Re: What does a cell contain?

A cell contains many organelles and cell parts. Organelles are to cells what the organs are to the body. They carry out the individual tasks of gaining and working with energy, as well as directing the overall behavior of the cell. Here's a list with an explanation of what they do.

Organelles:

Nucleus: the nucleus is the brains of the cell. It is the planner of how much the cell grows and divides to form new cells. It contains the DNA and RNA of the cell. It is located in the middle of most cells.

Mitochondria: the mitochondria are the energy producers of the cell. They can take glucose (sugar) and oxygen and make ATP (the chemical energy of the cell like gasoline). They are located throughout the inside of the cell.

Ribosomes: The ribosomes are small organelles attatched to the endoplasmic reticulum. They are responsible for making proteins from RNA. They are like construction workers building proteins using RNA as a blue-print.

Endoplasmic reticulum: The ER is a large ribbon like organelle that runs through the cell. It comes in two types rough and smooth. The rough ER has ribosomes attatched to it, the smooth ER does not. It is resposible for moving newly made proteins to the golgi apparatus (or golgi body).

Golgi apparatus: The golgi apparatus receives proteins from the ER and packages them into packages called vesicles to be shipped to various parts of the cell or out of the cell. The ER acts like a conveyer belt that moves proteins from where they are made (ribosomes) to the golgi. The golgi then packages the proteins up and ships them out.

Chloroplasts: These are in plant cells only!! They act like the mitochondria which plants don't have. Photosynthesis takes place in the chloroplasts. Photosynthesis takes carbon dioxide and sunlight and makes glucose (sugar) which can be converted to energy (ATP).

Vacuoles: Primarily a plant structure, it is an empty organelle that can act as a storage site.

Cell parts: (not exactly organelles but still important)

Cell membrane: The cell membrane surronds the cell and holds everything together (like skin). It allows for diffusion (the movement of certain thing in and out while keeping other things in their place).

Cell walls: In plants and bacteria but not in eukaryotic (animal) cells. The cell wall is a stiff wall made of cellulose that surround the cell membrane. It is responsible for the stiffnes in plants that allow them to stand up.

Cytoplasm: Cytoplasm is the packing of the cell. It is kind of jelly like in consistency. It is everything in the cell that is not an organelle or cell membrane. It fills up the space of the cell and keeps the organelles separate (they kind of float in it). It is made up of water, proteins and other substances that are important to the cell.

There is a web site that a 9th grade biology class put together as a project. It is pretty good and has a good picture. http://www.dcn.davis.ca.us/~carl/cellhome.htm

Good luck, Kim