Question
Cell City Analogy
In a far away city called Grant City, the main export and production product is the steel widget.
Everyone in the town has something to do with steel widget making and the entire town is designed
to build and export widgets. The town hall has the instructions for widget making, widgets come in
all shapes and sizes and any citizen of Grant can get the instructions and begin making their own
widgets. Widgets are generally produced in small shops around the city, these small shops can be
built by the carpenter's union (whose headquarters are in town hall).
After the widget is constructed, they are placed on special carts which can deliver the widget
anywhere in the city. In order for a widget to be exported, the carts take the widget to the postal
office, where the widgets are packaged and labeled for export. Sometimes widgets don't turn out
right, and the "rejects" are sent to the scrap yard where they are broken down for parts or destroyed
altogether. The town powers the widget shops and carts from a hydraulic dam that is in the city. The
entire city is enclosed by a large wooden fence, only the postal trucks (and citizens with proper
passports) are allowed outside the city.
Match the parts of the city (underlined) with the parts of the cell.
1. Mitochondria _____________________________________________
2. Ribosomes _____________________________________________
3. Nucleus _____________________________________________
4. Endoplasmic
Reticulum _____________________________________________
5. Golgi
Apparatus _____________________________________________
6. Protein _____________________________________________
7. Cell Membrane _____________________________________________
8. Lysosomes ____________________________________________________________
9. Nucleolus ____________________________________________
In a far away city called Grant City, the main export and production product is the steel widget.
Everyone in the town has something to do with steel widget making and the entire town is designed
to build and export widgets. The town hall has the instructions for widget making, widgets come in
all shapes and sizes and any citizen of Grant can get the instructions and begin making their own
widgets. Widgets are generally produced in small shops around the city, these small shops can be
built by the carpenter's union (whose headquarters are in town hall).
After the widget is constructed, they are placed on special carts which can deliver the widget
anywhere in the city. In order for a widget to be exported, the carts take the widget to the postal
office, where the widgets are packaged and labeled for export. Sometimes widgets don't turn out
right, and the "rejects" are sent to the scrap yard where they are broken down for parts or destroyed
altogether. The town powers the widget shops and carts from a hydraulic dam that is in the city. The
entire city is enclosed by a large wooden fence, only the postal trucks (and citizens with proper
passports) are allowed outside the city.
Match the parts of the city (underlined) with the parts of the cell.
1. Mitochondria _____________________________________________
2. Ribosomes _____________________________________________
3. Nucleus _____________________________________________
4. Endoplasmic
Reticulum _____________________________________________
5. Golgi
Apparatus _____________________________________________
6. Protein _____________________________________________
7. Cell Membrane _____________________________________________
8. Lysosomes ____________________________________________________________
9. Nucleolus ____________________________________________
Answers
GPT-4o mini
Here's how the parts of the city can be matched with the corresponding parts of the cell:
1. **Mitochondria** - **Hydraulic dam** (provides power for the production process)
2. **Ribosomes** - **Citizens making widgets** (sites of protein synthesis)
3. **Nucleus** - **Town hall** (contains instructions for making widgets, similar to how the nucleus contains genetic information)
4. **Endoplasmic Reticulum** - **Small shops** (site where widgets are assembled and processed, similar to how the ER synthesizes and processes proteins)
5. **Golgi Apparatus** - **Postal office** (packages and labels widgets for export, analogous to the Golgi apparatus processing and packaging proteins)
6. **Protein** - **Widgets** (end product of the manufacturing process)
7. **Cell Membrane** - **Wooden fence** (regulates what enters and exits the cell, similar to how the fence controls who can leave or enter the city)
8. **Lysosomes** - **Scrap yard** (breaks down waste material and old parts, akin to lysosomes breaking down cellular waste)
9. **Nucleolus** - **Instructions for widget making** (a substructure within the nucleus where ribosomal RNA is produced, similar to how the instructions direct the assembly of components)
This analogy helps illustrate the functions of cellular structures using the context of a city dedicated to widget production!
1. **Mitochondria** - **Hydraulic dam** (provides power for the production process)
2. **Ribosomes** - **Citizens making widgets** (sites of protein synthesis)
3. **Nucleus** - **Town hall** (contains instructions for making widgets, similar to how the nucleus contains genetic information)
4. **Endoplasmic Reticulum** - **Small shops** (site where widgets are assembled and processed, similar to how the ER synthesizes and processes proteins)
5. **Golgi Apparatus** - **Postal office** (packages and labels widgets for export, analogous to the Golgi apparatus processing and packaging proteins)
6. **Protein** - **Widgets** (end product of the manufacturing process)
7. **Cell Membrane** - **Wooden fence** (regulates what enters and exits the cell, similar to how the fence controls who can leave or enter the city)
8. **Lysosomes** - **Scrap yard** (breaks down waste material and old parts, akin to lysosomes breaking down cellular waste)
9. **Nucleolus** - **Instructions for widget making** (a substructure within the nucleus where ribosomal RNA is produced, similar to how the instructions direct the assembly of components)
This analogy helps illustrate the functions of cellular structures using the context of a city dedicated to widget production!