When looking at plant and animal cells with an electron microscope, you notice that the plant cells have more Golgi membranes than the animal cells. This is most likely because unlike in animal cells, in plant cells the Golgi apparatus is involved in the production of:

Question

A.  cytoplasm.
B.  mitochondria.
C.  cell walls.
D.  chloroplasts.

Clarify Question
· What is the key concept addressed by the question?
· What type of thinking is required?
· What key words does the question contain and what do they mean?

Gather Content
· What do you know about Golgi in plant and animal cells? How does it relate to the question?
 
Consider Possibilities
· What other information is related to the question? Which information is most useful?

Choose Answer
· Given what you now know, what information and/or problem solving approach is most likely to produce the correct answer?

Reflect on Process
· Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?

Answer 1

C.  cell walls.

Clarify Question
· What is the key concept addressed by the question?
        o The question asks about comparing the Golgi in plant and animal cells.
· What type of thinking is required?
        o You are being asked to analyze the results showing a difference in the size of the Golgi in plant and animal cells and provide an explanation.
· What key words does the question contain and what do they mean?
        o Plant cells have more Golgi than animal cells – if an organelle is larger in one cell than another that often indicates that whatever function that organelle has in the first cell is in more demand than it is in the second cell.

Gather Content
· What do you know about Golgi in plant and animal cells? How does it relate to the question?
        o Animal cells have about 20 Golgi organelles, and these are involved in adding carbohydrates to proteins produced in the endoplasmic reticulum and being secreted or targeted to other organelles.  Plant cells can have 100 Golgi organelles, and in addition to adding sugars to proteins, sugars are joined together to produce cell walls in the Golgi.
 
Consider Possibilities
· What other information is related to the question? Which information is most useful?
        o The Golgi do not produce other organelles, but they do make some proteins that are transported to organelles like the lysosome.

Choose Answer
· Given what you now know, what information and/or problem solving approach is most likely to produce the correct answer?
        o The biggest difference between plant and animal cells is that plant cells have a cell wall and animal cells do not.  Cell walls are made of cellulose, which consists of many sugar residues attached to each other.  The cell walls are made in the Golgi, so the plant cells need more Golgi organelles to keep up with the demand for cellulose for new cell walls.

Reflect on Process
· Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
        o This question asked you to analyze the results of an observation to explain why plant cells have more Golgi than animal cells. If you got the correct answer, great job! If you got an incorrect answer, where did the process break down? Did you recall that the cell wall is made in the Golgi of plant cells but not animal cells?  Did you pick chloroplasts because they were present in plant cells but not animal cells?