on Earth is made up of cells.
Cells keep living things organized. Some
organisms, like bacteria, are only as big as a
single cell.

In an organism as complex as a human, there

is no way you we could do everything we do
and be just a single cell. We must have
many different, and many different kinds of
cells.
 Background Information:
One of the main functions of cells is to
organize the body. We have brain
cells, stomach cells, bone cells, and
many other types of cells. They all do
special jobs to help our bodies function
the way they are supposed to.
Although the cells in our bodies do
many different jobs, they all contain
similar parts called organelles.
.
 Background Information:
In the same way there are different
kinds of cells inside us, different
organisms have different types of
cells. Trees have different cells
than us and so do dogs and
cockroaches. Each of those cells
is different in some way. Every
cell has a special job to do.
 Cell Explorers
It’s hard to believe, but there was a time when we
didn’t know anything about cell structure. In fact,
the word cell (from the Latin word for chamber,
cello) wasn’t used as a biological term until
1665. That’s when Robert Hooke, an English-
born scientist, looked at a thin slice of a cork
plant under a compound microscope he had
built himself. Hooke noticed small holes
surrounded by walls and named these tiny pores
cells. After that, scientists believed cells were
found only in plants.
But in 1839, Matthias Schleiden and
Theodor Schwann, both German
scientists, shared their scientific findings
with one another. Schleiden had been
studying plant cells and Schwann had
been studying animal structures.
Together, they compared plant and animal
structures and found that the structures
were very similar—too similar to be
accidental.
They concluded that cells are the basic
building blocks for both plants and
animals. In 1858, Rudolf Virchow took
Schleiden’s and Schwann’s theory and
stated it simply: all cells come from other
cells. This remains known as the cell
theory.
Throughout the mid-1800s and into the 1900s,
scientists continued to discover more and more
about cells thanks in part to Gregor Mendel’s study
of genetics, Friedrich Miescher’s discovery of
nuclein (which later became known as DNA), and
James Watson’s findings about DNA’s structure.
Although many amazing discoveries have
happened in recent years, including genetic
engineering and gene therapy, all of it is because of
the work of those early cell explorers.
 Reading questions:
1. How important was Hooke’s homemade
microscope to the discovery of the plant
cell? Explain.
2. Restate the cell theory in your own
words.
3. Why do you think it took almost 200
years for scientists to formulate the cell
theory?
Answer ch. 13 sec.1 questions
How do we pronounce the organelles?
 Background Information:
All cells have some things in common. If you
were to look inside of a cell, you would be
able to see all of the organelles that are
labeled in this drawing of a cell
 Micro-
journey
to the
plant cell
Cell Organelles and their
functions
Animal Cells
Plant Cells
Plant Cells
 Parts and
functions of
an animal
cell
Back to the
essential
question:
 2 cell types
• Living cells are divided into two types -
procaryotic and eucaryotic (sometimes
spelled prokaryotic and eukaryotic). This
division is based on internal complexity.

• What analogies can you come up with to

help you remember the difference?
(analyze the next two slides)
 Eucaryotic:

• The cells of protozoa (in Greek proto =

first and zoa = animals), higher plants
and animals that are highly structured.
• These cells have a nucleus.
• “Eu”  “you”
 Procaryotic:

• (pro-KAR-ee-oht) from Old Greek pro-

before + karyon nut or kernel (referring to
the cell nucleus)
• Do not have a nucleus
• Usually bacteria
 Cell Animation / Video
• http://
www.cellsalive.com/cells/cell_model.htm
(identification game)

• http://
www.brainpop.com/science/livingsystems/cells
/ (quizes)

• http://multimedia.mcb.harvard.edu/
(advanced look)
 Cell model project questions:
Questions & Conclusions:
1. Why do we often depend on models? Why are
models useful when discussing cells?
2. How is your model like a real cell?
3. How is it different?
4. What are some limitations of models in general?
5. How are the plant and animal cell models
different?