THE

DEVELOPMENT OF
THE CELL THEORY
LESSON OBJECTIVE:
Enumerate the
postulates/ tenets of the
cell theory

Trace the development of

cell theory and
contributions of at least 7
CELL THEORY
 SLIDE 2

Peter, who lived 200 years ago, had a

house with no rats in it. One day, his wife
heard some scurrying around in his straw
roof. He went up and guess what he found?
A rat’s nest. Peter was really smart - -
where did he think the new rats came from?

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200 years ago, people believed
SLIDE
that part3of the straw roof
somehow turned into rats.

What do you think of this idea?

Why do you think that?

Why would Peter, even though

he was very intelligent, accept
this idea? (C) COPYRIGHT - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WWW.CPALMS.ORG
THIS IDEA IS CALLED
SPONTANEOUS
GENERATION
The hypothetical process by
which living organisms
develop from nonliving
matter; also, the archaic
(primitive) theory that utilized
this process to explain the or
origin of life.

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We’re all
SLIDE 5really smart, but its not like
we’re the smartest people in the world.
We all know that it takes a momma rat
and daddy rat to make some baby rats.
This is because we understand
something called the cell theory,
because cell theory is just part of our
culture now. It’s something a lot of our
behaviors and other ideas are based on.

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 CELL THEORY
1.All living organisms are
composed of one or more
cells.

2.The cell is the smallest

basic units of structure
and function in all living
organisms (C) COPYRIGHT - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WWW.CPALMS.ORG
SLIDE 7
1.Which two parts of the
cell theory could you
use to explain to Peter
why some of his straw
roof didn’t turn into a
rat?

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SLIDE 7
2. What do we mean
when we say ‘The cell
is the smallest unit of
life’? Explain as if you
were talking to Peter,
who has no idea about
cells.
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SLIDE
3. How8 do we all
know about this, but
Peter didn’t? What
tools do we have
today that Peter’s
world, 200 years
ago, didn’t have?
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YOUR JOB
Your job is to figure out how
we, as a society, got from a
world where people believed
straw could become rats. This
wasn’t a simple process, nor
was it overnight.

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Do the timeline task
A. How did this scientist contribute to the
cell theory? (Make sure the information
is related to the cell theory only.)
B. When did this scientist make his
contribution to the cell theory?
(Date/Year)
C. How did this scientist's discovery help
lead to the rejection of spontaneous
generation?
CELL THEORY

DEVELOPMENT
THE CELL THEORY:
All living organisms are
1 composed of one or more
cells.
Cells are the smallest basic
2 units of structure and
function in living organisms

Cells arise only from pre-

3 existing cells
 HIST
ORY
• The study of cells started about three
hundred years ago.
• With the help of one powerful instrument
the cell was begin to be known to humans.
 1597
Hans and Zacharias
Janssen

Credited for the

production of
lenses.
JANSSEN’S
MICROSCOPE
1665
Robert Hooke
English Scientist.
Coined the term
“CELL”
MODIFIED the
compound
microscope.
HOOKE’S MICROSCOPE
Cork Oak
Tree
He found it in a
cork.
Book:
Micrographia

Cell Wall of
a Cork
Cell
 1676
Anton van Leeuwenhoek
Dutch Businessman.
Described cells in a drop of pond
water that he called “animalcules”.
First to observe structure of red blood
cells and sperm cells
“Father of Ancient Microbiology”
LEEUWENHOEK’S
MICROSCOPE
LEEUWENHOEK’S
MICROSCOPE
1831
Robert Brown
English botanist,
discovered the
nucleus in plant
cells(orchid).
1838
Matthias Jakob
Schleiden
German botanist,
concluded the
all plant tissues
are composed of
cells.
 1839
Theodor
Schwann
German zoologist,
concluded that all
animal tissues are
composed of cells.
Proposed the cell
theory
 1858

Rudolph Virchow
A German biologist
Completed the cell theory by
expounding his famous conclusion
“omnis cellula e cellula” or cells
develop from pre-existing cells.
1859

LOUIS PASTEUR

Disproved the spontaneous

Generation theory.
BEEF BROTH
EXPERIMENT
ESSENTIAL
QUESTIONS:
How did the discovery of
the microscope help in the
development of the cell
theory?

Why is it important to
understand and appreciate
biologists’ contribution to
 SUMMARY: 3 TYPES OF
MICROSCOPE
Microscope Magnif Resolutio Uses
cation n
Light 400x 200 nm Thickness of
Microscope human hair, size
of red blood cells,
size of a
bacterium
Scanning 500,000 x 1.5 nm 3D image of
Electron structure or
shapes.
Microscope Size of a virus
(SEM) particle, size of
DNA molecule,
size of glucose
molecule, atom
Transmission 500,000 x 0.2 nm 2D image
Electron Can view
intricate sections
EGG CELL RELEASED
FROM AN OVARY
SEM
TEM
MODERN CELL THEORY
Current Interpretation of Modern Cell Theory
Scientists, biologists, researchers and scholars, though still using the
fundamental tenets of cell theory, conclude the following on the
modern interpretation of cell theory:

1. The cell represents the elementary unit of construction and

function in living organisms.

2. All cells come from the division of pre-existing cells.

3. Energy flow – metabolism and biochemistry – happens within cells.

4. Cells contain genetic information in the form of DNA passed on

from cell to cell during division.

5. In the organisms of similar species, all cells are fundamentally the

same.

6. All living organisms consist of one or more cells.

7. Some cells – unicellular organisms – consist of only one cell.

8. Other living entities are multicellular, containing multiple cells.