Describe the functions of the main cells components

P1- Describe the functions of the main cells components

Cells are the basic units if organisms in which all living things are made. The appearance of the cells depends of the area it is located at and the functions within the organism. A cell consists of many components. These are plasma membrane, the cytoplasm, the endo reticulum (rough and smooth), Golgi apparatus, lysosomes, mitochondrion and the nucleus. Each of these parts of the cell, play an important role, if it did not have all these parts then the cell would not work in a what it is meant to.

Diagram of a typical animal cell

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The cell membrane (or plasma) is a thin skin around the cell. It gives the cell its shape and controls what goes into and out of the cell. If the plasma membrane was to get damaged in any way, and it wouldn’t let anything enter or exit it, then we would not be able to get oxygen in and let carbon dioxide out. This means that we wouldn’t be able to live, as we have to need oxygen and to let out carbon dioxide for respiration which provides our body with the energy to go through the processes that it needs.

The cytoplasm is the fluid of the cell, which is mostly made up of water. This is also where chemical reactions take place, like metabolism, which keeps the cell alive. The function of the cytoplasm is to provide structure to the cell, a place for all the components of the cell to sit and to also provide a place for things like growth to take place.

The nucleus is the largest structure within the cell, containing many organelles. It is usually found in the middle of the cell, but in some plant cells it can be found ...

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The nucleus is the largest structure within the cell, containing many organelles. It is usually found in the middle of the cell, but in some plant cells it can be found at the bottom. The function of the nucleus is very important because it controls what the cell does, as well as containing instructions on how to make new cells.

The Golgi apparatus is a flattened, layered, sac-like organelle which looks like a stack of pancakes. The main function of the Golgi apparatus is to process and package proteins and lipids for delivery to other organelles or outwards from the cell. It is also responsible for the producing lysosomes.

The mitochondria are a spherical to rod shaped organelles with doubled-layered membranes which are scattered round the cytoplasm; in each cell there are more then 1000 of these rod shaped or spherical bodies. Also there can be many more of the rod shaped or spherical bodies within a=n active such as the muscle cells or even in the liver cells. The function of this cell to convert the energy stored in glucose into ATP (adenosine triphosphate) for the cell.

The endoplasmic reticulum (which can be shortened to ER) is a cast system of interconnected, membranous tubes, found in the cell’s cytoplasm. There are two variations which are called rough and smooth. Rough ER is so-called because it is studded with tiny black bodies known as ribosomes and has the function of manufacturing cell proteins and acting as a temporary storage area. Smooth ER has no ribosomes attached and is involved in the metabolism of lipids and fats.

The lysosomes are round organelles surrounded by membrane which contain powerful digestive enzymes capable of digesting all major chemical components of living cells. They can be found in all parts of the cell’s cytoplasm. Their function is to travel around the cell, destroying old or damaged organelles. They can also destroy bacteria and other unwanted materials, which enter the cell.

Peer Reviews

Here's what a star student thought of this essay

PicturePerfect

1st of Mar 2012

Quality of writing

The candidate uses a rather simplistic language and to achieve a higher grade I would expect a wider range of vocabulary. There are a few issues with spelling and grammar. However overall the essay flows well and is nicely laid out.

Level of analysis

The analysis given is really quite basic, more detail is required to achieve a higher grade. S/he also only gives one or two functions for each organelle when in reality each has several functions. For example the candidate only mentions two functions of the Golgi apparatus, it is responsible for producing secretory enzymes such as pancreatic amylase which is essential in starch digestion, it also secretes the carbohydrates needed to make cell walls and adds carbohydrates to proteins to form glycoprotein which have several important functions. In addition the candidate only mentions animal cells and as the question doesnâ€™t specify this I would imagine that itâ€™s open to interruption and a higher grade could be achieved by discussing both plant and bacteria cells, perhaps even single-celled organisms. This allows for comparison between the various cells and also shows a greater level of interest.

Response to question

This is an example of a low level essay, it could be improved with additional analysis and the courage to explore beyond the question. The candidate responds to the given statement in rather a basic manor, s/he only uses simplistic detail and each description is rather brief. S/he could show a greater understanding by going into more depth. On a positive note I like the addition of the labelled diagram it allows the reader to view the structures described, perhaps the candidate could have shown a diagram for each structure or related each paragraph to the diagram to add more in depth discussion. The candidate only gives a brief description of the function of each organelle and at this level I would expect s/he to be relating the organelle structure to its function.

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