CELL STRUCTURE & FUNCTION

All animals and plants are made up of cells.

# All organisms are made up of one or more cells

# Cells are the fundamental and structural unit of life.

# All cells come from pre-existing cells

Most cells have:

 A nucleus – controlling the activity of the cell

 Cytoplasm – where chemical reactions occur. Inside the cytoplasm are enzymes which
speed up these reactions. Cytoplasm also contains mitochondria which is where energy is
released.
 Cell membrane – to control the passage of substances in and out of the cell.

Plants also have (additional structure, animal cell X have)

 Cell walls – to strengthen the cell.

 Chloroplasts – to absorb sunlight energy to make food by photosynthesis.

Organelle Structure of a Cell Non-Organelle Structure of a cell

1. Nucleus 1. Plasma membrane
2. Endoplasmic Recticulum 2. Cytoplasm
3. Mitochondrion 3. Cell wall (plant cell only)
4. Ribosome (it is known as non-
organelle)
5. Golgi apparatus
6. Vacuole
7. Chloroplast (plant cell only)
CELL ORGANIZATION

Cells act together to form tissues, for instance the cells on the surface of a leaf form "pallisade
tissue". A group of cells with similar structures and a particular function is called a tissue.
Tissues are grouped together to form an organ, a leaf is an organ. Organs are grouped together to
form an organism such as a whole plant or animal.

Cells ----> Tissue ----> Organ ----> Organism

Tissues are usually formed from specialised cells. The cells in pallisade tissue are specialised to
perform photosynthesis and contain many chloroplasts. Some other specialised cells are:

 Guard cells
 Egg cells
 Sperm cells
 Red blood cells