Name

Class

CHAPTER 2

Date

The Cell in Action

1 Exchange with the Environment

SECTION

National Science
Education Standards

BEFORE YOU READ

After you read this section, you should be able to answer
these questions:

LS 1a, 1c

How do cells take in food and get rid of wastes?

What is diffusion?

Where Do Cells Get the Materials They Need?

What would happen to a factory if its power were shut
off or its supply of materials never arrived? What would
happen if the factory couldnt get rid of its garbage? Like
a factory, an organism must be able to get energy and raw
materials and get rid of wastes. These jobs are done by
an organisms cells. Materials move in and out of the cell
across the cell membrane. Many materials, such as water
and oxygen, can cross the membrane by diffusion.

STUDY TIP
Compare As you read, make
a chart comparing diffusion
and osmosis. In your chart,
show how they are similar
and how they are different.

What Is Diffusion?
The figure below shows what happens when dye is
placed on top of a layer of gelatin. Over time, the dye
mixes with the gelatin. Why does this happen?
Everything, including the gelatin and the dye, is made
of tiny moving particles. Particles tend to move from
places where they are crowded to places where they are
less crowded. When there are many of one type of
particle, this is a high concentration. When there are
fewer of one kind of particle, this is a low concentration.
The movement from areas of high concentration to areas
of low concentration is called diffusion.

READING CHECK
1. Dene What is diffusion?

At rst, the dye

and the gelatin
are separate
from each
other.
Dye
Gelatin

TAKE A LOOK

After a while, the particles in the

dye move into the gelatin. This
process is called diffusion.

2. Identify How do dye

particles move through the
water?

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The Cell in Action

Name
SECTION 1

Class

Date

Exchange with the Environment continued

DIFFUSION OF WATER

Critical Thinking

3. Apply Concepts Which

of the following has a higher
concentration of water
molecules200 molecules
of water, or a mixture of
300 molecules of water
and 100 molecules of food
coloring? Explain your answer.

Substances, such as water, are made up of particles

called molecules. Pure water has the highest concentration
of water molecules. This means that 100% of the molecules
are water molecules. If you mix another substance, such as
food coloring, into the water, you lower the concentration
of water molecules. This means that water molecules no
longer make up 100% of the total molecules.
The figure below shows a container that has been divided
by a membrane. The membrane is semipermeablethat is,
only some substances can pass through it. The membrane
lets smaller molecules, such as water, pass through. Larger
molecules, such as food coloring, cannot pass through.
Water molecules will move across the membrane. The
diffusion of water through a membrane is called osmosis.
Osmosis
1

Water mixed with

food coloring

Pure water

Water mixed with

food coloring

Pure water

TAKE A LOOK

4. Explain Why does the

volume of liquid in the
right-hand side of the
container increase with time?

READING CHECK

Pure water has Semipermeable

membrane
the highest
concentration
The concentration
of water
of water molecules
molecules.
in the mixture
is lower.

Semipermeable
membrane
Over time, water
molecules move
into the water-food
coloring mixture.

A cell membrane is a type of semipermeable membrane.

This means that water can pass through the cell membrane,
but most other substances cannot. The cells of organisms
are surrounded by and filled with fluids. These fluids are
made mostly of water. Water moves in and out of a cell by
osmosis.

5. Identify How does water

move into and out of cells?

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The Cell in Action

Name
SECTION 1

Class

Date

Exchange with the Environment continued

How Do Small Particles Enter and Leave a Cell?

Small particles, such as sugars, can cross the cell
membrane through passageways called channels. These
channels in the cell membrane are made of proteins.
Particles can travel through these channels by passive
transport or by active transport.
During passive transport, particles move through the
cell membrane without using energy from the cell. During
passive transport, particles move from areas of high concentration to areas of lower concentration. Diffusion and
osmosis are examples of passive transport.
During active transport, the cell has to use energy to
move particles through channels. During active transport,
particles usually move from areas of low concentration to
areas of high concentration.

How Do Large Particles Enter and Leave a Cell?

Large particles cannot move across a cell membrane
in the same ways as small particles. Larger particles must
move in and out of the cell by endocytosis and exocytosis.
Both processes require energy from the cell.
Endocytosis happens when a cell surrounds a large
particle and encloses it in a vesicle. A vesicle is a sac
formed from a piece of cell membrane.

READING CHECK
6. Identify What is needed
to move particles from areas
of low concentration to areas
of high concentration?

Endocytosis

1 The cell comes

into contact with
a particle.

2 The cell membrane

begins to wrap
around the particle.

