SCIENCE ALLIANCE Christina examines Plant Cells and Animal Cells! by Carole Marsh 2008 Carole Marsh Permission is hereby granted to the individual purchaser or classroom teacher to reproduce materials in this book for non-commercial individual or classroom use only. Reproduction of these materials for an entire school or school system is strictly prohibited. Gallopade is proud to be a member of these educational organizations and associations. National Science Teachers Association The National School Supply and Equipment Association The National Council for the Social Studies American Booksellers Association American Library Association International Reading Association National Association for Gifted Children Museum Store Association Association of Partners for Public Lands Association of Booksellers for Children Managing Editor: Sherry Moss Assistant Editor: Gabrielle Humphrey Senior Editor: Janice Baker Cover Design: Vicki DeJoy Content Design: Ivy Koonce Although most of the experiments in this book are regarded as low hazard, author and publisher expressly disclaim all liability for any occurrence, including, but not limited to, damage, injury or death which might arise as consequences of the use of any experiment(s) listed or described here. Therefore, you assume all the liability and use these experiments at your own risk. Author and publisher recommend that all experiments be performed under adult supervision. 1 Carole Marsh/Gallopade International www.gallopade.com Christina examines Plant Plant Cells Cells and and Animal Animal Cells! Cells!
Christina examines Plant Cells and Animal Cells! Table of Contents Science Alliance Intro Page 4 A Word From the Author Page 5 Christina examines Plant Cells and Animal Cells! Page 6 7 What is a Cell? Page 8 Single-Celled Organisms Page 9 How Do They Compare? Page 10 Anyone Home? Page 11 The Cover-Up! Page 12 Plant Protection Page 13 What s Blood Got to Do With It? Page 14 A Balancing Act Page 15 The Secret Weapon Page 16 Stay Safe! Page 17 Divide to Multiply Page 18 Cells on the Loose! Page 19 Facing the Enemy Page 20 Tools and Equipment Page 21 Someday, I ll Have a Cool Job! Page 22 Can You Become an Inventor? Page 23 Great Discoveries Page 24 The Scientific Method Page 25 Science Fair Project Page 26 27 What Did I Learn? Page 28 Join the Science Alliance Page 29 Metric Conversions Page 30 Glossary Page 31 Answer Key Page 32 3 Carole Marsh/Gallopade International www.gallopade.com Christina examines Plant Plant Cells Cells and and Animal Animal Cells! Cells!
What is a Cell? Every living organism on Earth is made up of cells. Cells are very small. To see one, you need to look at it using a microscope. Inside cells are even smaller things, all with special jobs. Cells group together to form organs, like the heart, skin, and brain. A group of organs becomes a system, like the nervous system, for instance. The nervous system includes your brain, the organ that tells your hand to move when it touches something hot! Other systems include your muscles (to enable you to move) and your heart, part of a system that pumps blood through your body. Plants are also made up of many cells, like animal cells, but have differences. Plants are rigid, or stiff, due to special cell walls. They need to be stiff because they don t have bones like we do. The cell s main job is to organize. Humans have more than 200 different kinds of cells about 10 trillion total! That s a lot of cells! So, if the cell s main job is to organize, it has a big job to do! Cell-a-thon Spell-a-thon! Fill in the bubblegram with words related to plant and animal cells! Use the letter clues and word list to help. system organize cells small walls organs 1. All living organisms are made up of O. 2. Cells are very O. 3. Skin, the heart, and the brain are all O. 4. A O O is made up of several organs working together. 5. Plant cells have cell O, but animal cells don t. 6. A cell s main job is to O. Unscramble the bubble letters above to finish the sentence below! 7. Being small is! 8 Carole Marsh/Gallopade International www.gallopade.com Christina examines Plant Cells and Animal Cells!
Single-Celled Organisms It s hard to imagine that something can be single-celled and live, but amoebas are single-celled and they thrive very well. They live in water and normally can t be seen without a microscope. Amoebas are fun to learn about because they can do so much with so little. Inside the cell membrane of the amoeba is the nucleus (the command center ), and tiny storage units called vacuoles. They are all in a gel-like substance called cytoplasm. To move around, an amoeba pushes its cytoplasm out and around like a foot. With no mouth, the amoeba wraps this foot around the food, secretes a chemical that breaks down the food, then digests and stores the food in its vacuoles. Wastes go out and food goes in all through the cell membrane! Scientists used to think amoebas were animals because of the way they move. They are actually organisms called protozoans. In the food chain, they are decomposers, meaning they eat decaying plants and animals. Like all living organisms, amoebas must reproduce or they will die out. They do this by splitting in half. Pieces and Parts! Look at the diagram of an amoeba below. Label the parts using the word bank. Word Bank nucleus cell membrane cytoplasm food vacuole waste vacuole food 1. c m 2. f 3. n 6. c 4. w v 9 5. f v Carole Marsh/Gallopade International www.gallopade.com Christina examines Plant Cells and Animal Cells!
How Do They Compare? As you know, cell walls surround plant cells. Under the plant cell wall is a cell membrane, just like that in animal cells. Cross-Section of a Plant Cell cell wall A cell membrane is thinner than a cell wall and not rigid. Cell membranes let water and oxygen enter and leave the cell. The nucleus in both animal and plant cells controls everything that happens in the cell. Vacuoles handle water and waste storage. Plant cells usually have one large vacuole for storage, while animal cells have smaller ones. When you water a plant, it stands tall because its vacuoles fill up like balloons. When a plant is not watered, it uses up stored water from its vacuoles, causing the plant to wilt. Chloroplasts in plant cells contain a green pigment called chlorophyll. This chemical takes the sun s energy, and with carbon dioxide, changes the chlorophyll into sugars. This creates great plant food in fact, plants are the only living things on Earth that can make their own food! Oxygen is a byproduct of this chemical reaction! cell membrane vacuole nucleus chloroplasts Cross-Section of an Animal Cell cell membrane nucleus As you can guess, animal cells don t have chloroplasts! Let's Compare! vacuoles Check to see how much you know about the differences and similarities between plant cells and animal cells. Write your answers on the lines below. 1. Name three differences between plant cells and animal cells. a. b. c. 2. Name three things that are the same in both plant cells and animal cells. a. b. c. 3. Why do plant cells have chloroplasts and animal cells do not? 10 What are all those squiggly things? Carole Marsh/Gallopade International www.gallopade.com Christina examines Plant Cells and Animal Cells!