The Cell

Syllabus tag: Kenya CBC | Grade 8 Integrated Science | Strand 2.0 Living Things and Their Environment | Sub-Strand 2.1 The Cell (20 lessons)

Lesson objectives

By the end of this sub-strand, you should be able to:

• Describe the structure of plant and animal cells as observed under a light microscope
• Describe the functions of components of cells seen under the light microscope
• Compare plant and animal cells as observed under a light microscope
• Determine the magnification of cells under the light microscope

Summary

The cell is the basic unit of life. Plant and animal cells share several structures, like the nucleus and cytoplasm, but plant cells have extra structures — a cell wall and chloroplasts — that animal cells lack. A light microscope makes these structures visible, and magnification tells you how much bigger the image appears than the real specimen.