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Animal and plant cells

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All living things are made of cells. They are the building blocks of life, and most are too small to see without a microscope.

Parts of a cell

Each part of a cell has a job.

Plant or animal?

Both have a nucleus, cell membrane, cytoplasm and mitochondria.
Only plant cells have a cell wall, a large permanent vacuole and (in green parts) chloroplasts.
Root cells are underground, so they have no chloroplasts.

Using a light microscope

Put the slide on the stage. Start with the lowest power objective lens. Focus with the coarse focus, then the fine focus.
Total magnification = eyepiece magnification × objective magnification
Draw what you see with clear pencil lines and label it.
Worked example

A microscope has a ×10 eyepiece and a ×40 objective lens. What is the total magnification?

  1. Multiply the two lenses.
  2. 10 × 40

Answer: ×400

Key idea

Animal and plant cells both have a nucleus, membrane, cytoplasm and mitochondria. Plant cells also have a cell wall, a vacuole and often chloroplasts. Magnification = eyepiece × objective.

The interactive lesson includes the diagrams for this topic.

Check you have got it

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