Me and my partner Emily crated this animal cell model to explain where everything is in the cell and what the animal cell looks like. We used lots of different things to show what each thing is. Starting with buttons to things like pipe cleaners. I am going to explain everything in the cell and how they work. Why do we have these cells? Ill tell you why, just keep reading.
The animal cell does not have a definite shape like other cells, plant cells for instance are square and they stay that way. All animals, no matter what their size are made up of tiny cells. Each one of these cells can grow, reproduce, respond to changes in the environment, move, and metabolize food for fuel. So how does an animal cell work? Tiny structures inside the cell called organelles work together to carry out all the cell’s life functions. Learning the basic parts of the cell and their functions will help you understand how an animal cell works. So let me explain what everything is and what their functions are.
The main part of a cell is the nucleus, in our model we used a button and a piece of paper to show the nucleus. The nucleus the central and most important part of an object, movement, or group, forming the basis for its activity and growth.
The next part is the ribosomes, in our model we used smaller buttons and the sticker peace signs. Ribosomes is the site for protein synthesis where the translation of the RNA takes place. As protein synthesis is very important to the cell, ribosomes are found in large number in all cells.
Ribosomes are found freely suspended in the cytoplasm and also are attached to the endoplasmic reticulum.
The next thing on our cell model is the mitochondria. Mitochondria is the main energy source of the cell. They are called the power house of the cell because energy (ATP) is created here. Mitochondria consists of inner and outer membrane. It is spherical or rod shaped organelle. It is an organelle which is independent as it has its own hereditary material.
Centrosome is the next part on our cell, it is located near the nucleus of the cell and is known as the ‘microtubule organizing center’ of the cell.
Microtubules are made in the centrosome.
During mitosis the centrosome aids in dividing of the cell and moving of the chromosome to the opposite sides of the cell.
Next we have the smooth and rough ERs. ER is the transport system of the cell. It transports molecules that need certain changes and also molecules to their destination. ER is of two types, rough and smooth. ER bound to the ribosomes appear rough and is the rough endoplasmic reticulum; while the smooth ER do not have the ribosomes.
The next thing is the vacuole.They are bound by single membrane and small organelles. In many organisms vacuoles are storage organelles.
Golgi bodies are next they are the packaging center of the cell. The Golgi bodies modify the molecules from the rough ER by dividing them into smaller units with membrane known as vesicles. They are flattened stacks of membrane-bound sacs.
Lysosomes are the digestive system of the cell. They have digestive enzymes helps in breakdown the waste moelcules and also help in detoxification of the cell. If the lysosomes were not membrane bound the cell could not have used the destructive enzymes.
Cytoplasm, the fluid matrix that fills the cell is the cytoplasm.
The cellular organelles are suspended in this matrix of the cytoplasm.
This matrix maintains the pressure of the cell, ensures the cell doesn’t shrink or burst.
Then in the end we took different things and looked at there cell and shape. Here are some of the cells that we got from looking at through a microscope.
Biology Blog! 