levo

Cell Biology

Cell specialisation and differentiation

  • 3 things to know
  • Biology Paper 1

Overview

How ciliated, sperm, nerve, muscle, root hair, xylem and phloem cells suit their jobs, why differentiation matters, and when animal and plant cells differentiate.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

A cell lining the airways is covered in tiny hair-like projections. Explain how this suits its function.

Key term

Explain why a cell that must move itself long distances contains many mitochondria.

Key term

How does the ability of plant cells to differentiate differ from that of animal cells?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    A cell lining the airways is covered in tiny hair-like projections. Explain how this suits its function.

    Model answer

    The projections sweep mucus, with trapped dust and microorganisms, away from the lungs.

  2. 2

    Explain why a cell that must move itself long distances contains many mitochondria.

    Model answer

    Movement needs a lot of energy, which is transferred by respiration in the mitochondria.

  3. 3

    How is a sperm cell adapted to its function?

    Model answer

    It has a tail to swim to the egg, many mitochondria to release the energy for swimming, and enzymes in its head to digest through the egg membrane.

  4. 4

    How is a nerve cell adapted to its function?

    Model answer

    It is very long so impulses travel a long way, and it has branched endings that connect to many other cells.

  5. 5

    How is a muscle cell adapted to its function?

    Model answer

    It contains protein fibres that shorten so the cell contracts, and many mitochondria to supply the energy.

  6. 6

    How is a root hair cell adapted to its function?

    Model answer

    It has a long thin extension giving a large surface area for absorbing water and mineral ions from the soil.

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

Bioenergetics
Cell Biology
Ecology
Homeostasis and Response

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

A set.
singledoublefull

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

AA rise is corrected by insulin.
BInsulin moves glucose into cells and into storage.
CA fall is corrected by glucagon.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Habitat means the place in which an organism lives.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Cell Biology, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.