Cell Builder

Cell Builder is a free GCSE biology game about animal and plant cells, and bacterial cells too. Build rounds show a cell outline and a tray of parts. Pick a part, then tap the cell to add it. On a computer you can also drag a part onto the cell. Use Tab and Enter on a keyboard.

The tray always holds a few parts that do not belong. An animal cell round offers a cell wall, chloroplasts and a permanent vacuole. A plant cell round offers a DNA loop and plasmids, and a bacterial cell round offers a nucleus, mitochondria and chloroplasts. If you try a part that does not belong, the game tells you. The round ends when every part is in place.

A game has ten rounds. The first three cover animal, plant and bacterial cells in a random order. The next four mix the cell types too. Round eight is a bacterial cell. In round nine you see a completed cell diagram and say which kind of cell it is. In round ten you match a part to its job. Choose Challenge start to reach the naming and function rounds sooner.

A clean build scores 10 points, as does each right answer to a naming or job question. If you try a wrong part, that build scores 0 points even after you correct it. A 45-second clock counts down on each round. Finish before it reaches zero for 5 bonus points. After that, you can still take your time. On the Challenge start, a round that runs out of time scores nothing. The practice switch turns the clock off. Your best score is saved on this device, with a separate best for the Challenge start.

Animal and plant cells are eukaryotic cells. That means their genetic material sits inside a nucleus. Bacterial cells are prokaryotic. They are much smaller, and their genetic material is not inside a nucleus. It is a single loop of DNA. Many bacteria also have plasmids, small rings of DNA in the cytoplasm. AQA says there may be one or more.

In AQA's list, an animal cell has a nucleus, cytoplasm, a cell membrane, mitochondria and ribosomes. A plant cell has all of these as well as chloroplasts and a permanent vacuole filled with cell sap. Plant cells also have a cell wall made of cellulose. The animal and plant rounds use these lists.

OCR's Gateway course (J247) links each part to its job. The nucleus holds the genetic material. Mitochondria contain the enzymes for respiration, and chloroplasts contain chlorophyll. The cell membrane has receptor molecules and acts as a barrier that lets some molecules through but not others. Ribosomes are where the cell makes proteins. The function round in the game uses these jobs.

AQA 8461 and 8464 cover cells in 4.1.1.1 and 4.1.1.2. Edexcel 1BI0 and 1SC0 cover them in 1.1, and their list for bacteria is a little different, including flagella, which this game leaves out. OCR J247 has cell structures in B1.1. OCR J257 spreads the topic out, with the nucleus and plasmids in B1.1 and ribosomes and the membrane in other topics. KS3 science covers the cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus, vacuole, mitochondria and chloroplasts.

• Start with the parts that every cell in the game has: cytoplasm, a cell membrane and ribosomes.
• Only plant cells have chloroplasts and a permanent vacuole. Plant cells and bacteria both have a cell wall, but animal cells do not. Leave all three in the tray for an animal cell.
• A bacterium has no nucleus and no mitochondria. Its DNA goes in as a loop, with plasmids beside it.
• In the naming round, look inside the cell first. Chloroplasts mean a plant cell. No nucleus, with a loop of DNA, means a bacterium.
• Mitochondria and chloroplasts are easy to swap. Mitochondria are for respiration, and chloroplasts hold chlorophyll.

If you try a wrong part, the streak resets when you finish that build. On the Challenge start, running out of time also resets it. A clean build keeps the streak growing.