cells

• Organism


  A living thing
• Cells


  • Tiny building blocks of organisms
  • Can be seen through a microscope
  • Staining with coloured dye helps to see them
• Animal and plant cells


  • Have a nucleus that controls what the cell does
  • Have a cytoplasm which is a jelly-like stuff where most chemical reactions happen
  • Have a cell membrane that is a thin skin around the cell, it holds the cell together and controls what goes in and out
  • Have mitochondria which are tiny structures inside the cell where most of the reactions for aerobic respiration take place
  • Respiration releases energy for the cell
• Plant cells


  • Have a cell wall, a rigid outer coating made of cellulose, it gives support to the cell
  • Have a vacuole, this is filled with a cell sap, a weak solution of sugar and salts
  • Have chloroplasts, these contain chlorophyll used for photosynthesis
  • Photosynthesis makes food for the plant
• Nucleus


  Control center of the cell that contains genetic material determining the cell's activities
• Cytoplasm


  Jelly-like substance inside the cell where most chemical reactions take place
• Mitochondria


  Tiny structures inside the cell where most of the reactions for aerobic respiration take place
• Cell membrane


  Thin skin around the cell that holds it together and controls what goes in and out
• Respiration

  Process of releasing energy for the cell by breaking down food molecules in the presence of oxygen
• The nucleus is surrounded by a double membrane called the nuclear envelope which has pores allowing substances to pass through.
• The nucleus has chromosomes which are long strands of DNA containing genes that control how the cell works.
• Animal cells have no cell walls or vacuoles but do have mitochondria.