Comparing Cell Types Review: Animal, Plant, Bacterial, Archaeal, Fungal, and "Protist" Cells

Hey Petunia, want to do something  REALLY fun? I'm already doing something   fun. Well…this is  an even MORE fun game.

If it’s educational,   I’m going to politely disagree. Pleaaaaase?  It’s a perfect way to practice our knowledge   of cell types and have fun at the same  time.

I don’t think that’s as motivating   as you think it is. I’ll buy you pizza.  Fine.

YAY! I promise this will be so fun! So I have this stack of cards here.

You’re going  to draw a card and then I have to guess the card.   Okaay. I CAN’T LOOK AT IT, DON’T FORGET.

Ok  you know there are a lot of guessing games like   this with celebrities and music and household  objects? . .

. household objects? Well, this is more exciting.

Because   it’s cell types. So the guesser asks questions.  The questions they ask have to be yes/no type   questions and the fewer the questions they ask,  the better- but the guesser can only name their   answer once.

And there are only 6 cards total - a  general fungal cell, bacterial cell, animal cell,   plant cell, archaeal cell, and a “protist” cell  although “protist” is such an informal category,   as I’ve mentioned before. If you consider a  6 kingdom system, these tend to be the cells   of the organisms in those kingdoms. But I prefer  focusing on domains instead.

You can also organize   them into the three domains. Is this all relevant  to the game instructions? Well… Okay question.  

I love questions! How come some of these could  actually be a whole entire organism but others   are just - one cell - of an organism? GREAT point,  Petunia!

To understand that I must explain:   some organisms are multicellular - they’re  organisms made of many cells - and some organisms   are unicellular, meaning they’re only made of  ONE cell. Animals are multicellular organisms.   That means the animal - the whole entire organism  itself - is made up of many cells.

Now,   let’s consider a fungus. Like a mushroom. This  mushroom is an organism made up of many cells.  

It’s multicellular; it’s a multicellular fungus.  BUT there are some fungi that are single-celled,   meaning the organism itself is unicellular.  Like yeast.

Yeast is an example of a unicellular   organism - fungus that consists of  one cell. Our focus in this game is   of the individual cell though - each of  these cards has one general cell on it. With that, let’s start!

Drw a card! Okay. So  you have the card, you’re familiar with what’s   on the card?

Uh, I think so. Okay, does it -  generally - have a cell wall? That’s…different   from the membrane, right?

Yes, remember all cells  have a membrane. This is outside of the membrane.   It’s a protective structure.

Does it generally  have it? Well now your “generally” is making me   nervous. There are sometimes exceptions - biology  is full of fascinating exceptions - think of my   generally as in most cases.

Ok, sure, it’s got a  cell wall. A nucleus? Nope.

I know that one. Ok   I’ve narrowed it down, Petunia. That makes it a  prokaryote.

And there are only two in that card   deck that are prokaryotes. Could E. coli be an  example of the cell on your card?

That sounds   like an app or something. E. coli is a  common type of microbe and one that can   make you sick.

It can cause food poisoning,  for example. OH. Then yes.

Bacterium! ! It’s   a bacterial cell.

Fascinating cell type.  While some can make us sick, I want to add,   many others are very helpful to organisms  and ecosystems. Yep, you got it.

Good job. Now, I draw a card. Ok, you go!

Oh, is it that  rectangle one I draw sometimes? You know, Petunia,   you have to be careful with that question. I see  where you’re going with this but you know cells   can have diverse shapes in all categories.

I will  say in diagrams, yes, this cell is often drawn as   a rectangle. Mainly to indicate it is rigid, as it  has a cell wall. But consider the shape of a guard   cell that might be found on an underside of a leaf  - it doesn’t have to be rectangular.

Plant cell.   You…don’t you want to ask anymore questions? Like,  does it have a chloroplast, for example?

Which it   generally will - autotrophs make their own food,  and autotrophic plant cells use chloroplasts to do   that. Nope. Hey, I only needed to ask one question  and I got it.

Guess that means I’m winning. Drw a CARD, Petunia. Sure.

Is it eukaryotic?  Ummm. Does it have a nucleus?

Yes. Ok then it   IS an eukaryotic cell as that’s a feature of  eukaryotic cells. Ok, so the organism it makes   up must be a eukaryote then.

Next question: does  this cell have a cell wall? Pretty sure it’s a no.   Ok.

So would you ONLY find this type of cell in  multicellular organisms, meaning you would not   find this cell in a unicellular organism? Hmmm,  pretty sure you actually said in your monologue   before we started this game that these cells  would only be in multicellular organisms. So,   yes?

Animal cell! ! Nice, got it.

So. . .

here’s the score. That should only count as 3 because I had to  clarify that it was an eukaryotic cell. Not   my fault if you choose to overshare.

This is a fascinating one! Hmmm. Is it gross?

That’s  pretty subjective, Petunia. Some can break down dead and decaying matter - if it’s a   decomposer - definitely can’t do photosynthesis.  In fact, by consuming organic matter, another   vocab word to know is that: it’is a heterotroph. 

Does it make up multicellular things,   multicellular –organisms–? Most organisms  this cell would make up are multicellular   but there are still unicellular  organisms with this cell type,   too. Ookay.

Welp. Don’t really know what  else to ask. Keep the curiosity- you must be   curious about this cell.

Eeeeh. How about you  ask - does it have a cell wall? …Does it have   a cell wall?

YES! This cell has a cell wall.  And the wall is made of chitin!

Ohhhh I remember   that because I could never pronounce it right…  Is it a fungal cell? Yes, and Petunia that’s   such a great example of how you turned your  mistake into a memorable learning moment. Yay.

Ok, two left. I’m ready. Does it have a  –hmm– is it an autotrophic cell, meaning,   it makes its own food?

I’m pretty sure SOME of  them can. Oh actually both of the remaining cards   have that possibility. Note to self: not a good  question.

Ok, is it a prokaryotic cell? No. Ok,   so that means it’s a eukaryotic cell and would be  found in a eukaryote.

Considering what is left in   the deck, it has to be a protist. Yep. Which is  our category!

Amoebas like us. And Paramecia.   And Euglenas!

Aww, Gus that’s you. You know  if we had started with this card, it would   have been really hard with this very informal  group. Some make up multicellular organisms;   some make up unicellular organisms. 

There are heterotrophic protist cells;   there are autotrophic protist cells. Some  protist cells have cell walls; some don’t. Uh huh.

Well, there’s just one card, so I guess  I’m done. Wait, no, we have to finish! But,   Pinky, we know what it is.

Please? ? Fine,  but you draw the last card.

Okay! Go ahead,   I’m ready. Archael cell.

…You didn’t even  ask a question. I didn’t need to. Anyway,   I win.

Had a great time. Pizza please. Archaea  are single-celled prokaryotes that generally   have a cell wall though their cell wall  is different from bacteria.

Many archaea   are extremophiles but they don’t have to  be; many also are not. And by the way,   bacteria can be extremophiles too. Pinky,  this sounds a lot like NOT ordering pizza.

That’s because we haven’t gotten to  the BONUS round! Wut. I have here,   a CHART.

Is this what you were doing  all night? ! So, in each row, look,   empty boxes for you to fill in!

These empty  boxes were mentioned at some point in the   video so you may need to think back on  our conversation. After you fill them in,   I can check them for you and you can use it  to check your understanding! [PAUSE VIDEO]   And here they are filled in!

These are  in general by the way as there are some   exceptions. If you want to learn more  about cell types or the vocabulary here,   you can always review these in our cell  videos in our biology playlist. Well,   that’s it for the Amoeba Sisters,  and we remind you to stay curious.