Cells as the Basis of Life
Lessons
16 totalProkaryotic and Eukaryotic Cells
The two great designs that build every living thing
Cell Organelles and Their Functions
The specialised rooms that keep a eukaryotic cell alive
The Fluid Mosaic Model
How the cell membrane controls what gets in and out
Imaging Technologies in Cell Biology
How microscopes let us see — and understand — cells
Scaled Diagrams and Microscopy Skills
Turning what you see down the microscope into real measurements
Diffusion
How substances move without the cell spending any energy
Osmosis
The special case of water moving across membranes
Active Transport, Endocytosis and Exocytosis
Moving substances when the cell has to spend energy
Surface Area to Volume Ratio
Why cells stay small — the geometry that limits life
Cell Energy Requirements
Why every cell needs a constant supply of ATP
Photosynthesis and Light-Dependent Reactions
How chloroplasts turn light into chemical energy
The Calvin Cycle — Light-Independent Reactions
How captured energy is used to build glucose
Cellular Respiration: Glycolysis and Anaerobic Pathways
The first, oxygen-free steps of releasing energy from glucose
Cellular Respiration: Krebs Cycle and Electron Transport Chain
The oxygen-using stages that release most of the ATP
Enzyme Structure and Function
The biological catalysts that make life’s reactions possible
Factors Affecting Enzyme Activity
Temperature, pH and concentration — and what denaturing means