Control & DNA
This organelle is known as the "brain" or control center of the cell because it directs all cell activities.
What is the nucleus?
Known as the "powerhouse" of the cell, this organelle generates energy (ATP) through cellular respiration.
What are the mitochondria?
This jelly-like substance fills the cell and keeps all the organelles suspended.
What is the cytoplasm?
This rigid outer layer provides extra support and protection, and is found in plant cells but not animal cells.
What is the cell wall?
This flexible boundary controls what enters and leaves all cells.
What is the cell membrane (or plasma membrane)?
This dense region inside the nucleus is responsible for making ribosomes.
What is the nucleolus?
This green organelle captures energy from sunlight to conduct photosynthesis in plant cells.
What is a chloroplast?
These tiny structures act as factories to build proteins for the cell.
What are ribosomes?
Animal cells have many small ones, but plant cells usually have one massive central version of this water-storage sac.
What is a vacuole?
This primary chemical component makes up the cell membrane, forming a "bilayer."
What are phospholipids?
This genetic material lives inside the nucleus and provides the cell with its unique instructions.
What is DNA?
This fluid inside the inner membrane of a chloroplast is where sugar is made.
What is the stroma?
This folded membrane network moves materials and proteins throughout the cell; the "rough" version is covered in ribosomes.
What is the endoplasmic reticulum (ER)?
These small, round organelles are filled with digestive enzymes to break down waste; they are common in animal cells.
What are lysosomes?
This model describes the cell membrane as a flexible layer made of many moving parts like proteins and lipids.
What is the fluid mosaic model?
This double-membrane layer surrounds and protects the nucleus.
What is the nuclear membrane (or nuclear envelope)?
These folded inner membranes inside mitochondria increase the surface area for making energy.
What are cristae?
This organelle packages, sorts, and ships proteins to their final destinations like a post office.
What is the Golgi apparatus (or Golgi body)?
These small cylindrical structures help with cell division and are typically found in animal cells.
What are centrioles?
This term describes a membrane that allows only certain substances to pass through while keeping others out.
What is selectively permeable (or semi-permeable)?
This granular material consists of DNA tightly coiled around proteins and condenses to form chromosomes during cell division.
What is chromatin?
These individual, coin-like membrane sacs are stacked inside chloroplasts to absorb light.
What are thylakoids?
These small, membrane-bound sacs pinch off from the ER or Golgi to transport proteins around or out of the cell.
What are vesicles?
These microscopic channels span the plant cell wall, allowing transport and communication directly between individual plant cells.
What are plasmodesmata?
These structures embedded in the membrane help larger or charged molecules cross through via facilitated diffusion or active transport.
What are transport proteins (or channel/carrier proteins)?