YOU ARE LEARNING:
Vacuoles
Vacuoles
You can think of vacuoles a bit like water balloons.
Where you find vacuoles
You only find vacuoles in one type of cell. Which one?
The vacuole is an organelle in plant cells' _______________.
What do you think you mostly find inside the vacuole?
What the vacuole looks like
So inside the vacuole there is mostly water. What other word do you think we use for the water inside the vacuole?
The cell sap is kept in place by a membrane called the ________________.
Is the tonoplast a single membrane or a double membrane?
The vacuole contains mostly just water, called "cell sap"
It's kept in place by a single membrane, the tonoplast, which ensures easy transport in and out of the vacuole.
The function of the vacuole
Think of the vacuole like a water balloon. What happens to the plant cell when some of the water exits the vacuole and the cell?
What happens to the plant cell when water enters the vacuole and the cell?
So the vacuole helps regulate how floppy or firm a plant cell is
When water enters the cell and gets stored in the vacuole, the cell grows and gets firmer.
When water exits the vacuole and the cell, the cell shrinks and gets floppier.
Summary!
Only plant cells have vacuoles
They are organelles in plant cells' cytoplasm.
Vacuoles are filled with cell sap
The cell sap is contained by the vacuole's single membrane, the tonoplast.
Vacuoles help regulate how firm or floppy the plant cell is
When more water is stored in the vacuole, the plant cell is bigger and firmer.
When less water is stored in the vacuole, the plant cell is smaller and floppier.