1. Discuss the various means of looking at cells and their structureófrom light microscopes to electron microscopes and other new developments. Consider how the different methods allow smaller structures to be examined.
2. Describe the difference between magnification (the ability to make something appear larger) and resolution (the ability to distinguish between two adjacent structures). Discuss why the electron microscope has greater resolving power at the same magnification than the light microscope (electrons have smaller wavelengths than light waves).
3. Consider why bacteria are so numerous and how they relate to eukaryotic cells.
4. Consider the functions of the various eukaryotic organelles and what jobs they perform, as well as how those jobs might be done in a bacterial cell.
5. Follow the pathway a protein molecule might take through the endomembrane system from its production on the rough endoplasmic reticulum through release from a vesicle at the cell's surface. Consider how the pathway would be different if the protein were made on a free ribosome in the cytosol.
6. Examine slides or transparencies of eukaryotic organelles as seen through a light microscope or an electron microscope, with three-dimensional drawings of the structures. Consider how to draw a three-dimensional image from the two-dimensional views of the microscopes.
7. Calculate how a cubelike cell increases its size
by doubling its dimensions, and consider the relationship of volume
and surface area. Consider the increase in surface area relative
to volume when the cell is spherical or cuboidal versus elongated
or with the surface drawn out into microvilli.