1.1.

1 investigate different cellular structures, including but limited to:

 Examining a variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells
Cells and types of cells
 Cells are the basic structure of life
 Unicellular organisms consist of only one cell which needs to be able to carry out all its
functions needed
 Multicellular organisms consist of many cells and these cells work together to carry out all its
life functions
 The two types of cells are
o Prokaryotes
o Eukaryotes
Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic cells
 Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells though different, have their similarities such as
o Ribosomes
o Genetic information (DNA)
o Cytoplasm
o Cell membrane
Prokaryotic cells
 Prokaryotic cells contain no nucleus as 'pro' means before and 'karyon' means nucleus
 They also do not have membrane-bound organelles
 Range in size: 0.1 - 5.0 micrometres
 Prokaryotic cells are unicellular and there are two main groups of prokaryotes:
o Archaea
o Bacteria
Eukaryotic cells
 Contains nucleus (with genetic information) and membrane-bound organelles
 Can be unicellular or multicellular and their main groups are:
o Protists
o Fungi
o Plantae
o Animalia
 Each organelle has a specific function within the cell
o They carry out all the biochemical processes and reactions that are required for the
successful functioning of a living cell
 Size: 10 - 100 micrometres
 Describe a range of technologies that are used to determine a cell's structure and function
Before the microscope
 Spontaneous generation: theory that predicted that living creatures could arise from inanimate
material
 The evidence for this was based off an observation from the naked eye
o It was thought that the maggots on the rotting meat appeared from thin air but this was
disproved later on as Francesso Redi showed that the maggots developed from flies
laying eggs of the rotting meat
Invention of the microscope
 First compound microscope was made with two convex lenses, one placed above the other
Major discoveries
 Robert Hooke: discovered 'little boxes' in a cork when he looked through the microscope and
called them 'cells'
 Anton Van Leeuwenhoek: discovered bacteria (tiny living organisms) and called them
'animalcules'
 Robert Brown: discovered the nucleus
 Theodor Schwann and Matthias Schleiden: discovered that all animals and plants are made
up of cells
  Rudolf Virchow: suggested that cells come from pre-existing cells and did not spontaneously
arise

