Unit 3 - Cells

Content

• What living things have in common?
• What life processes are introduced with discussion and book, reinforced when looking at single cell lifeforms.
• To use microscopes, the parts of the microscope, the history of the microscope.
• The basic description of a cell and major differences between animal and plant cells
• The basics of vacuoles (water filled giving the plant structural strength- no skeleton) and cell walls (thickness can be seen with onion cells also rigid "box" shape). Cell membrane, nucleus, cytoplasm, chloroplasts.
• Specialised cells: There are different types of cells and how cells are organised.
• Basic knowledge of the three basic ideas behind cell theory (cells and heredity- Prentice Hall p10). So that means cells divide and pass on genetic information.
• That there is a relationship between form and function in specialist cells.

Skills and understanding

• Differentiate between living and non-living things.
• Recall and understand the seven characteristics of living things
• Identify the microscopes parts
• Use a microscope to look at non-living and living things.
• Identify the main plant and animal cell organelles through the microscope.