Cell structure and organelles

What you will be able to do

• Name each major organelle and state its one core function
• Tell prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells apart by structure, not by size
• Match a cell's organelle mix to the job that cell does in the body

What the lesson concludes

• The nucleus stores and protects the cell's DNA; everything else in the cell carries out what the DNA instructs.
• Rough ER and free ribosomes build proteins; smooth ER builds lipids and clears drugs and waste.
• Mitochondria make ATP through cellular respiration, and cells with heavy energy demands pack in more of them.
• Lysosomes digest material inside the cell using enzymes that only work well in an acidic environment.
• Prokaryotic cells (bacteria) have no nucleus and no membrane-bound organelles; eukaryotic cells have both.