Collège de la Salle (Frères) ‫كلية دي السال – الفرير‬

Amman – Jordan ‫عمان – األردن‬

Name: Grade: 9 Section: B /C/D

Worksheet Title & No. Biology / Cells : Cell specialisation Date:

.L.O. : Cells are often specialized in their shapes and activities to carry out a specific function
:Most cells when they have finished dividing and growing, become specialized, this means that
 They perform one particular job.
 They develop a distinct shape.
 Chemical changes take place in their cytoplasm.

.Those changes in shape and chemical reactions enable the cell to carry out its specified function
:Examples on specialized cells
1. Ciliated Epithelium – in respiratory tract.
2. Muscle cells – contraction.
3. Red blood cells – transport.
4. Nerve cells- conduction of impulses.
5. Sperm and egg cells – fuse to produce a zygote.
6. Root Hair cells- absorption.
7. Xylem cells – conduction and transport.
8. Phloem cells- conduction and transport.

1- Ciliated Columnar Epithelium – in the respiratory tract.P145

- This type of cells contains tiny cytoplasm hairs called cilia.
- Ciliated cells form the lining of the nose, nasal passages, and trachea.
- Their function:
- \the flicking movement of the cilia backward and forward keeping up a stream of fluid called
mucus in a continuous movement to trap germs, dust and bacteria that enter during breathing.
- The movement of cilia will lead the mucus to the top of the trachea to be swallowed into the
stomach where the germs will be digested by HCL.

2- Muscle cells – contraction

The three types of muscles are:

A. Smooth muscles. (involuntary, not striped)
B. Skeletal muscles. (voluntary, striped)
C. Cardiac muscles. (involuntary, striped)
- Skeletal muscles: are muscles found attached to the skeleton by tendons, they are
responsible for the voluntary movement of the body.
- They are made of long fibres; each fibre contains many fibrils joined together.
- Each muscle fibre contains a cytoplasm, cell membrane and many nuclei.
- Function: movement of the body by contraction and relaxation of muscles.
Specialization:
The presence of the protein molecules (Actin and Myosin) which are arranged in a pattern.
During contraction, the proteins slide over each other resulting in shortening the muscle.
During relaxation, the proteins go back to their normal position resulting in relaxing the muscle.

3- Red Blood Cells: P121

-They are small cells with no nucleus.

-They contain an Oxygen- carrying protein called Haemoglobin which contains Iron.
-Function: to carry Oxygen from lungs to the body cells.
Specialization:
They have a biconcave shape (disc-like shape), with no nucleus to provide larger surface area to carry
large amount of Oxygen.
They are smaller than most other cells with an elastic cell membrane to be able to squeeze through
blood capillaries to supply body cells with Oxygen.
Haemoglobin combines with Oxygen in areas with high Oxygen concentration, but it breaks down and
releases the Oxygen in areas with low Oxygen concentration.

4- Nerve cells : P162

They are called neurons, they contain a cell body, an Axon, a Dendron and dendrites.
There are three types of neurons:
a- Sensory neurons
b- Relay neurons.
c- Motor neurons.

Motor neurons:
-they have dendrites branching from the cell body, which carry the impulses coming from the CNS.They
have long nerve fibres called Axons which conduct impulses towards the knobs that are situated in the
effecter cells.
-Function: conducting impulses from the CNS towards the body.
Specialization:
The presence of the Axon and Dendrites form a passage for the signals to pass .
Specific chemical reactions take place in nerve cells that generates electrical impulses.

5- Root hair cells:P 96

They are tiny tube-like projections that are produced by an outer layer of cells in plants.They are
found in the region above the root tip.

Functions:
a- They help in supporting the plant in the soil.
b- They absorb water and mineral salts from the soil.
Specialization:
The presence of extensions and their shape provides a larger surface area for absorption of nutrients
from the soil. Also the huge number of the root hairs increases the rate of absorption.
The cell wall of the root hair cells is highly permeable.
They have the ability to penetrate between the particles of the soil to be able to fix and anchor the
plant in specific regions.

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 6- Xylem vessels: P 94

-They are empty dead cells, that are found in the roots, stems, leaf stalks and leaf veins.They
have no cytoplasm because the cell wall is very thick and does not allow water or minerals to
enter the cell.

-Functions:
a-they form vessels that carry water and dissolved minerals from the root to other parts
of the plant.(upwards only)
b- They help support the plant.
Specialization:
They are made up of cells joined end to end forming a long tube from the root via the stem into the
leaves (there are no end wall between cells – they form vessels).
They have a thick cell wall to prevent the leakage of water and minerals from it. Lignin is a substance
responsible for giving it strength and making it water proof.

7- Phloem cells: P 95

They form tubes , they are found in roots, stems and leaves.
They are not dead, they remain alive unlike the Xylem cells.
Function:
They transport sugar ( ), hormones and other substances up or down the stem,
from the place where they are made to any part of the plant where they are needed or to be stored.
Specialization:
Their shape helps in the function because they are made up of series of long cells joined at ends.
The end walls of the phloem cells are called sieve plates, because they contain holes (like a sieve) for
substances to be able to pass from one cell to the other.
Their walls are not lignified, to allow the entrance and exit of nutrients and other substances.