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Middle school biology - NGSS
Cell parts and their functions
Within cells, special structures are responsible for particular functions, and the cell membrane forms the boundary that controls what enters and leaves the cell. Created by Khan Academy.
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- So you could see the cell as a "city" almost?(17 votes)
- Technically yes you are correct about having it like that the lysosomes are the police the mitochondria are the factories and the nucleus is where the mayor is.(28 votes)
- how do plants pee(11 votes)
- Some, but not all, plants occasionally expel water and other waste, a process known as guttation (the secretion of droplets of water from the pores of plants).
Hope this helped.(19 votes)
- vote up if you love yor mom(14 votes)
- The mitochondria is the "power house".(12 votes)
- That is technically right(1 vote)
- Who doesn't put chicken in their CHICKEN noodle soup!?(8 votes)
- i don't put chicken in my chicken noodle soup(3 votes)
- Are bones really supposed to be in soup?(4 votes)
- Yes! Bones make the perfect broth, and they are already leftover after eating chicken!(4 votes)
- yes ye s slksdjasd;lka;ojasaeoju(5 votes)
- What does the Golgi Apparatus do?(0 votes)
- The Golgi apparatus, or Golgi complex: The primary function is to collect proteins, prepare them to be moved, and then move them to their correct destination. For that reason, the Golgi Apparatus has been referred to as the "post-office of the cell".
Hope this helps.(12 votes)
- What produces proteins and what are proteins exactly made of?(2 votes)
- Proteins are produced by ribosomes in the cell. There are loads of protein types and are classified by the amino acids that make them. Proteins are very complicated and we still don't understand all of them very well yet.(5 votes)
- They forgot to explain what the large central vacuole in plant cells is for and why plant cells have it and animal cells don't. They only focused on the Chloroplast and the Cell wall, those are important but i think the Large Central Vacuole is important too, right?(3 votes)
- I like the way you think, and smartness(3 votes)
Video transcript
- [Instructor] So let's
imagine this scenario. It's cold outside and we want to make a nice hot bowl of chicken noodle soup. Well, we'd probably need to
get the ingredients first. We need some chicken bones to give the broth that
distinct chicken flavor, some noodles to add
that starchy component, carrots and onions to give
some sweetness and color. And of course, salt and
pepper to provide seasoning. All of these ingredients
would come together to make our chicken noodle soup the comfort food that so many people love, but this video is supposed
to be about cells. You know, those tiny things that make up all living things on earth. So why am I telling
you about chicken soup? Well, just like how each
ingredient in chicken soup adds something unique to
the soup's overall flavor and texture, a cell's different parts add something unique and necessary for the overall functioning of the cell. So, let's take a look at
some of the structures inside a cell and see how
their functions come together to allow cells to carry out
all the processes of life. So let's explore the parts of a cell starting with the cell's surface. Cells are separated from
their outside environment by a cell membrane. You can think of the cell
membrane like a fortress gate, because it regulates what
comes into and out of the cell, and contained within the cell is a jelly-like substance
that fills out the cell and contains its internal parts, this jelly and all the
structures within it make up the cell cytoplasm. Unlike chicken soup, the cell parts in the cytoplasm are not just floating around. Instead, they're organized
and held in place by an internal structural network. Some of the parts contained
within the cytoplasm are called organelles. So what exactly are organelles? Well, organelles are small
compartments in the cell that have different
structures and functions. The word organelle
basically means, mini organ. And just like how our bodies
are made up of different organs that work together to help us stay alive, cells contain different
organelles that work together to get things done inside the cell. For example, these jellybean
shaped organelles here are little energy producing factories called mitochondria. So mitochondria use chemical reactions to break down sugar molecules in order to release energy that the cell can use for other tasks. Another really amazing
organelle is the nucleus. You can think of the nucleus
as the information database of the cell. It contains DNA which
includes the cell's genes. Genes are special instructions that the cell uses to
carry out its functions. Moving over to a plant cell, we can see these green
organelles called chloroplasts. You might remember that plants
carry out photosynthesis. Well, chloroplasts are the
organelle's responsible for this process. Plants need food to live,
just like animals do. And chloroplasts use photosynthesis to produce sugars that
plant cells use as food. Plant cells also have a layer
outside their cell membrane called the cell wall, which helps provide
structure for the cell. So as you can see, there
are so many different parts that make up a single cell. There are many, many
organelles present in cells, way more than the handful
I mentioned in this video. And what's even more mind blowing is that these diagrams are
only simplified versions of what cells actually look like. And just to give you an idea, here's a picture of what
a real cell looks like. So when we're talking about cells and using these diagrams as references, keep in mind that these pictures
are only simplified models of the real thing. To wrap up this video on cell parts, let's revisit our delicious
bowl of chicken noodle soup that I mentioned at the beginning. Each ingredient that we added had a unique function that contributed to the soup's taste and texture. And similarly, our cell's ingredients, its organelles and structures, each contribute a unique function that helps the cell carry out all the tasks necessary for life. So the next time you find yourself in front of a bowl of noodle soup, just imagine that you're
eating one enormous cell. Now, isn't that something to noodle on?