Cell Organelles Activity
Goal: Identify the main organelles of animal and plant cells, describe what each one does, and explain how the parts of a cell work together.
What to do
- In the labeled diagram, choose “Animal cell”. Click any organelle to open its page if you need more detail.
- Choose “Plant cell” and look for the structures that appear.
- Use the diagram and the organelle chart below it to fill in the table.
Record your results
| Organelle | Main function | In animal cells? | In plant cells? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nucleus | |||
| Mitochondrion | |||
| Chloroplast | |||
| Ribosome | |||
| Golgi apparatus | |||
| Lysosome | |||
| Vacuole | |||
| Cell wall |
Questions
Which structures did you find in the plant cell but not in the animal cell?
Which structure did you find in the animal cell but not in the plant cell?
Plant cells have chloroplasts. Why do they also need mitochondria?
Which three organelles are surrounded by a double membrane?
Follow a protein that the cell will release. List the organelles it passes through, in order, starting with its gene.
Challenge: ribosomes have no membrane. Why does every living cell, even a bacterium, have ribosomes?
Free from Biology Lab · thebiologylab.org · MS-LS1-2: Develop and use a model to describe the function of a cell as a whole and how parts of cells contribute to it.