Fifth Grade Life Science
A big chunk of life science involves understanding what goes on inside the bodies of living things. What happens inside often reflects what happens outside. For example, when you feel acidic, your stomach hurts and you can hold it with your hands or crunch up, the natural reaction to a stomach ache. This is why we study cells and the reactions that take place in them. The actions that happen within cells and the interaction between cells tell us more a lot about the living organism and what we see happening on the outside. An understanding of these actions and interactions can lead to our helping or preventing damage and illness.
Plant & Animal Cell Differences
Life science usually begins with studying small or simpler organisms before moving on to the more complex. This is why we learn about plants before animals, and cells before entire systems. Focusing on one cell at a time, helps us gain understanding of the cell and the different organelles with different functions each contains. Usually, we view cells under a microscope in order to familiarize ourselves with their parts. After learning about each cell, we view their similarities and differences in order to be able to distinguish them and how they react and interact.
Beginning with the similarities, animal and plant cells are both eukaryotic, meaning they both have a nucleus that contains chromosomes which carry genes. Both these cells have cell membranes which control what comes in and out of the cell. Mitochondria, the powerhouse of the cells are found in both plant and animal cells. Finally, the both have cytoplasms, in which the cell organelles are suspended within the cell membrane.
The differences of cells begin with their shapes. Plant cells usually have a regular shape while animal cells do not. While they are both protected by cell membranes, only plant cells have cell walls. These cell walls protect plant cells from bursting when the cell fills with water. When animal cells fill with water, they burst. This is why animals have kidneys, which help cells by removing excess water. Plant cells also have large vacuoles which usually take up a lot of space. This large vacuole contains sap, something that is unique to plants. Finally, plant cells have chloroplasts which contain chlorophyll as well as their own DNA, separate from the DNA of the plant cell itself. This DNA is specific to the production of enzymes needed for photosynthesis.
Plant and animal cells have a lot of similarities, and their differences usually lie in extra features found in plant cells which plants need because of their different processes of producing food, synthesizing energy, and acquiring water.
Next Article: Distinguishing Cells
