Mitochandria and Chloraplast

For the past 2 days in science we've been looking at pictures of the mitochondria and the chloroplast. Both the chloroplast and the mitochondria have an inner and outer membrane, and are similar in shape. Did you know that the mitochondria is found in lots of different kinds of cells, but the chloroplast is only found in plants and organisms that use photosynthesis?

Purpose of the Chloroplast: to absorb an energy from the sun called C02, and use it to convert carbon dioxide into an energy rich sugar called glucose. The glucose is then sent to the mitochondrion.

Purpose of the Mitochondrion:

Once the mitochondrion receives the glucose it goes to the inner membrane called the cristae. During a reaction of cellular respiration, the mitochondrion controls the energy within the glucose to make ATP. ATP is like a battery and will be sent and used in other parts of the cell.

Cells

Did you know that the first electron microscope was invented in the 1940's? As scientists began using microscopes, they discovered microorganisms, and were also enabled to view and study cells.

The first person to ever record looking at water with a light microscope was Anton van Leeuwenhoek. The light microscope was considered simple because it contained one lens and used natural light to view things.

Two other microscopes are the SEM (Scanning Electron Microscope), and the TEM (Transmission Electron Microscope). The SEM scans the surface of cells to learn their three dimentional shape. The TEM allows scientists to study structures within a cell.

Two basic cells are the Prokaryotic cells and the Eukaryotic cells. The Prokaryotic cells are cells that don't contain internal membrane-bound structures. Eukaryotic cells do contain internal membrane-bound structures.

Cell Theory:

All organisms are made up of one or more cells

The cell is the basic unit of organization of organisms

All cells come from preexisting cells