Background:

When you look at the world around us, you can see many examples that demonstrate how an object’s or a system’s structure relates to its function. The structure of a highway system, for example, can affect traffic flow. You can, no doubt, think of many other examples.

In this discussion board, you will look at the structure of the most basic unit of life, the living cell. And, you will investigate how the structures of cells are directly related to functions that are important to life.

Assignment details:

Please answer the following three essay questions.

1. All living cells, both prokaryotic and eukaryotic, have the following cell structures: plasma membrane, cytosol, ribosomes, and at least one chromosome. Choose any one of these. Describe its basic structure (including molecular composition) as well as the function. Explain why a cell could not exist without the function(s) performed by this cell structure.
2. Cells can be categorized as either prokaryotic or eukaryotic. Only bacterial cells are prokaryotic. For question two, answer any one of the following comparison questions. Be sure to compare both molecular (physical) structure and function in each answer.
1. Compare the nucleoid area (prokaryotic) to a nucleus (eukaryotic)? How do they differ; how are they similar?
2. Compare the bacterial flagellum (prokaryotic) to an animal cell flagellum (eukaryotic)? How do they differ; how are they similar?
3. Compare a bacterial cell wall (prokaryotic) to a plant cell wall (eukaryotic)? How do they differ; how are they similar?
3. Eukaryotic cells (in plants, animals, fungi, and algae) are bigger than prokaryotic (bacterial) cells. This bigger size allows eukaryotic cells to have more structural complexity.

Choose any one of the following eukaryotic cell structures for a short essay:

• Mitochondrion
• Cytoskeleton
• Golgi apparatus
• Endoplasmic reticulum
• Lysosome
• Chloroplast (found only in photosynthetic cells)