C Curriculum Explorer
Science·Organisms & Life Processes·conceptual

Plant Cells vs Animal Cells

Compare plant and animal cells, identifying shared features and structures unique to plant cells (cell wall, vacuole, chloroplasts)

Suggested ages 11–12

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Evidence of understanding

  • Lists features common to plant and animal cells
  • Identifies structures found only in plant cells and explains why
  • Draws and annotates labelled diagrams of both cell types showing similarities and differences

Assessment prompt

If Plant Cells vs Animal Cells was shown unlabelled diagrams of a plant cell and an animal cell side by side, could they spot which features are shared and which ones only appear in plant cells — and say why?

Standards alignment

KS3.Sci.Bio.Cells.3GB · uk-nc-2013

Plant vs animal cells

The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document · KS3

KS3.Sci.Bio.Cells.4GB · uk-nc-2013

Role of the cell membrane

The national curriculum in England: Key stages 1 and 2 framework document · KS3