5L3ABC Cells

The Football Accident

1  As Jason sprinted to catch the football, he didn’t see the
hole in the ground he was running toward. His hands
were midair and his eyes were on the ball as he ran
backward and then—BAM! His foot hit the hole, and he
twisted around and landed on his stomach. Slowly
getting up and taking in what had happened, he saw
blood coming down from his leg. “Mom,” he yelled. “I’m
hurt.”
2  Jason’s mom quickly ran to him with her first-aid kit. “Here, let’s take a look,
said mom. It looks like you just scraped your knee.”
3  Mom gingerly washed the scrape with hydrogen peroxide and pasted a Band-
Aid on it. As she did so, Jason wondered aloud, “Our bodies are made of arms
and legs, and arms and legs are made of blood, bone, and other stuff, but,
what are all those things made of?”
4  “Everything in our body is made up of trillions of tiny cells. A cell is the smallest
living thing known to man. Cells are so tiny that they can only be seen with a
very strong microscope. Cells are like the bricks to a house. All the bricks
come together to build a house, and the cells are like that too. Cells come
together to form blood, bones, organs, and everything else in our bodies.”
5  “So, every part of my body consists of cells?” asked Jason.
6  “That’s right. Every single part. Every living thing is made of cells. Think of
your dog, Ruff. He’s made of cells too, and so am I! Plants are also made of
cells. Every living organism on Earth is made of cells.”
7  “Wow, there must be cells everywhere!”
8  “There are. Some creatures are single celled. Creatures like an amoeba are
single-celled organisms. You will only find one cell if you look at an amoeba
under the microscope. Other creatures like humans, elephants, turtles, plants,
etc., are made up of many cells. We are multicellular organisms, and
multicellular organisms can range in size from brown algae to large elephants.”
9  “What does a cell look like?” an inquisitive Jason asked.

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10  “A cell is very tiny, but inside of a cell are different parts that make the cell
function. The cell has a membrane. It’s the wall of the cell. It controls what
comes from and what goes into the cell. It will let some things through like food
or water, but it can keep other things out like most diseases or poisonous
chemicals.”
11  “So, the membrane is like a sieve that lets some things in and blocks other
things?”
12  “That’s right. There are other parts of the cell as well. The nucleus is the brain of
the cell, and it controls everything that the cell does. There are a number of
other components of the cell, too. And then there is the cytoplasm. It is a fluid
that fills the empty space in the cell, kind of like blood plasma fills the space in
our blood vessels where there aren’t any red or white blood cells.”
13  “Or like air fills our atmosphere!”
14  “Exactly!” replied mom. “You’re catching on!”
15  “Cells are like tiny machines that we can’t see, but they are really working
away!” responded Jason.
16  “That’s right. Animal cells are different from plant cells. Plant cells have one
more aspect about them. Plant cells have chloroplasts. The chloroplasts in the
plant cell helps it make its own food through the process of photosynthesis.”
17  “Wow, so a cell’s job is really to produce energy for living things then,” Jason
realized.
18  “Yes! Cells give us the energy we need to move our arms and legs. They give us
the energy we need to live, but each cell only produces a tiny amount of energy.
So we have trillions of cells that all work together to produce the energy we
need to live. The cells make up our organs that all work together to help our
body function the way it’s supposed to.”
19  “I’m just amazed,” expressed Jason. “I had no idea living things were made up
of so many tiny living things called cells.”
20  Smiling at her son’s wonder and awe while tousling his hair, Jason’s mom
asked, “Is your knee feeling better?”
21  “Yes, I can feel the cells repairing already. Time to head back to my football game
and work out my cells!”

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1  Another word for gingerly is –

A.  harshly.

B.  carelessly.

C.  safely.

D.  delicately.

2  The reader can conclude that cells –

A.  can be easily seen.

B.  are found everywhere.

C.  are found in every living organism.

D.  need another cell to work together.

3  What from the text supports that Jason is inquisitive?

A.  “Wow, there must be cells everywhere!”

B.  “Or like air fills our atmosphere!”

C.  “I’m just amazed,” expressed Jason.

D.  “So every part of my body consists of cells?”

4  The organization of the story helps show that –

A.  Jason’s mom is a loving mother.

B.  Jason enjoys learning.

C.  Jason’s accident stopped his football playing.

D.  Jason and his mom are not close.

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5  Read the following sentences from the passage.

“There are. Some creatures are single celled. Creatures like an amoeba are sin-
gle-celled organisms. You will only find one cell if you look at an amoeba under
the microscope. Other creatures like humans, elephants, turtles, plants, etc.,
are made up of many cells. We are multicellular organisms, and multicellular
organ- isms can range in size from brown algae to large elephants.”

What can be concluded about cells based on this information?

A.  Single-celled organisms were once a part of a collection of cells.

B.  Cells in multicellular organisms are stronger than single cells.

C.  Cells can only support life if they are part of a multicellular organism.
D.  Some cells can support life independently. Others support life together.

6  Mom tousled Jason’s hair. What does this tell you about her relationship with
her son?

A.  Mom is very caring and loving.

B.  Mom is inquisitive.

C.  Mom supports Jason’s learning.

D.  Mom is interested in football.

7  What would another fitting title be for this story?

A.  Multi- and Single-Celled Organisms

B.  Cells Have Many Parts

C.  Jason’s Curious Accident

D.  Mom Saves the Day