Plant cells and animal cells: how they are alike and different

Grade 7 Science Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Side-by-side cell diagram, not to scale. Cell 1 (plant leaf cell) and Cell 2 (animal cell), with each part named. Cell 1: cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, mitochondria, chloroplasts, large central vacuole. Cell 2: cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, mitochondria.

2. 1.

   Ari’s friend says plant cells do not need mitochondria because chloroplasts give them energy. Which response is best?

   • Disagree: plant cells have mitochondria and lack chloroplasts altogether
   • Agree: chloroplasts release the energy a plant cell uses
   • Agree: mitochondria belong in animal cells, not plant cells
   • Disagree: chloroplasts make sugar, and mitochondria release its energy
3. 2.

   Plant cell diagram, not to scale. C is the nucleus. Bo’s friend says a plant cell has a cell wall instead of a cell membrane. Which response is best?

   • Agree: a membrane is needed in animal cells, not plant cells
   • Disagree: it has both, but the membrane sits outside the wall
   • Agree: the wall does the membrane’s job in plants
   • Disagree: it has both, with the membrane just inside the wall
4. 3.

   Two cell drawings, not to scale, with each part named. Esme’s friend says every plant cell is green because every plant cell has chloroplasts. Which response is best?

   • Disagree: chloroplasts are found in flower cells, not in root cells
   • Agree: chloroplasts are what make a cell a plant cell
   • Agree: root cells have chloroplasts hidden by the soil
   • Disagree: root and bulb cells are plant cells with no chloroplasts
5. 4.

   Kira puts two clues together to sort a mystery cell. Which reasoning is complete?

   • Plant, because it has a nucleus and cytoplasm
   • Animal, because it has mitochondria
   • Plant, because its membrane is a thin cell wall around it
   • Animal, because it has no cell wall, unlike plant cells

6. Use this

   Two cell outlines, not to scale, the same size, labeled Cell 1 (from a tomato leaf) and Cell 2 (from a cat’s skin). No parts are drawn.

7. 5.

   Luz puts two clues together. One cell came from a tomato leaf and one from a cat’s skin. Which part would Luz expect in the leaf cell but not the skin cell?

   • Mitochondria, because the skin cell uses no energy
   • Chloroplasts, because the leaf cell makes food from light
   • A cell membrane, because the skin cell has a wall instead
   • A nucleus, because a skin cell has no nucleus
8. 6.

   Cheek cells, stained blue, with uneven, rounded edges and one dark dot in each. Not to scale. Noah reads that a cheek cell has no cell wall, yet it holds together. Which explains this?

   • It has a thin cell wall too faint to see
   • Its cell membrane surrounds it and holds the cytoplasm in
   • It is not a true cell, because it has no wall like a plant cell
   • Its nucleus holds the whole cell together

9. Use this

   Two microscope cards (read about; the teacher prepared the slides), not to scale. Card 1: water plant leaf cells, boxy, thick outer lines, many green ovals. Card 2: onion bulb cells, boxy, thick outer lines, no green parts.

10. 7.

    Pia compares two plant cells: a water plant leaf cell has chloroplasts, but an onion bulb cell has none. What do both cells still have?

    • A wall but no membrane, since the wall replaces it
    • A cell wall, a membrane, a nucleus and mitochondria
    • A wall and a nucleus, with mitochondria in the green cell alone
    • Chloroplasts, but the onion’s are too pale to see

11. Cell theory card

    (1) All living things are made of one or more cells. (2) The cell is the basic living unit. (3) New cells come only from cells that already exist. Sketch: rows of small empty boxes, labeled “cork, seen by Hooke, 1665,” not to scale.

12. 8.

    In 1665 Robert Hooke saw tiny boxes he called cells in a thin slice of cork, which comes from tree bark. Which part of cell theory does Ren say it supports?

    • No part: the cork boxes are too small to be cells
    • Part 3 is wrong: the bark made cells by itself
    • Part 1 is true for plants like trees, not animals
    • Part 1: a tree is a living thing made of cells

13. Use this

    Cell theory card: (1) All living things are made of one or more cells. (2) The cell is the basic living unit. (3) New cells come only from cells that already exist.

14. 9.

    Scientists later watched one cell split into two under a microscope. Tala asks which part of cell theory this shows best. Which answer is best?

    • No part: living things are made of nonliving parts
    • No part: cells can also form from water
    • Part 3: new cells come from cells that already exist
    • Part 1: living things are made of cells

15. Cell theory card

    (1) All living things are made of one or more cells. (2) The cell is the basic living unit. (3) New cells come only from cells that already exist.

16. 10.

    Zee reads an old claim: “Mold grows from stale bread by itself, with no cells to start it.” Which response fits cell theory?

    • Agree: stale bread turns into mold over time
    • Agree: mold is not alive, so it needs no cells
    • Disagree: the mold is made of the bread’s own cells
    • Disagree: mold grows from tiny mold cells that land on the bread