7.1 Life is Cellular

Master cell theory! This worksheet covers cell discovery, types (prokaryotic/eukaryotic), and key scientists.

The Discovery of the CellFill in the blanks below using the word bank. 1. The invention of the microscope made the discovery of cells possible.2. Robert Hooke used the name cells to refer to the tiny empty chambers he saw when he observed magnified cork.3. German botanist Matthias Schleiden concluded that plants are made of cells.4. German biologist Theodor Schwann concluded that animals are made of cells.5. Rudolph Virchow concluded that new cells are produced from existing cells.6. The Cell Theory combines the conclusions made by Schleiden, Schwann, and Virchow. Characteristics of Cell Types Fill in the table below with the correct information from the word bank. The word bank appears when you click a blank box. Category Definition Size Range Example Prokaryotic Cells do not separate their genetic material within a nucleus smaller bacteria Eukaryotic Cells the nucleus separates the genetic material from the rest of the cell. larger plants, animals, fungi, protists Prokaryotic vs. Eukaryotic Sort the items below into the correct category Prokaryotic small size few organelles do NOT separate genetic material Eukaryotic large size more organelles nucleus genetic material separate Both cell membrane DNA ribosomes Discovering the Cell Use this link and website to answer the questions that follow. History of the Cell: Discovering the Cell Use the website above to fill in the blanks below. From the single cells that make up the most basic organisms to the trillions of cells that constitute the complex structure of the human body, each and every living being on Earth is comprised of cells. This idea, part of the cell theory, is one of the central tenants of biology. Cell theory also states that cells are the basic functional unit of living organisms and that all cells come from other cells. Although this knowledge is foundational today, scientists did not always know about cells.The discovery of the cell would not have been possible if not for advancements to the microscope.What van Leeuwenhoek saw with these microscopes was bacteria and protozoa, but he called these tiny creatures “animalcules.”Scientists could readily tell that plants were completely made up of cells due to their cell wall. However, this was not so obvious for animal cells, which lack a cell wall.German scientists Theodore Schwann and Mattias Schleiden studied cells of animals and plants respectively. These scientists identified key differences between the two cell types and put forth the idea that cells were the fundamental units of both plants and animals.Another piece of the cell theory puzzle was identified by Rudolf Virchow in 1855, who stated that all cells are generated by existing cells.Today, scientists are working on personalized medicine, which would allow us to grow stem cells from our very own cells and then use them to understand disease processes. All of this and more grew from a single observation of the cell in a cork.