Cells under the Microscope A quick review

1. Are these plant or animal cells? These are plant cells!

2. What organelle is the arrow pointing at? Chloroplasts * Photosynthesis takes place inside his organelle Without chloroplasts plants can’t make their own sugars! Without sugar from the Chloroplasts, a plant’s mitochondria can’t make ATP (cell energy)

3. Why do plant cells have geometric shapes 3. Why do plant cells have geometric shapes? (like rectangles or hexagons) The cell wall is hard & keeps the plant cell’s shape! * The rigid cell wall is what allows plants to grow tall.

4. What is the arrow pointing at in the animal cell? Nucleus * It’s often the only organelle that you can see under a light microscope (like the ones we use)

5. What is the largest organelle in an animal cell? Nucleus * It’s often the only organelle that you can see under a light microscope (like the ones we use)

In order to see all the organelles in a cell, you need a more powerful microscope. This picture of an animal cell was taken using an electron microscope. Notice how big the nucleus is, compared to the other organelles.

Did you see any unicellular organisms in your pond water? These tiny animals are collectively called Protists. They are each made up of a single Eukaryotic cell They are unicellular organisms Paramecium = a medium size protist Halteria = a tiny protest commonly found in stagnant pond water