Cells
Exhibit [Return to listing page]
Blue Wing, Lower Level
This exhibit is no longer at the Museum.
Cells are the building blocks of life. With microscopes, video, and enlarged models, visitors to this exhibit can take a journey into the microscopic world of cells.
As the basic unit of life, cells must perform an amazing array of tasks. The structure of a cell corresponds to its function, so each type of cell is different and exquisitely efficient in its role. Though they're self-sufficient units, cells live in communities and often work in sync.
Peer through microscopes at cells fixed on a slide, and observe their vastly varied structures and astonishing beauty. Observe blood cells, heart muscle cells, the energy-producing cells in plants, and more. See videos of living cells in action: oozing, shrinking, dividing, expanding, sensing, and reacting to the world around them. You'll examine models of cells enlarged thousands of times. The exhibit also explores the evolution of the cell, from our first cellular ancestor borne from the primordial soup, to the modern-day cells, copying and dividing in the cycles on which our lives depend.
