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Lesson · Grade 8 · Science

Plant and Animal Cells: What They Share and How They Differ

  • Grade 8
  • Science
  • 1 min 41 s
  • British Columbia
  • BC8-SC-05

An animal cell and a leaf cell are drawn side by side and labelled one part at a time. They share five parts (cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, mitochondria and ribosomes), and only the plant cell has a cell wall, chloroplasts and a large central vacuole. The video then corrects the common mistake that plant cells have no mitochondria, since they respire day and night, and ends on a one-line recap.

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In one sentence

The question this lesson answers

Cell theory says that all living things are made of cells.

Here is an animal cell, and a plant cell from a leaf. How are they alike, and how are they different?

Transcript

What the lesson says

Cell theory says that all living things are made of cells.

Here is an animal cell, and a plant cell from a leaf. How are they alike, and how are they different?

Both cells have a cell membrane, a thin layer that controls what enters and leaves the cell.

Inside is the cytoplasm, a jelly-like fluid where most chemical reactions happen.

Both have a nucleus, which holds DNA, the genetic instructions, and controls what the cell does.

Both have mitochondria, where respiration releases energy from glucose, a sugar the cell uses as food.

And both have ribosomes, tiny dots that make proteins.

So both cells share five parts: the cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, mitochondria and ribosomes.

Only the plant cell has a cell wall, a stiff layer of tough cellulose fibres outside the membrane.

The plant cell also has chloroplasts, where photosynthesis uses light to make glucose. Root cells usually have none.

And it has a large central vacuole, a sac of watery cell sap that keeps the cell firm.

A common mistake is to think that plant cells have no mitochondria.

In fact, plant cells respire day and night to release energy from glucose, so they need mitochondria too.

Both cells share five parts, and plant cells add a cell wall, chloroplasts and a large central vacuole.

Curriculum

Where this fits

British Columbia, Grade 8

Science, Biology: cell theory and types of cellsBC8-SC-05

Previous: Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells: is there a nucleus?Next: Organelles: The Jobs Inside a Cell

The outcomes and strands follow the British Columbia curriculum.

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