Organelles of Plant Cells

Vacuoles

- Function: stores water

Chloroplasts

- Function: traps energy from the sun to produce food for the plant cell
- Appearance: green in color because of chlorophyl, which is a green pigment

Cell Wall

- Function: provides support and protection to the cell membrane
- Found outside the cell membrane in plant cells

Cell Membrane

- thin, flexible barrier around a cell; regulates what enters and leaves the cell

Nucleus

- Nickname: "The Control Center"
- Function: holds the DNA
- Parts:
- Nucleolus: dark spot in the middle fo the nucleus that helps make ribosomes

Ribosomes

- Function: makes proteins
- Found in all cells, prokaryotic and eukaryotic

Endoplasmic Reticulum

- Nickname: "Roads, "ER"
- Function: the internal delivery system of the cell
- Parts:
- Rough ER
- Function: helps make proteins, that's why it has ribosomes
- Appearance: rough appearance because it has ribosomes
- Smooth ER
- No ribosomes
- Function: m

Golgi Complex

- Nickname: "The Shippers"
- Function: packages, modifies, and transports materials to different locations inside/outside of the cell
- Appearance: stack of pancakes

Lysosomes

- Nickname: "Clean-up Crews"
- Function: to break down food into particles the rest of the cell can use and to destroy old cells
- Appearance: circular, but bigger than ribosomes

Mitochondria

- Nickname: "The Powerhouse"
- Function: energy formation > breaks down food to make ATP
- ATP = the major fuel for all cell activities that require energy

Cytoplasm

- a jellylike fluid inside the cell in which the organelles are suspended