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Four different cells lie in a heap. Four matching cells sit in a row. Only the row is a tissue.

This is Chapter 3, Exploration — Tissues in Action.

What you will learn

• Cells with one job. What a tissue is.
• Covering and lining. Epithelial tissue.
• Holding things together. Connective tissue: blood, bone, cartilage, tendon, ligament.
• Tissue that shortens. Muscle: skeletal, smooth and cardiac.
• Tissue that carries signals. Neurons.
• Where a plant grows. Meristem.
• Tubes for water and food. Xylem and phloem.
• Bones, muscles and joints. Four kinds of joint.
• The skin of a plant. Epidermis, cuticle, stomata and root hairs.
• Three supporting tissues. Parenchyma, collenchyma and sclerenchyma.
• What is inside blood. Plasma, red cells, white cells and platelets.

Need a quick recap?

• Everything is made of them — one cell, or many joined.
• Inside one cell — each part has its own job.
• A plant cell and an animal cell — different parts, for different lives.
• Getting it around the body — blood carries what was absorbed.
• Water up, food around — two sets of plant pipes.