Animal cells
Parts of an animal cell
All animals are made of cells. You are an animal, and your body is made of cells. No one knows exactly how many cells there are in a person. One estimate is about 100 trillion. That is 100 000 000 000 000 cells.
Animal cells are similar to plant cells in several ways. They have a cell membrane, cytoplasm and a nucleus.
Questions
The photographs show some cells, seen through a microscope.
For each photograph, decide whether the cells are plant cells or animal cells. Explain your decision.
Show Answer
The first and second images show plant cells — you can see cell walls and sometimes chloroplasts. The third image shows animal cells, which are round and lack cell walls. Plant cells tend to have more rigid rectangular shapes, while animal cells are more irregular and circular.
Think about the model of a plant cell that you made. What would you change to make it into a model of an animal cell?
Show Answer
To make the model into an animal cell, remove the cell wall and chloroplasts. Change the shape to more rounded or irregular. Keep the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cell membrane.