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IMAGE OF THE RIDE
Eh. No image avaliable now. Go away and come back another day for Image.

As you enter the room- the announcer will speak.

Announcer: Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to CELL WARS. Today you will take a virtual trip through a human cell- and observe many of the parts at work. Please seat yourself in a seat, put all belongings underneath as they may shift during the ride, and buckle up. People with heart problems, and children under the age of 6 are not advised to go on this ride. Enjoy and learn something new today!

Room fades to black and music comes on. Screen does not show anything yet.

Machine Voice: Before I take you on this exciting ride, let me introduce you to the cell. There are two types of cell structures- the prokaryotic cell, and the eukaryotic cell. Right now- forget about the prokaryotic cell and focus on the eukaryotic cell, which is probably more familiar to you anyway. Organisms with eukaryotic cells are called eukaryotes and they include protists, fungi, plants, and animals. Basically eukaryotes have a membrane enclosed nucleus and organelles. Now that you are vaguely familiar with the eukaryotic cell- we are going to go more in-depth with this idea. So, sit back, hold tight, and enjoy the show.

Much too loud music comes on.

Screen illuminates and a 3-D cell appears. As you look at the cell, the seat jolts and you are thrown into the cell through the plasma membrane.

Voice: You have just passed through the plasma membrane- otherwise known as the transport system for the cell. It is through the plasma membrane that water and other molecules diffuses or is transported in and out of the cell. What you are now seeing may look like snakes to you, but it is actually the tails of the phospholipids that make up the plasma membrane. Phospholipids have a head and two tails. The heads face outwards towards water, and the tails face each other away from water. Molecules are either diffused or transported through this semi permeable membrane into or out of the cell via just like you are into this cell right at this moment.

The image on the screen shows the inside of the cell.

Voice: Now that you have passed successfully through the plasma membrane, you are floating upon cytosol which is a semi fluid material that surrounds organelles and fill up the cell. The texture can be compared to that of jelly.
Be careful where you are steering- you almost crashed into mitochondrion. Yes, that was the pinkish bean shaped thing to your left. Mitochondrion contains small amounts of DNA and RNA. They are enclosed in double membranes- inner and outer and are responsible for reactions of cellular respiration. Be careful not to crash into others as there are around several hundred in a cell.

Woah! Don't go into lysosome either! Remember, you want to stay on the cytosol. Lysosome are the spheres that you see which are sites of intracellular digestion; intercellular refering to inside the cell. This is formed from budding with the Golgi apparatus.....don't crash into that!!!  Whew. OK now where was I? Oh yes, the Golgi apparatus- Golgi apparatuses are really flat sacs that sort and modify macromolecules for secretion or for it to be delivered to other organelles. It is the purplish spongy thing you are seeing.

You are passing the cytoskeleton- which is basically a network of proteins of  that connect intermediate filaments. The cytoskeleton provides shape and internal organization. Get stuck in there and have a good time getting out.

What you are passing by now is the nucleus of the cell. The nucleus is quite important in the well being of the cell. It basically controls what the cell is doing and contains most of the cell's genetic organization i.e. DNA. That ball inside the nucleus are nucleoli. Those are sites for assembly and synthesis. Kind of like a nucleus with a nucleus.

Now as you are preparing to move away from the nucleus, let travel through the ER. No, not the emergency room, but the Endoplasmic reticulum. Those are tubing that provides transport from one organelle to another.  Just try not to bump too much on the riosomes which ERs are studded with.  Ouch!

Now as we are exiting the ER, we are back onto cytosol. To exit the cell, you must go through the cell membrane again. However we can diffuse through so relax as we take a nice smooth ride out. But I must warn you- this takes hours. So- for your sake- I am going to have to speed up this process. Hold on tight!!

Crashes through plasma membrane. Way too loud music starts again.

Voice: Well, I hope that wasn't too bad. Millions of cells inside you do much more difficult things. I hope you have enjoyed the ride. Exits are on both sides- and bathrooms are right outside the exit for those that need to get rid of some food.  In way too energetic voice: Have a grrreeeaaaat day!

FACTUAL INFORMATION ABOUT CELLS

To learn more about cells, both plants and animals, please visit the  CELL PAGE .

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