SIMCell Builder
Cells are the smallest units of life, and the organelles inside them each carry out a specific job that…
Topic
Cells and Organelles
Cells are the fundamental units of life, containing specialized structures that carry out essential biological processes. The cell membrane controls what enters and leaves through diffusion, osmosis, and active transport, keeping internal conditions stable while organelles divide the work of the cell.
19 interactives
SIM
LABCell Diffusion Explorer
Cells stay alive by controlling what crosses the membrane. Some molecules drift down a concentration…
QUIZCFTR Channel Simulation
Cystic fibrosis starts with a tiny change in one gene. Deleting three nucleotides from CFTR removes a…
GAMEContractile
Freshwater cells constantly take in water because their surroundings are more dilute than their…
QUIZEndosymbiotic Theory Interactive
Mitochondria and chloroplasts were once free living bacteria that were swallowed by an ancestral cell…
3DFluid Mosaic Model
A cell membrane is not a solid wall. It is a fluid sheet of phospholipids with proteins drifting through…
SONGGolgi on the Line
A song about the Golgi apparatus, where proteins are checked, modified, sorted, and shipped.
SONGHeads to the Water
A song about the phospholipid bilayer, and why a membrane arranges itself around water.
SONGHigh to Low
A song about passive and active transport, from diffusion down a gradient to ATP-driven pumps.
SONGKeep It High
A song about surface area to volume ratio, and why growing cells run out of membrane.
SONGLysosomal Service
A song about lysosomes, the acidic sacs that digest, recycle, and clear out worn cell parts.
LABMembrane Explorer
A cell membrane lets some substances through and holds others back, which is how a cell keeps its…
QUIZMembrane Fatty Acid Explorer
A cell membrane has to stay fluid to work, but cold makes the fatty acid tails of its phospholipids pack…
LABOsmosis Simulator
Water crosses a semipermeable membrane from where solutes are dilute toward where they are concentrated,…
QUIZProtein Modification Visualizer
Proteins made at the endoplasmic reticulum are rarely finished when they are built. They travel by…
3DProtein Visualizer
A protein's shape decides what it can do, from copying DNA to letting a virus latch onto a host cell.…
QUIZSodium-Potassium Pump
Cells spend a large share of their energy on the sodium potassium pump, which uses ATP to push three…
SONGWalls Up
A song about cell walls across bacteria, archaea, fungi, and plants, and the osmosis they resist.
LABWater Potential Calculator
Water moves into and out of plant cells by osmosis, always travelling from higher to lower water…