Cell City Analogy
The cell organelles work together to help keep the cell alive. They have been compared to the organs of a human body. In some ways, they are similar to different parts of a city and how these different parts must work together to keep the city working properly.
Let's take a look at several of the organelles and compare them to parts of a city.
- Cell Wall found in plant cells is a large wall that surrounds and protects the city.
- Cell Membrane is a door in this wall that allows materials to pass in and out of the city.
- The Nucleus is the town hall because it contains the DNA which is the instruction manual for the city much like the town hall directs the activities of a city.
- The Mitochondria provide energy for the city during cellular respiration, therefore, it is similar to a power plant.
- The Endoplasmic Reticulum is a passageway for the cell that repackages and moves material around the cell, therefore, the ER can be represented by roadways.
- Ribosomes receive information from the nucleus on how to make proteins. They are protein factories and can be represented by small manufacturing centers.
- Golgi Bodies are like distribution centers because they receive packages from the ER and repackage this material and send new packages out into the cell.
- Chloroplasts which are found in plant cells convert sunlight into energy in the same way solar panels convert sunlight into electricity.
- Vacuoles are storage sacs much like a trash can or a water tower in a plant cell.
- Lysosomes are organelles that digest materials in the cell. They could be represented by a waste treatment plants or portable toilets.
In order for the city to work properly, all parts must work together and do their part. In the same way, the parts of a cell which are called organelles must do their part to keep the cell alive.
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