Head to www.savemyexams.

com for more awesome resources

Cambridge (CIE) O Level Your notes

Biology
1.1 Cell Structure & Function
Contents
Animal & Plant Cells
Animal & Plant Cells Under the Microscope
Bacterial Cells

Page 1 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Animal & Plant Cells

Your notes
Animal & Plant Cells
Animals
The main features of animals:
They are multicellular
Their cells contain a nucleus with a distinct membrane
Their cells do not have cellulose cell walls
Their cells do not contain chloroplasts (so they are unable to carry out photosynthesis)
They feed on organic substances made by other living things
They often store carbohydrates as glycogen
They usually have nervous coordination
They are able to move from place to place

Page 2 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

A typical animal cell

Plants Your notes

The main features of plants:
They are multicellular
Their cells contain a nucleus with a distinct membrane
Their cells have cell walls made out of cellulose
Their cells contain chloroplasts (so they can carry out photosynthesis)
They feed by photosynthesis
They store carbohydrates as starch or sucrose
They do not have nervous coordination

A typical plant cell

Cell Structures Found in Both Animal and Plant Cells Table

Page 3 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Structure Function
Your notes
Nucleus Contains genetic material (DNA) which controls the activities of the cell

Cytoplasm A gel like substance composed of water and cell solutes. It supports the internal cell
structures and is the site for many chemical reactions

Cell Holds the cell together, separating the inside of the cell from the outside. Controls
membrane which substances leave and enter the cell

Ribosomes Found in the cytoplasms, these are the site of protein synthesis

Mitochondria The site of aerobic respiration where energy is released to the cell. Large numbers of
mitochondria are found in cells that are very metabolically active, such as muscle cells

Cell Structures Found Only in Plant Cells Table

Structure Function

Cell wall Made of cellulose, gives extra support to the cell

Chloroplasts Contain green chlorophyll pigments which absorb light energy during
photosynthesis

Permanent Contains cell sap which is a solution of dissolved sugars and ions. It is used for
vacuole storage and support of the cell structure

Animal and Plant Cell Diagrams

Page 4 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Your notes

An animal and plant cell as seen under a light microscope; only larger structures are visible under a light
microscope so smaller structures such as ribosomes will not be visible

Identifying Cell Structures and Function

Within the cytoplasm, the following organelles are visible in almost all cells except prokaryotes when
looking at higher magnification (i.e. using an electron microscope):
Mitochondria (singular: mitochondrion) are organelles found throughout the cytoplasm
Ribosomes are tiny structures that can be free within the cytoplasm or attached to a system of
membranes within the cell known as Endoplasmic Reticulum
Endoplasmic reticulum studded with ribosomes looks rough under the microscope; this gives
rise to its name of Rough Endoplasmic Reticulum (often shortened to R.E.R.)
Vesicles can also be seen using a higher magnification - these are small circular structures found
moving throughout the cytoplasm

Page 5 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Your notes

Structures in an animal cell visible under a light microscope and an electron microscope

Page 6 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Structures in a plant cell visible under a light microscope and an electron microscope

Drawing Cells Your notes

To record the observations seen under the microscope (or from photomicrographs taken) a labelled
biological drawing is often made
Biological drawings are line pictures which show specific features that have been observed when the
specimen was viewed
There are a number of rules/conventions that are followed when making a biological drawing

Guidelines for microscope drawings

The conventions are:
The drawing must have a title
The magnification under which the observations shown by the drawing are made must be
recorded
A sharp HB pencil should be used (and a good eraser!)
Drawings should be on plain white paper
Lines should be clear, single lines
No shading
The drawing should take up as much of the space on the page as possible
Well-defined structures should be drawn
The drawing should be made with proper proportions
Label lines should not cross or have arrowheads and should connect directly to the part of the
drawing being labelled
Label lines should be kept to one side of the drawing (in parallel to the top of the page) and drawn
with a ruler
Drawings of cells are typically made when visualising cells at a higher magnification power, whereas
plan drawings are typically made of tissues viewed under lower magnifications (individual cells are
never drawn in a plan diagram)

Biological Drawing of an Animal Cell

Page 7 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Your notes

An example of a tissue plan drawn from an electron micrograph of an animal cell

Biological Drawing of a Plant Cell

An example of a tissue plan drawn from an electron micrograph of a plant cell

Page 8 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Examiner Tips and Tricks

When producing a biological drawing, it is vital that you only ever draw what you see and not what Your notes
you think you see. To accurately reflect the size and proportions of structures you see under the
microscope, you should get used to using the eyepiece graticule. You should be able to describe
and interpret photomicrographs, electron micrographs and drawings of typical animal cells.

Page 9 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Animal & Plant Cells Under the Microscope

Your notes
Examining Cells Under the Microscope
Viewing cells under the microscope
Many biological structures are too small to be seen by the naked eye
Optical microscopes are an invaluable tool for scientists as they allow for tissues, cells and larger
organelles to be seen and studied
Light is directed through a thin layer of biological material that is supported on a glass slide
This light is focused through several lenses so that an image is visible through the eyepiece
Getting a visible image requires a very thin sample of biological tissue because light has to pass
through the sample and into the lenses of the microscope
The most common specimens to observe under a light microscope are cheek cells (animal cells) and
onion cells (plant cells)
A stain is often used to ensure cell structures are clearly visible under the microscope

