52 cards

Organelle Flashcards

Read the organelle, say its job, then turn the card to check.

Ribosome

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Main organelles 12

Cell membrane Semipermeable lipid bilayer between the cell's inside and the outside. Also plasma membrane.
Cytoplasm Everything enclosed by the cell membrane, organelles included, except the nucleus.
Golgi apparatus Also called the Golgi body. It packages proteins into vesicles and sends them on.
Lysosome The cell's degradation center. Its enzymes break down proteins, polysaccharides and lipids.
Mitochondrion Double-membrane organelle. Aerobic respiration here makes ATP, the cell's chemical energy.
Nucleus Membrane-bound organelle that contains the cell's chromosomes.
Peroxisome Oxidative organelle with key roles in lipid metabolism. It forms and removes hydrogen peroxide.
Ribosome Found in all cells. It builds proteins by reading messenger RNA.
Rough ER Endoplasmic reticulum studded with ribosomes, the sites of protein synthesis.
Smooth ER Endoplasmic reticulum that lacks ribosomes. It works in lipid synthesis and detoxification.
Vacuole Membrane-bound compartment filled with water that holds dissolved molecules and enzymes.
Vesicle Liquid enclosed by a lipid bilayer. Vesicles form during secretion, uptake and transport.

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Inside the nucleus and other organelles 12

Chromatin A complex of DNA and protein that condenses and packages chromosomal DNA.
Chromosome Holds part or all of an organism's genetic material in a package of DNA.
Cisterna A flattened membrane vesicle found in the endoplasmic reticulum and the Golgi apparatus.
Crista A fold in the inner membrane of a mitochondrion. The folds add surface area for reactions.
Cytosol The liquid matrix around the organelles. It is part of the cytoplasm.
Endomembrane system The membranes inside a eukaryotic cell that divide it into compartments, or organelles.
Endosome Sorting organelle. Material taken in at the cell membrane goes on to lysosomes or back out.
Mitochondrial matrix The space within the inner membrane of a mitochondrion. It holds mitochondrial DNA.
Nuclear envelope Two lipid bilayer membranes that surround the nucleus. Also called the nuclear membrane.
Nuclear pore Opening in the nuclear envelope. Large molecules pass through it to and from the cytoplasm.
Nucleolus The largest structure in the nucleus, best known as the place where ribosomes are made.
Nucleoplasm The gel-like substance inside the nucleus, enclosed by the nuclear envelope.

Plant cell parts 12

Amyloplast A leucoplast found in roots and storage tissues. It makes and stores starch.
Cell wall Structural layer outside the cell membrane. Plants build it of cellulose. Animal cells lack it.
Central vacuole The one large vacuole of most mature plant cells. It keeps turgor pressure on the cell wall.
Chlorophyll In chloroplasts, the green pigment that lets plants absorb energy from light.
Chloroplast A plastid whose chlorophyll captures energy from sunlight to make sugar from carbon dioxide.
Chromoplast A plastid that makes and stores pigments.
Granum A stack of disk-shaped thylakoids in a chloroplast. The plural is grana.
Leucoplast A plastid with no pigment, unlike the chloroplast.
Plasmodesma Microscopic channel through the walls of plant cells, for transport between neighbors.
Plastid Organelle of plants and algae. Chloroplasts, chromoplasts and leucoplasts are plastids.
Stroma The colorless fluid around the thylakoids. Photosynthesis is completed here.
Thylakoid Membrane-bound compartment inside a chloroplast, the site of the light-dependent reactions.

Cytoskeleton and moving parts 12

Axoneme Microtubule-based structure that forms the core of a cilium or flagellum.
Basal body Structure at the base of a cilium or flagellum, formed from a centriole.
Centriole Cylindrical organelle made mainly of tubulin. A pair of them sits at the core of a centrosome.
Centrosome In animal cells, the main microtubule organizing center. It is made of two centrioles.
Cilium Short hair-like projection from many kinds of eukaryotic cell. Plural: cilia.
Contractile vacuole Organelle involved in osmoregulation, found mostly in protists. It contracts to release water.
Cytoskeleton A network of linked protein filaments in the cytoplasm of all cells.
Flagellum Hair-like appendage that gives a cell motility. The Latin word means whip.
Intermediate filament About 10 nm across: wider than a microfilament and narrower than a microtubule.
Microfilament Thin filament made of actin, about 7 nm across. It works in cell movement and changes of shape.
Microtubule Hollow tube of tubulin that gives a cell structure and shape. Also inside cilia and flagella.
Spindle apparatus Cytoskeletal structure that forms during cell division to separate sister chromatids.

In bacteria 4

Capsule Polysaccharide layer that lies outside the cell envelope of many bacteria.
Nucleoid Irregular region of a prokaryotic cell that holds the DNA. No membrane surrounds it.
Pilus On the surface of many bacteria and archaea, a hair-like appendage. Plural: pili.
Plasmid Small DNA molecule, most often circular, separate from the chromosome. It copies itself.

How this list was compiled: Own work: 52 cell parts, each with its job in a few words and one line written for this page. On 2026-10-16 every card was read against the Wikipedia article on the part (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organelle and the article of each name; Rough ER and Smooth ER in Endoplasmic reticulum, Central vacuole in Vacuole, Granum in Thylakoid, Axoneme in Cilium). The main organelles and the parts of the nucleus were read a second time in the Talking Glossary of the National Human Genome Research Institute (https://www.genome.gov/genetics-glossary), and the plant and cytoskeleton cards against two Scitable pages from Nature Education (https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/plant-cells-chloroplasts-and-cell-walls-14053956/ and https://www.nature.com/scitable/topicpage/microtubules-and-filaments-14052932/). Licence: own work

How it works

Organelle flashcards for a cell unit in life science or biology: 52 cell parts, each with its job in a few words and one plain line. The page opens on the main organelles, where Mitochondrion turns over to makes ATP.

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Five sets, from the main organelles to bacteria

Main organelles holds the twelve a cell unit starts with, from nucleus and ribosome to lysosome and vacuole. Inside the nucleus and other organelles goes one level down: nucleolus, chromatin, crista, cisterna. Plant cell parts has the cell wall, the chloroplast and the other plastids. Cytoskeleton and moving parts covers the three filaments, centrioles, cilia and flagella. In bacteria adds nucleoid, plasmid, pilus and capsule.

Cell flashcards on paper

The first four sets are 12 cards each, a sheet of Letter or A4 apiece, and the bacteria set is 4. All 52 need five sheets. The print button waits until one card is turned. Printed on both sides and flipped on the long edge, makes ATP lands behind Mitochondrion.

Rough ER carries ribosomes and smooth ER does not. That is all the two names mean.
One mitochondrion, many mitochondria. One cilium, many cilia. One granum, many grana.
A chloroplast is one kind of plastid. Chromoplasts hold pigment and amyloplasts store starch.

Questions and answers

Which organelles are only in plant cells?

Of the parts on these cards, the chloroplast and other plastids, the cell wall and the large central vacuole belong to plant cells and not to animal cells. Animal cells have centrosomes, which plants and fungi lack.

What is the powerhouse of the cell?

The mitochondrion. It uses aerobic respiration to make ATP, which is used throughout the cell as a source of chemical energy.

What is the difference between cytoplasm and cytosol?

Cytoplasm is everything inside the cell membrane except the nucleus, organelles included. Cytosol is only the liquid around those organelles.

Do bacteria have organelles?

Not the membrane-bound organelles of plant and animal cells. Bacterial DNA sits in a region called the nucleoid, with no membrane around it. Bacteria do have ribosomes, which are found in all cells, and may carry plasmids, pili and a capsule.