Cells as Factories
Cells, in a lot of ways, are like factories. All the parts of a cell work together to accomplish common goals, just like parts of a factory. Each part also has a specific function, to make getting the job done a lot easier. The floor of a factory is a lot like the cytoplasm in a cell. It kind of keeps everything where it needs to be, and helps direct organelles around the cell, much like the pathways on the floor around the machines. The cell membrane in a cell is very similar to the outside wall of a factory. It keeps everything in and only lets some things in and out, explaining why the door to my factory has a keypad, allowing only the things it needs (the workers that have an entry number) in and out. The nucleus and the nucleolus are similar to the CEO and manager of a factory. The CEO (or the nucleus) is the control center of the cell, and is in charge of what happens and when it happens. The nucleolus is like the manager of a factory because it produces ribosomes, like the manager of a factory would hire workers. The workers of a factory are similar to the ribosomes of a cell because they produce the product (marshmallows), just like ribosomes make proteins. Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cells, and they use sugar and fatty acids to generate energy, much like generators in factories use electricity to power the factory. Chloroplasts in plant cells are a lot like the cafeteria in a factory. Chloroplasts help plant cells make food, much like cafeterias make food for the workers of a factory. In my marshmallow factory, there are two conveyor belts. The first represents the endoplasmic reticulum, because it packages the proteins, or marshmallows, into bags, or vesicles as it would be in a cell. The second conveyor belt is similar to the golgi apparatus, because it repackages the proteins into new vesicles, just like how the bags of marshmallows are repackaged into boxes. The trash of a factory is like lysosomes, which gather waste