General method
Specimens must be prepared on a microscope slide to be observed under a light microscope
This must be done carefully to avoid damaging the biological specimen and the structures within it
Preparing a slide using a liquid specimen:
Add a few drops of the sample to the slide using a pipette
Cover the liquid/smear with a coverslip and gently press down to remove air bubbles
Wear gloves to ensure there is no cross-contamination of foreign cells
Preparing a slide using a solid specimen:
Use scissors to cut a small sample of the tissue
Peel away or cut a very thin layer of cells from the tissue sample to be placed on the slide (using a
scalpel or forceps)
Some tissue samples need to be treated with chemicals to kill/make the tissue rigid
Gently place a coverslip on top and press down to remove any air bubbles

Page 10 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

A stain may be required to make the structures visible depending on the type of tissue being
examined
Your notes
Commonly used stains include methylene blue to stain cheek cells and iodine to stain onion
cells
Take care when using sharp objects and wear gloves to prevent the stain from dying your skin
When using an optical microscope always start with the lowest power objective lens:
It is easier to find what you are looking for in the field of view
This helps to prevent damage to the lens or coverslip in case the stage has been raised too high
Preventing the dehydration of tissue:
The thin layers of material placed on slides can dry up rapidly
Adding a drop of water to the specimen (beneath the coverslip) can prevent the cells from being
damaged by dehydration
Unclear or blurry images:
Switch to the lower power objective lens and try using the coarse focus to get a clearer image
Consider whether the specimen sample is thin enough for light to pass through to see the
structures clearly
There could be cross-contamination with foreign cells or bodies
Using a microscope diagram

Light microscopes have a lens in the eyepiece which is fixed and two or three objective lenses of
different powers

Viewing plant tissue

An ideal tissue is the onion epidermis (found between the layers of onions) because it forms a layer just
one cell thick
Being a non-photosynthetic tissue, onion epidermis is not green as it does not contain any
chloroplasts

Apparatus
The key components of an optical microscope you will need to use are:
The eyepiece lens
The objective lenses

Page 11 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

The stage
The light source Your notes
The coarse and fine focus
Other apparatus used:
Forceps
Scissors
Scalpel
Coverslip
Slides
Pipette
Iodine solution
Viewing onion cells under the microscope diagram

Page 12 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Your notes

Care must be taken to avoid smudging the glass slide or trapping air bubbles under the coverslip

Viewing animal tissue

Page 13 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Human cheek cells are a good choice for examination under the light microscope because they are:
Plentiful Your notes
Easy to obtain safely
Can be obtained without an overly intrusive process
Relatively undifferentiated and so will display the main cell structures

Safety considerations
Do not perform the sampling on a person who has a cold, cough, throat infection etc.
To avoid spreading the infection to others
Concentrated methylene blue is toxic if ingested
Wear gloves and do NOT allow children to handle methylene blue solution or have access to the
bottle of solution

Apparatus
Glass microscope slides
Cover slips
Paper towels or tissue
Staining solution
Methylene blue solution
0.5% to 1%
Dilute according to concentration of the stock solution
Plastic pipette or dropper
Sterile, individually packed cotton wool buds or swabs

Method
Brush teeth thoroughly with normal toothbrush and toothpaste
This removes bacteria from teeth so they don't obscure the view of the cheek cell
Take a clean, sterile cotton swab and gently scrape the inside cheek surface of the mouth for 5-10
seconds
Smear the cotton swab on the centre of the microscope slide for 2 to 3 seconds

Page 14 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Add a drop of methylene blue solution

Place a coverslip on top Your notes
Lay the coverslip down at one edge and then tilt it down flat
This reduces bubble formation under the coverslip
Absorb any excess solution by allowing a paper towel to touch one side of the coverslip.
Place the slide on the microscope, with 4 x or 10 objective in position and find a cell
Then view at higher magnification to reveal more detail
Methylene blue stains negatively charged molecules in the cell, including DNA and RNA
This causes the nucleus and mitochondria appear darker than their surroundings
The cells seen are squamous epithelial cells from the outer epithelial layer of the mouth
Viewing cheek cells under the microscope diagram

Page 15 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Your notes

Parts of the cell that can be seen with a light microscope

Nucleus
Mitochondria
Cell membrane
Cytoplasm

Parts of the cell that cannot be seen with a light microscope

Ribosomes*

Page 16 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Endoplasmic reticulum*
Golgi* Your notes
Details of the nucleus, mitochondria and cell membrane
* these are parts of the cell that you don't need to know the names of, but they are included here as
examples of very small structures within the cell

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Remember that a cell is always a 3-dimensional object. If you search around your microscope's field
of view you may find a cell squashed up against the coverslip and will be able to see its 3-D structure
in the background.

Page 17 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Bacterial Cells
Your notes
Bacteria Cells
Bacteria, which have a wide variety of shapes and sizes, all share the following biological
characteristics:
They are microscopic single-celled organisms
Possess a cell wall (made of peptidoglycan, not cellulose), cell membrane, cytoplasm and
ribosomes
Lack a nucleus but contain a circular chromosome of DNA that floats in the cytoplasm
Plasmids are sometimes present - these are small rings of DNA (also floating in the cytoplasm) that
contain extra genes to those found in the chromosomal DNA
They lack mitochondria, chloroplasts and other membrane-bound organelles found in animal
and plant cells
Some bacteria also have a flagellum (singular) or several flagella (plural). These are long, thin, whip-
like tails attached to bacteria that allow them to move
Examples of bacteria include:
Lactobacillus (a rod-shaped bacterium used in the production of yoghurt from milk)
Pneumococcus (a spherical bacterium that acts as the pathogen causing pneumonia)

Page 18 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers
 Head to www.savemyexams.com for more awesome resources

Your notes

A typical bacterial cell

Page 19 of 19
© 2015-2025 Save My Exams, Ltd. · Revision Notes, Topic Questions, Past Papers