Lesson 1

Exp ore It.

L1

How does a cell membrane work?

D

1. Add 10 drops of iod ine to a cup half full wi th water,

plastic cup
sa fety goggles
a nd glove s

Be careful handling
iodine . It could stain
your skin and clothes.

o 2 . Place a spoonful of cornstarch in a plastic bog.

with water

iodine

d ropper

Add 3 spoonfu ls of water. St ir.

D 3. Sea l the bag with a twist tie. Pla ce the bag in the cu p.

cormto rch

4 . Observe the bog every 10 minutes for 1 hour.

plastic bag
and twi st tie

Explain Your Results

, \5 . How did the contents of the bog Ch~nge?

6 . Infer Wh ich substance moved-t he iodine or the

sto rch? How do you know?

148

mvscienceonLine.com

(T) Michael Griffin/Alamy/Alamy Images

Copyright Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

4) GtE 19 CommunkolO
id&o.
,o'iely of ",oY' le.g .,
illuWol ionl, g'oph., cho.t. 'p"ochhH'"
In '"

DiaRY

,ymbo~.

oon(up' rnapI. 0 '01 ond wriTlOn f~po'l1 . oqvolion~

1$l-M-A7) (AI,., GLf ~1 IS 1-M-Al)1

Interactive Science

o
1

I will know that a cell is

the basic unit of living
things. I wi ll know the basic
functions and components
of plant a nd animal cells.

Words to Know
cell
cell membrane
nucleus

cytoplasm
cell wall
chloroplast

Cells and Their Functions

The smallest part of your body tha t carries out the
a ctivities of life is a cell. Cells ore the basic units of all
living things. The tiniest orga nisms are only single cells.
Multi cell ed organisms like you, th ough, hove mony cells,
maybe trillions. Most cells are too tiny to be seen by the eye
alone. A single drop of blood can hold millions of red blood
cells. Cells have many fu nctions.
Cells must ta ke in food a nd ge t rid of wastes. Materia ls
in food are used by th e cell to grow and to repair wounds.
While very few cells move around, a ll cells have parts that
move inside them. Cell s sense and respond to changes in
their surroundin gs. They often communi cate and cooperate
wilh olher cells.

1.

This red b food cefl is magnified

thousands o f times.

Text Features Complete the g ra ph ic orga nizer

below. Write the information that each text feature
gives you .

ext eature

ue

Heading

Ca ption

( mvscienceonLine.com

(T) Ed Reschke/Getty Images, (B) SGO/BSIP/SuperStock

Copyright Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

IEnvis.on It! )

149

Interactive Science

o
2

Animal Cells
The cell is a n a mazin g package ma de of a cell
membrane, a nucl eus, a nd many oth er stru ctures. Most of
the things your body does are really done inside cells. For
example, you grow when your cells grow larger a nd divide.
Your arm moves because small fi bers arc moving inside
muscle cells.
All cells have some of the same pa rts, a nd many pa rts
have similar jobs. Cells have the some needs as your
whole body hos. For example, you r body needs a n outside
coverin g of a skin , a control system of nerves, a support
system of bones, a nd places to store food and wa stes in the
digestive system . Some cell pa rts can be compared to these
la rger Slructures in the body. Only a few parlS of an ani mol
cell are pictured here.
The cell m embrane surrounds Q cell and holds the
pa rts of the cell together. It a ll ows needed materia ls, such
as sugar, water, and oxygen, to enter the cell. It allows
certai n oth er materia ls, such as co rbon di oxide and other
waste products, to exit.
The nucle u s is the part of the cell Lh oLconla ins
ch romosomes. Ch romosomes cony th e instructions for
the cell to do its jobs. By telling every cell h ow to do its
jobs, ch romosomes control how the whole body grows and
cha nges.

2. Identify Read the captions on the picture . Fill in the

missing words.

3.

Text Features

W hat does the caption abou t

mitochondria on the next page tell you about its job?

4 . Infer Why is it important that the cell membrane keeps

some materials out of a cell?

150 ( mYScienceonLine.com

IQ

(Illustr.) Robert Ulrich

Copyright Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

I Will Know... )

Interactive Science

o
3

Mitochondria are the cell's power

producers. Mitochondria combine
oxygen and food ta release energy
in the process called cellular
respiration.

Vesicles can sometimes act like

a stomach, storing and breaking
down material.

Cytoplasm is a gel-like Auid

that contains the cell's parts. It is
a ll the material between the cell
membrane and the nucleus.

5. Identify What is the

basic uni t of life?

151

Copyright Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

Interactive Science

o
4

Ports of plant Cells

Pl ant cells ha ve most of the parts fou nd in a nim a l cells.
They olso hove som e ports not found in a nima l cells.
A lough cell wall lies outside th e cell membrane. Th e
cell wa ll is sti ff, unlike th e thin cell m embrane. Cell walls
give pla nt cells extra support and protection .
Chloroplasts ore cell ports thot use th e energy in
sunlight to tum water and carbon dioxide into oxygen a nd
sugur. Chloroplust<; conta in a substance w iled chlorophyll ,
whi ch is green in color. Pla nts can make sugar using
light energy that strikes chlorophyll.

At-Home Lab
Model a Cell
Make a model of a plant
cell. Use cardboard,
cotton balls, string, beans,
or other household objects
in your model. Then label
each cell part and write

what it does.

nucleus

mitochondria

6. Infer Study the

lext a nd d jag ram
on this page.
W hat do you thi nk
might ma ke

porls

of plo nts g reen?

cell wolf

cell memb ran e

vacuole

chloroplasts

cytoplasm

7. Compare W hat po rts of plant ce lls a re also in animal cells?

152

myscienceonLine.com Got it? :~: 60-Second Video

(Illustr.) Robert Ulrich

Copyright Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

..'

Interactive Science

o
5

Size of Cells
To stay a live, a cell m ust take in oxygen, absorb food,
and release wastes. These materials constan tly move
between the cell m embrane and different parts of th e cell.
Because of this, a cell's size must be within certain limits.
A cell must hove room for its parts to move around, but if
a cell grew too lorge, materials would not be able to m ove
quickly enough throughout the cell for life functi ons to
continu e. If thut happened, the cell would die.
Cells replace old or damaged cells by moking new
cells. The chromosomes in a cell's nucleus contain the
informati on for new cells. New cells Ofe created by dividing
old cells into n ew cells.
8. Hypothesize Whot would happen if a cell were

100

,moll?

.............................................................................. .

This magniFied white hlood

cell ;s dividing.

Got it ?~~~~~~~~~~~--------------~
II
GlE 15 (LS-MAlI. GLE 16 u.s-MoA1). GI.E 17 (LS-M-A2)

9. Compare In wha t ways do animal ce lls look different

from plant cells?

10. Describe What are the functions of the cell wall and
ch loroplasts?

Stop! I need help with ..

Wait! I have a q uestion about .
Go! Now I know ..

( IDYscienceonLine.com Got it? QUiZ)

(TR) DAVID M PHILLIPS/Getty Images

Copyright Pearson Education, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.

153

Interactive Science

o
6