2.1 The Cell

• Cell structure as seen under a light microscope, in plant and animal cells
• Preparation of temporary slides of plant cells
• Magnification of cells seen under the light microscope

• describe the structure of plant and animal cells as observed under a light microscope
• describe the functions of components of cells seen under the light microscope
• compare plant and animal cells as observed under a light microscope
• determine the magnification of cells under the light microscope
• appreciate the role of cells in living things

“What makes up plant and animal cells?”

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1. The cell as the unit of life
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Zooming in from a whole organism to a single cell, and why the cell is where life begins.
2. Parts of the light microscope
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Naming every part before touching any of them, and what each one does.
3. Using and caring for a microscope
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   The order of operations for focusing, and the handling rules that keep an expensive instrument working.
4. Preparing a temporary slide
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   Making an onion slide from scratch, avoiding air bubbles, and disposing of waste safely.
5. Observing onion cells
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   What is actually visible in an onion slide, what is not, and how to tell a cell from a bubble.
6. Drawing what you see
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   The rules of a biological drawing, and why it is a record rather than a picture.
7. The plant cell
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   All six parts of a plant cell together, and how to recognise each one.
8. The cell wall
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   The cellulose layer that gives a plant cell its shape, and why it lets everything through.
9. The cell membrane
   40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
   The thin layer that surrounds every cell and decides what may enter and leave.
10. The cytoplasm
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    The jelly that fills the cell and where nearly all its chemistry happens.
11. The nucleus
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    The control centre of the cell, what it holds, and what happens without it.
12. The vacuole
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    The bag of cell sap that keeps a plant firm, and what happens when it runs short of water.
13. The chloroplast
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    The green body that traps sunlight, and why it is only in the parts of a plant that get light.
14. Observing animal cells
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    Preparing and viewing a cheek cell slide safely, and what looks different straight away.
15. The animal cell
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    The three parts every animal cell has, and why it has no fixed shape.
16. Comparing plant and animal cells
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    The similarities and the three differences, set out so they can be recalled under pressure.
17. What magnification means
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    How many times bigger the image is than the object, and why it is written with a multiplication sign.
18. Calculating magnification
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    Total magnification is the eyepiece times the objective, and how to work it back from a drawing.
19. Working out real size
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    Turning the size of a drawing back into the true size of a cell, in millimetres and micrometres.
20. Why cells matter
    40 min · 1 practice tasks · quiz
    How cells build up into whole organisms, and why the cell is the key to growth, repair and health.