This model of a cell was made using playdough and several toothpicks.
The parts of the cell are labeled on the chart above. To begin, the cell membrane is the outermost surface that controls what comes into and out of the cell. The nucleus is the sphere that holds the DNA. The nuclear membrane/envelope protects the nucleus. The Endoplasmic Reticulum is both rough and smooth. Rough ER is "studded" with ribosomes. Smooth ER does not have ribosomes and synthesizes lipid molecules. The golgi apparatus processes, packages, and secretes modified cell products. Lysosomes are vesicles that digest macromolecules and cell parts. A vesicle is a membrane-bounded sac that stores and transports substances. Mitochondria are organelles that carry out ceullular respiration, producing ATP molecules. Flagella and cillia have an inside core of microtubles and aid in human reproduction.
(Cell Structure and Function, page 45)
The next model shows the replication of DNA.
The nuclei of two newly formed daughter cells have the same number and kinds of cell that divides (the parent cell) in mitosis. After DNA replication each chromosome has been duplicated. As the centromeres (microtuble organizing centers of each cell) split, the chromosomes move into daughter nuclei.
Lastly, I've chosen to make a model of gene expression that shows transcription and translation. Gene expression usuallly leads to the forming of a protein. Transcription takes place in the nucleus. Here, the DNA triplet is passed to an mRNA. The mRNA has codons. Translation occurs in the cytoplasm at the ribosomes. tRNA moclecules bind to their amino acids and mRNA codons pair with their anticodons.
This model is a simplified model of a very complex cell's structure and function. The tactile nature of this lab helped me to not only have a better understanding, but a better memory of what I had learned in the unit.
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