KS3 Biology · Cells

Animal and plant cells

All living things are made of cells. Animal and plant cells share some parts, and plant cells have three extra ones. Tap any part of the cell to find out what it does, then switch between the animal and plant cell to watch it change.

Key Stage 3Years 7–9Cells and organisation
Compare

What's the same and what's different?

PartAnimal cellPlant cell

Not every plant cell has chloroplasts. Root cells grow underground with no light, so they have none.

Sort the parts

Tap a part, then tap the box it belongs in.

Practical

Looking at cells under a microscope

Cells are too small to see with your eyes. Change the lens, focus the image and drag to move the slide.

Objective lens:
Eyepiece
×10
Objective
×4
Total
×40

Total magnification = eyepiece lens × objective lens. Always start with the lowest power lens, then focus, then move up.

Making an onion cell slide

  1. Peel a thin layer of skin from the inside of an onion piece.
  2. Lay it flat on a glass slide with a drop of iodine solution to stain it.
  3. Lower a coverslip on at an angle so no air bubbles get trapped.
  4. Put the slide on the stage, start with the ×4 objective and focus.

What you see

  • Onion cells are long, box-shaped and fit together like bricks. You can see the cell walls and the nucleus.
  • Cheek cells are flat and irregular, with a dark nucleus. Methylene blue stain is used to make them show up.
  • Onion cells have no chloroplasts, because the onion bulb grows underground in the dark.
Organisation

From cells to organisms

In a multicellular organism, cells work together in levels.

Check understanding

Quick quiz

Longer answers

Explain it: 10 questions

They start easy and get harder. Write your answer first, then check it.