 Cells use mitosis to reproduce and in bacteria this is called binary fission
Examples of microscopes
 Light microscope and staining techniques
 Fluorescence microscope
 Electron microscope
o Transmission electron microscope
o Scanning electron microscope
 For a microscope to be effective, it needs to do 2 things:
o Give an enlarged view of an object. (magnification)
o Make the detail appear clear, giving a precise (not fuzzy) outline of all the parts of the
object (resolution)
Compound light microscope
 Light microscopes use a light source and lenses
 Total magnification = magnification of eye piece x magnification of objective lens
 Advantage of light microscope:
o Both living and non-living specimens can be viewed
o Specimens can be viewed in colour
 Can only magnify up to x1500 because the wavelength of visible light limits the resolving
power
Staining techniques
 A specific part of cells can be clearly distinguished if a chemical stain, that was absorbed by the
specific organelle material, was added
o This can be indicators such as iodine
Fluorescence microscope
 Uses a light source
 The specimen is labelled with a fluorescent substance that will be absorbed by the structure of
interest
o Different organelles absorb different dyes
 When light is shone onto the specimen only the area of interest will emit light
 Can be used to view smaller structures and materials such as enzymes
Electron microscopes
 They use a beam of electrons instead of light and electromagnets instead of lenses to view a
specimen on a screen
 There are two types:
o Transmission electron microscope
o Scanning electron microscope
Transmission electron microscope (TEM)
 Specimen is stained with heavy metals and the electrons are transmitted through the specimen
 Magnified up to x1,500,000 and has a resolution of 2nm
 Organelles can be viewed (sub-cellular level)
Scanning electron microscope (SEM)
 Bombards solid specimens with a beam of electrons that scans the surface of a sample that has
been coated with a metal e.g. gold
o Causing secondary electrons to be emitted from the surface layers of the specimen,
producing a 3D image
o SEM only shows the outside and does not show organelles
o Must use computers to view image; it is used to view the different levels of a cell, its
shape etc.
 Advantages to electron microscope
o Structures can be seen at a cellular and sub-cellular level (TEM). This meant that some
organelles were seen for the very first time
 o Organelles seen with an electron microscope could be seen in more detail, providing an
increased knowledge of their internal structure. This led to a greater understanding of
their functions
 Disadvantages to electron microscope
o Specimens must be placed in a vacuum, as air would interfere with the beam of electrons.
This means that a living specimen cannot be viewed
o The preparation to the specimen is very complicated and comes with a risk of introducing
something into the image that is not normally there
o Microscopes are very large and expensive (initial cost and maintenance)
What organelles can we see?
School light microscope Advanced light microscope Electron microscope
 Cell wall  Everything in the school  Everything in the first two
 Nucleus + nuclear light microscope columns
membrane  Golgi body  Endoplasmic reticulum
 Chloroplast  Mitochondria  Ribosomes
 Vacuole: tonoplast + cell  Nucleolus (needs special  Lysosomes
sap staining)  Centrosome
 Cytoplasm  Cytoskeleton (needs special
 Cell membrane (but we staining)
can't see the shape)
1.1.2 investigate a variety of prokaryotic and eukaryotic cell structures, including but not
limited to:
 Drawing scaled diagrams of a variety of cells
Rules for drawing cells
 Large, simple 2D pencil drawings
 Have ruled lines where possible
 Keep proportions realistic
 Include labels, lines, magnification (e.g. 1000x), heading and scale (e.g. 1:100)
 Use simple clear lines (no sketching)
 Do not shade your drawing
 Make the diagram as large as possible
 Do not draw structures you cannot see
 Do not use arrowheads
Cell size
 Cells vary in size, where most are only visible under a light microscope
o Cells are measured in micrometres (µm), where 1000µm=1mm
Remember
 A light microscope has two lenses: the eye piece (ocular lens) and the objective lens. Both
lenses magnify the specimen
 Total magnification = ocular lens magnification x objective lens magnification
Estimating cell size
 When looking down a microscope, the size of a cell can be estimated by working out the
diameter of the field of view
o The field of view is the area that you see when you look down a microscope
Drawing scaled diagrams
1. Determine the actual size of the specimen/cell to be drawn (usually in µm)
2. Determine how big you want the drawing to be (in cm)
3. When the actual size of the cell is divide by how big you want the drawing to be, a whole
number should be obtained
E.g. Length of cell =8µm
Length of drawing = 4cm
8÷4=2
Therefore, 1cm=2µm
 Comparing and contrasting different cell organelles and arrangement
Nucleus
Structure:
 A large oval structure in the cytoplasm
 Surrounded by a double nuclear membrane pierced by tiny pores making it semi-permeable
Function:
 Controls all cell activities
 Pores regulate the passage of substances between the nucleus and cytoplasm
 Stores DNA
o Hereditary information of an organism that gets passed on from one generation to the next
 Contains a nucleolus, which is responsible for the manufacture of ribosomes
Endoplasmic reticulum (ER)
Structure:
 The outer nuclear membrane is usually continuous with a network of flattened interconnected
membranes
 The folding of the membranes increases the surface area allowing more efficient transport
and processing of proteins and lipids
o It allows it to do many things at once/same time
Function:
 The ER provides a pathway between the nucleus and the cell's environment, allowing transport
of many substances
 Two types of ER:
o Rough ER has ribosomes attached on the folds and processes proteins
o Smooth ER has no ribosomes attached and is the site of lipid production
Ribosomes
Structure:
 Very small and spherical
 Found free in the cytoplasm or attached to the rough ER
 They are made up of rRNA (ribosomal RNA)
Function:
 Site of protein synthesis
 Newly synthesised proteins are passed from the ribosomes in the ER where the protein is folded
 Amino acids > polypeptide > protein
Golgi apparatus
Structure:
 Made of flat membranes which are arranged in stacks
o Each membrane has a curved shape, where vesicles can be seen budding off becoming
lysosomes
Function:
 They process, package and sort cell products e.g. Proteins
Lysosomes:
Structure:
 Formed in the Golgi body
 Membrane-bound vesicle containing digestive enzymes
o Enzymes are a type of protein
Function:
 The enzymes break down compounds when they are no longer needed or when they are passed
their 'used-by-date'
 Allows the body to recycle materials
Mitochondria
Structure:
 Mitochondria is oval shaped with a double membrane
 The inner membrane is highly folded (folds are called cristae) to increase the surface area of
chemical reactions
Function:
  Site of aerobic respiration: obtains energy from organic compounds
o Basically cellular respiration
 Contains DNA; mitochondria DNA (mtDNA)

Vacuole
Structure:
 Membrane-bound, fluid-filled vesicle
 In animals, they are usually small
 In plants, they are large
Function:
 Stores substances, water and nutrients
 Involved in intracellular digestion and release cellular waste products
 In plants they play a role in turgor pressure and help maintain the shape of the cell
Chloroplast
Structure:
 Chloroplasts have a double membrane with stacks of thylakoids containing chlorophyll to
trap sunlight
Function:
 Site for photosynthesis in plants
 Contains DNA; chloroplast DNA
Cell wall
Structure:
 External structure surrounding the cell membrane
 Only found in plants
Function:
 Helps maintain the cell structure
 Provides the cell with protection
Cell membrane
Structure:
 Semi-permeable
 Lipid bilayer
Function:
 Holds the cell contents in place
 Controls the movement of substances into and out of the cell
 Modelling the structure and function of the fluid mosaic model of the cell membrane
Cell membrane
 The cell membrane controls the exchange of material between the internal and external
environments of the cell. It is semi-permeable, meaning that it only allows certain substances
into and out of the ell
Fluid mosaic model