Cells and Cell Structure

In science we are going to start learning about biology. In biology, we will study types of cells, plants, and ecosystems.

This blog post is about cells. Cells are the basic unit of life. They are the smallest living thing. Sometimes cells are called "the building blocks of life" because all living things are made of cells. Some things, like bacteria, are only made of one cell. People are made of many, many, many cells.

These are building blocks:


Cells work like these building blocks: they combine and join each other to make bigger things. They can make plants, flowers, trees, grass, dogs, cats, people, snakes, elephants--anything! Fruit is made of cells, so when you drink a class of lulo, you are DRINKING CELLS! So WEIRD!

There are two main types of cells: plant cells and animal cells. Plant cells can be different types and animal cells can be different types. For example, skin cells, bone cells, and blood cells are all different types of animal cells.

Please watch this video about cells:


This cell is an ANIMAL cell. Animal cells have a "membrane", or a very thin skin, that surrounds them. They do not have a "wall" like plant cells, because animals have a spine. (Do you know what a spine is? See below...)


This is a plant cell. Plant cells have an outside wall because plants do not have a spine.


*Hint: This is a spine:

OKAY: For homework, please tell me 3 things that are the same about plant cells and animal cells and two things that are different. Use the pictures, the information in the blog, and what you see in the video. Write your answers in your science notebook.