Unit 2: Cell Structure and Function

Types of Cells and Cell Structure

1. Cells take highly varied forms in different plants, animals, and microorganisms.

2. Cells have distinct and separate structures (organelles), which perform and monitor processes essential for survival of the cell (e.g., energy use, waste disposal, synthesis of new molecules, and storage of genetic material). The highly specific function of each organelle is directly related to its structure. *See also, cell labeling exercises.

3. Microscopes have been designed and refined over the centuries, resulting in the modern compound light microscope as the primary tool for viewing cells. *See Microscope Lab

4. In mutlicellular organisms, cells grow and divide by a process called mitosis. Cancer occurs when cells fail to control the cell cycle. (See Case Study)

Cell Membrane and Transport

4. The fluid-mosaic model describes the cell membrane, a selectively permeable barrier of the cell

5. The cell membrane interacts with both internal and external compartments through the use of proteins that are responsible for the functions of the membrane such as transport and communication between cells.

6. Diffusion and Osmosis are types of transport across the membrane that do not require energy

7. Some transport requires energy to move substances into and out of the cell

Energy

8. The process of photosynthesis convers light energy to stored chemical energy by converting carbon dioxide plus water into sugars and released oxygen.

9. Cellular respiration is a chemical process in which the bonds of food molecules and oxygen molecules are broken and new compounds are formed that can transport energy for cellular work.

10. Energy can still be released from organic molecules in the absence of oxygen (anaerobic conditions)