Imagine you had to design a nerve cell that tells a muscle to contract or a gland to produce a hormone.

These nerve cells pick up information in form of chemical signals from other nerve cells at one specialized end. They then create electrical signals at the other end and send the electrical signal to organs far away such as muscles or glands.
Vocabulary: gland =Drse

This is what a nerve cell could look like:

Nerve cells that tell muscles to contract Description: The cell is mainly long and thin. At the one end there is a round cell body with the nucleus. The cell body has many branches, which can connect with other cells. At one point a long and thin process leaves the cell body. Along this the electrical signals are carried to the muscle or gland over long distances. The end of this long process also branches out to make many contacts with the muscle or gland it connects to.

Drawing:

E.Tetens/Bilingual Biology/ Cell Differentiation/ Group Work

Imagine you had to design a red blood cell. Red blood cells carry oxygen from the lungs to all parts of the body. During transport oxygen must be attached to special molecules called haemoglobin. These give the red blood cells their red colour. The red blood cells are squeezed trough very narrow blood vessels. So they must be very flexible, which is not easy with a rather big nucleus.
Vocabulary: haemoglobin squeeze = Hmoglobin; to s.th. firmly - to press

This is what a red blood cell could look like:

Description: A red blood cell takes the form of a flexible disc with a thick rim and a thin flat centre. Some books describe it as doughnut-shaped. It does not have a nucleus and only fulfils its function for about 4 weeks.
Vocabulary: rim = Rand

Drawing:

E.Tetens/Bilingual Biology/ Cell Differentiation/ Group Work

Imagine you had to design bone cells. Bones cells must produce hard non-living bone material to give the skeleton stability. They must, however, stay alive and not cut themselves off from the supply of nutrients and oxygen. This is what a bone cell in our upper arm bone could look like:

Description: The bone cells produce two types bone material in their endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi apparatus. They give off the material and surround themselves with it. In order to get nutrients and oxygen bones cells arrange themselves around blood vessels in up to 10 circles. The cells of the outer circles remain in contact with the cells of the inner circles via small processes of cytoplasm. The inner circle of bones cells stays in direct contact with a central blood vessel. While packing the bone material around themselves the cells leave out the thin plasmatic processes to stay in contact with the central blood vessel.
Vocabulary: process Fortsatz = Auslufer,

Drawing:

E.Tetens/Bilingual Biology/ Cell Differentiation/ Group Work

Imagine you had to design a group of cells lining the air passages. These cells must be able to trap any dust and dirt particles that you breathe in and transport them back up to the throat. There these particles can be coughed out or swallowed and made harmless by the acid environment of the stomach.
Vocabulary: lining = Auskleidung; air passages = Atemwege; to trap to catch; to breathe = atmen; to cough = husten; to swallow schlucken; acid = sauer; stomach

This is what cells in the lining of the air passages could look like:

Description: The cells lining the air passages are longish cells arranged side by side. There are two types of cell. One type of cell gives off a sticky fluid at the end that faces the air passage. This so-called mucus can trap any harmful particles. Another type of cell has tiny hairs called cilia on its surface. The cilia move constantly. Like a conveyor belt they transport the mucus with its harmful load back up to the throat.
Vocabulary: sticky = klebrig; mucus cilia conveyor belt = Schleim; = Cilien; = Flieband

Drawing:

E.Tetens/Bilingual Biology/ Cell Differentiation/ Group Work

E.Tetens/Bilingual Biology/ Cell Differentiation/ Group Work