In every living thing, on Earth, there are cells. Cells keep living things organized. Just think about it, there is no way you could do everything you do and just be one cell. You would be one big blob, with many pieces (called organelles) floating around inside you. One of the main purposes of cells is to organize. You have brain cells, stomach cells, bone cells, and many other types of cells.
Each is different from the others. In the same way that there are different kinds of cells inside you, different organisms have different types of cells. Trees have different cells than you and so do dogs. Each of those cells is different in some way. It might be the DNA, or the number of mitochondria.
Every cell has a specific job to do. Animal and plant cells are both eukaryotic. Every animal and plant cell has a nucleus, which contains chromosomes and a nucleolus. The nuclear envelope surrounding the nucleus separates the chromosomes from the cytoplasm; chromosomes carry genes. Animal and plant cells also contain cytoplasm. The most important things to be found in cytoplasm are mitochondria.
A mitochondrion contains all the enzymes to obtain energy from glucose. They also have a plasma membrane, which controls what can get in and out of a cell around them. They both have chromatin, ribosomes, endoplasmic reticulums, golgi apparatus, lysosomes and cytoskeleton’s, which are all essential for both cells. Plant cells are different from animal cells in very obvious ways. Plant cells have a cell wall, where animal cells do not.
The cell wall is not living. It has semi-permeable cell membranes, which allows water to enter or leave, by osmosis. When plant cells are put into distilled water they will swell up, but they do not burst. Plant cells also have chloroplasts, which contains the green chemical, called chlorophyll. Plant cells have one large vacuole with cell sap in it, whereas animal cells have many small vacuoles.
Animal cells have very irregular shapes, where plant cells have very regular shapes. Animal cells have cilia and flagella, which are both important parts of the exterior of a cell, and are made up of microtubules. They are used for one main function, movement, either for the cell itself, or the movement of substances around the cell. There are a lot more cilia then flagella, and are very different in lengths and amounts. The cilia and flagella’s movement is controlled by the centrioles (controls the direction of movement of the cilia and flagella).
Plant cells and animal cells are very similar in certain ways.
They are also very different in certain ways. They both have a lot of the same parts, but have different parts, which make each one unique. Animal cells and plant cells should not be confused, for they are easy to recognize.