Plant cell (unlabeled) — free printable diagram

What to label on a plant cell diagram

A blank plant cell diagram is normally used as a labelling exercise, so the parts below are the ones a student is usually expected to identify. A plant cell has everything an animal cell has, plus three structures an animal cell never has: a cell wall, chloroplasts and a large permanent vacuole. Those three are the ones worth checking for in a student's answers.

Cell wall

Rigid outer layer made of cellulose — supports and shapes the cell

Cell membrane

Controls what enters and leaves the cell

Cytoplasm

Jelly-like fluid where most chemical reactions happen

Nucleus

Holds the DNA and controls the cell's activities

Chloroplast

Contains chlorophyll and carries out photosynthesis

Permanent vacuole

Large sac of cell sap that keeps the cell firm

Mitochondria

Release energy through respiration

Ribosomes

Where proteins are made

• The cell wall and the cell membrane are two different things, and confusing them is the most common error on this diagram. The wall is the rigid outer layer; the membrane sits just inside it and is what actually controls transport in and out.
• Chloroplasts are what make the cell green and are where photosynthesis happens. Not every plant cell has them — root cells do not, because no light reaches them — which makes a good follow-up question once the labelling is done.
• The permanent vacuole is drawn large because it usually takes up most of the middle of the cell. When it is full of water it pushes outwards and keeps the plant firm; when it loses water the plant wilts.
• Animal cells also have a vacuole, but it is small and temporary. It is the size and permanence that distinguish the plant version, not its existence.
• Mitochondria and ribosomes appear in both plant and animal cells, so they are useful for checking that students are labelling what they see rather than reciting the three plant-only structures.
• A sensible extension is to ask students to label an animal cell straight afterwards and list what is missing — the answer is the cell wall, the chloroplasts and the large permanent vacuole.