3 Once the particle

is completely surrounded, a vesicle
pinches off.

TAKE A LOOK

7. Identify Label the vesicle

in the gure.

Exocytosis happens when a cell uses a vesicle to move a

particle from within the cell to outside the cell. Exocytosis is
how cells get rid of large waste particles.
Exocytosis
1 Large particles that
must leave the cell
are packaged in
vesicles.

2 The vesicle travels to

the cell membrane
and fuses with it.

3 The cell releases

the particle to the
outside of the cell.

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The Cell in Action

Name

Class

Section 1 Review

Date

NSES

LS 1a, 1c

SECTION VOCABULARY
active transport the movement of substances
across the cell membrane that requires the cell
to use energy
diffusion the movement of particles from
regions of higher density to regions of lower
density
endocytosis the process by which a cell membrane surrounds a particle and encloses the
particle in a vesicle to bring the particle into
the cell

exocytosis the process in which a cell releases

a particle by enclosing the particle in a vesicle
that then moves to the cell surface and fuses
with the cell membrane
osmosis the diffusion of water through a
semipermeable membrane
passive transport the movement of substances
across a cell membrane without the use of
energy by the cell

1. Compare How is endocytosis different from exocytosis? How are they similar?

2. Explain How is osmosis related to diffusion?

3. Compare What are the differences between active and passive transport?

4. Identify What structures allow small particles to cross cell membranes?

5. Apply Concepts Draw an arrow in the figure below to show the direction that

water molecules will move in.

semipermeable
membrane
water mixed
with sugar
pure water

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The Cell in Action

Cells, Heredity, and Classification Answer Key continued

SECTION 2 CELL ENERGY

2. No. Organs are made of tissues, so to have

3.

4.

5.

6.

organs, an organism must have tissues.

Function is the purpose of a part, or the job
the part does. Structure is the arrangement
of parts in an organism.
Specialization of cells means that, in
multicellular organisms, different cells
perform different functions to help keep
the organism alive.
An organ has to have two or more tissues.
Tissues have to work together for an organ
to do a job.
The life span of a multicellular organism is not
limited to the life span of any one of its cells.

chloroplasts
glucose and oxygen
cellular respiration, fermentation
glucose and oxygen
carbon dioxide, water, energy (ATP)
Plants and animals wouldnt have oxygen for
cellular respiration. They couldnt use cellular respiration to get energy.
7. ATP

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Review
1. plant cells
2. Plant cells use carbon dioxide, water, and energy

Chapter 2 The Cell in Action

3.

SECTION 1 EXCHANGE WITH THE

ENVIRONMENT

4.

1. the movement of particles from areas of high

concentration to areas of low concentration

2. by diffusion
3. The 200 molecules of water have a higher

4.
5.
6.
7.

concentration of water because 100% of the

molecules are water.
Water moves into it by osmosis.
by osmosis
energy
The vesicle in the third picture should be
labeled.

5.

6.

Review
1. Both involve moving large particles across

2.
3.

4.
5.

the cell membrane. In endocytosis, particles

move into the cell. In exocytosis, particles
move out of the cell.
Osmosis is the diffusion of water across a
semipermeable membrane.
During passive transport, particles move
from areas of high concentration to areas of
low concentration. During active transport,
particles move from areas of low concentration to areas of high concentration. Active
transport uses energy from the cell, and passive transport does not.
channels
An arrow should point from the pure water
to the water mixed with sugar.

from the sun to make food by photosynthesis.

Chloroplasts make food for the plant, and
mitochondria break down the food to
release energy.
Each process gives the other the materials
it needs. Cellular respiration uses oxygen
and glucose and produces carbon dioxide,
water, and ATP. Photosynthesis uses carbon
dioxide, water, and sunlight and produces
glucose and oxygen.
Cellular respiration uses oxygen to break
down food. Fermentation does not. Cellular
respiration produces more energy than fermentation.
No, if cells dont have enough oxygen, they
break down glucose using fermentation.
When you exercise, for example, your muscle cells use up oxygen quickly. When there
is not enough oxygen left, the muscle cells
use fermentation.

SECTION 3 THE CELL CYCLE

1. The cell must make a copy of its DNA.
2. binary fission
3. Chromatids are copies of chromosomes that
4.
5.
6.
7.

are held together at the centromere.

interphase, mitosis, cytokinesis
eight more
prophase, metaphase, anaphase, telophase
cell plate

Review
1. In prokaryotic cells, the DNA is on a single,

circular chromosome. The DNA of eukaryotes is stored on many chromosomes.

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Cells, Heredity, and Classification