Animal Cell Analogies

The Nucleus is like a manager. A nucleus controls the center of the cell. A manager controls the activities of the employees.

The cell membrane is like a gatekeeper. The cell membrane determines what goes into the cell and what goes out of the cell. A gatekeeper controls who can and can’t enter the gate.

The ribosomes are like construction workers. The ribosomes make proteins. The construction workers build and construct buildings.

The mitochondria is like a power plant. The mitochondria supplies energy to the cell. A power plant supplies products to the factory.

The Endoplasmic Reticulum is like a moving company. The ER is the membrane system inside the cell that’s used to produce and transport materials. A moving company transports and moves products.

The lysosomes are like garbage trucks. The lysosomes clean up the cell and digests the unwanted materials. Garbage trucks take away the wastes.

The Golgi Body is like a post office. The Golgi Body processes and packages proteins and other substances produced in the ER. A post office packages and ships out material.

A vacuole is like a refrigerator. A vacuole is a sac-like structure for storage of materials such as water, salts, and proteins. A refrigerator stores materials of food and other products.

A nucleolus is like a factory. A nucleolus produces proteins. A factory is a building where goods are produced or is assembled by a machine.