Living Cells

All living things (organisms) are built from cells.

How it works

Look into the eyepiece. Move the turntable around to see pictures of plant, animal and single-celled specimens as they would appear under a real microscope.

Things to try or ask around the exhibit

What are all living things made of?

Background

Living things can be one cell (like bacteria) or contain billions of cells. Cells can be joined together to form sheets of tissue, such as muscle or lungs. These cells are specialised to do a particular job, such as move limbs or exchange oxygen.

Finding the science in your world

The human body is composed of trillions of cells, which are specialised as almost 300 different cell types. Collections of cells form structures such as skin, muscle, bone, blood, tendons, soft tissue, nerves, hormonal glands, reproductive cells and sensory organs.