| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Cell Wall | The outer covering of plant and bacteria cells. Made of cellulose. It gives strength and support to the cell. It stops a plant's cell membrane from tearing when a plant is watered. It gives strength to trees. |
| Vesicle | Membrane covered compartment. Acts as a container. Encloses food particles. Wastes may be stored in these. (like a bubble) |
| Endoplasmic Reticulum-ER | This organelle consists of tubes that move proteins around the cell. The organelle helps break down drugs and other substances that could harm the cell. Ribosomes are often attached to this organelle. |
| Golgi Complex | This organelle acts as a packaging center that wraps proteins in membranes to be shipped out of the cell. Found near the cell membrane. Makes lysosomes. |
| Mitochondria | This bean-shaped organelle is known as the "powerhouse" of the cell. Makes food particles into ATP using oxygen and water. Gives off CO2 as waste. Highly active cells, like the heart, have many of these. |
| Vacuoles | This organelle in plant cells can hold water to be used in photsynthesis. Plant cells wiltwhen this organelle is empty. The juice found in fruits is the fluid in the organelle. |
| Chloroplasts | This organelle is only found in plant cells. It converts sunlight into sugar using CO2 and water. It gives off oxygen as a waste product. It contains a chemical called "chlorophyll" that turns green when sunlight hits it. Looks like stacks of coins. |
| Lysosomes | This organelle acts like the "police force" of the cell. It is filled with an enzyme that can break things apart. It destroys worn-out cells. They also have the job of breaking down food particles to be used in the mitochondria for energy. |
| Cytoplasm | jelly-like fluid inside of all cells, consists of about 70% water. |
| Cell | A membrane covered structure that contains all of the materials necessary for life. |
| Nucleus | A membrane covered organelle in eukaryotic cells that has DNA inside. The genetic material that controls the cell. The information tells how to make proteins. The largest most visible organelle in the cell. The word means "kernel" or "nut". It stores DNA. |
| Organelles | The structures inside cells. Allow the cell to live, grow, and reproduce. |
| Cytoskeleton | A web of proteins inside the cytoplasm. Acts as a muscle and a skeleton. Helps keep the cell from collapsing. |
| Cell Membrane | Outer covering of the cell. Seperates the inside from the outside of the cell. Holds the cytoplasm inside the cell. Allows food and nutrients in, and waste out. |
| DNA | The information to make proteins. The genetic instructions that give us our traits. |
| Nucleolus | Dark spot in the nucleus of the cell. Stores materials needed to make ribosomes. The cell begins to make ribosomes here which will take information from the DNA. |
| Ribosomes | Found in all cells. The tiniest organelle and the most abundant. Each cell has thousands of ribosomes. Makes and is made of proteins. |
