At least one cell is found in every single living thing, so cells are often called the building blocks of life. They all work together to build you! Some living things, like most bacteria, have only a single cell, while others have lots of cells. Humans have trillions!

Some cells are like the wood in a house, and provide support, these are bone cells! Others are like furniture and fill the house - muscle cells, stomach cells or lung cells. Blood cells run around your whole body, giving supplies and protection to all your other cells. Cells look after themselves and take in food, which they change into energy. They all keep their own set of instructions to tell them how to do their jobs, because they do different things, depending on where they are in your body.

Normal healthy cells make copies of themselves and grow at different speeds. Hair and fingernails grow so quickly you can almost see it happening! Stomach cells have to replace themselves all the time because your stomach is so good at breaking down the cells in food it can also break down your stomach itself. All normal and healthy cells eventually die to make room for new cells.

Deep inside each cell is an even smaller thing called a nucleus, which is the headquarters of the cell. The nucleus contains more information than the biggest library or the fastest computer!



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