Biology · Class 11 · Chapter 8
Cell: The Unit of Life
13 lessons 91 min 10 practice questions
This chapter treats the cell as the smallest unit that can carry out all the activities of life on its own, and then takes it apart piece by piece. It contrasts prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisation and walks through every major organelle, from the plasma membrane to the nucleus, which sets up the later chapters on biomolecules, cell division, photosynthesis and respiration.
What the exam asks
NEET mostly tests exact recall here: who discovered what, organelle dimensions, sedimentation values of ribosomes, the layers of the cell wall, the 9+2 axoneme versus the triplet cartwheel of the centriole, and which organelles belong to the endomembrane system. Marks slip away when students mix up look-alike structures (cilia versus centrioles, lysosomes versus vacuoles, leucoplast types) or attribute a eukaryotic feature to bacteria.
Lessons
13 lessons · 91 min
1What is a cell, and the cell theoryNCERT §8.1–§8.26 min2An overview of the cellNCERT §8.36 min3Prokaryotic cells: general featuresNCERT §8.46 min4Cell envelope, its modifications, ribosomes and inclusion bodiesNCERT §8.4.1–§8.4.27 min5Eukaryotic cells and the cell membraneNCERT §8.5, §8.5.17 min6Cell wallNCERT §8.5.26 min7Endomembrane system: ER and Golgi apparatusNCERT §8.5.3–§8.5.3.27 min8Endomembrane system: lysosomes and vacuolesNCERT §8.5.3.3–§8.5.3.46 min9MitochondriaNCERT §8.5.47 min10PlastidsNCERT §8.5.57 min11Ribosomes, cytoskeleton, cilia, flagella and centriolesNCERT §8.5.6–§8.5.97 min12Nucleus and microbodiesNCERT §8.5.10–§8.5.116 min13Chapter reviewMust-know facts, traps and formulas13 min