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Human A&P BIO 304 · American River College ← Course home (Week 1)

BIO 304 . WEEK 1 . THURSDAY . LAB WORKBOOK

Cell Structure and Organelles

The machinery of a generic cell and what each organelle contributes.

Print this page. You will draw your own diagrams from the directions below, then hand-label the structures listed. Drawing by hand is the integrity mechanism for this course.

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Part 1 of 2

Anatomy Lab

1A. What you will draw

Today you will draw a generic eukaryotic cell with all its major organelles, then a specialized cell type and explain which organelles are emphasized. Cells are not all the same: form follows function.

Box A. Generic cell with all organelles

Directions

  1. Draw a large irregular cell outline. Label the plasma membrane.
  2. Draw a round nucleus inside, label it, and add a small darker spot inside labeled Nucleolus. Show the nuclear envelope around it.
  3. Draw rough endoplasmic reticulum (rough ER) as folded sheets near the nucleus, with small dots on its surface (ribosomes). Label both.
  4. Draw smooth endoplasmic reticulum (smooth ER) as folded tubes nearby. Label.
  5. Draw a Golgi apparatus as stacked flattened sacs. Label.
  6. Draw 3 or 4 mitochondria (oval shapes with internal folds). Label one.
  7. Draw 2 lysosomes (small spheres). Label.
  8. Draw a few free ribosomes floating in the cytoplasm. Label.
  9. Add a cytoskeleton: thin lines crossing the cell. Label.

Box B. A specialized cell type (pick one)

Directions

  1. Pick ONE of these specialized cells and draw it: neuron, skeletal muscle fiber, pancreatic secretory cell, or red blood cell.
  2. Draw it with realistic proportions and shape (e.g., a neuron has long axon and short dendrites; a muscle fiber is long and multinucleate; an RBC is biconcave and has no nucleus).
  3. Label any organelles present. ALSO label any organelles that are absent or unusual (e.g., the RBC has no nucleus and no mitochondria).
  4. Write one sentence explaining how the cell's organelle profile matches its function.

1C. Structures to label (14)

After you finish each drawing, label every structure below directly on your sketch.

  1. Plasma membrane
  2. Nucleus
  3. Nuclear envelope
  4. Nucleolus
  5. Rough endoplasmic reticulum
  6. Smooth endoplasmic reticulum
  7. Ribosome (free)
  8. Ribosome (on rough ER)
  9. Golgi apparatus
  10. Mitochondrion
  11. Lysosome
  12. Peroxisome
  13. Cytoskeleton
  14. Cytoplasm

Part 2 of 2

Physiology Lab

2A. Trace a protein from synthesis to secretion

A pancreatic acinar cell synthesizes digestive enzymes and secretes them into a duct. Trace the path of ONE enzyme protein from the moment its gene is read to the moment it leaves the cell. Number each step and name the organelle involved.

2B. Synthesis questions

Answer each in 2 to 4 sentences. Use the language from this week's lecture and your drawings as evidence.

1. A drug poisons all lysosomes in a cell. Predict the consequences over hours to days. Name at least two specific cellular processes that fail.
2. Red blood cells have no nucleus and no mitochondria. Predict (a) their lifespan, (b) their energy source, and (c) one type of damage they cannot repair.
3. A liver cell exposed to chronic alcohol consumption develops a dramatic expansion of its smooth ER. Explain why, in terms of what smooth ER does.

3. What to submit

Complete both the Anatomy Lab (your own drawings, hand-labeled, plus the structures list) and the Physiology Lab (activity and synthesis questions). Photograph or scan every page and upload to Canvas before the deadline listed on the schedule. Hand-drawn, hand-labeled work is the integrity mechanism for this course. Typed or AI-generated diagrams are not accepted.