Drag to rotate
Animal Cell 3D Model: rotate a cutaway animal or plant cell
Rotate an interactive 3D model of an animal cell or a plant cell. Cut away the membrane to look inside, tap any organelle to see its job, and save a picture.
Drag the model to turn it, then tap a part to see what it does.
Everything runs in your browser; nothing you choose is uploaded or saved. Print opens a clean page without the controls or advertisements. Diagrams are simplified teaching drawings, so check your class notes for the exact parts your teacher wants you to know.
How to use the 3D cell model
Drag the model with a mouse or a finger to turn it. On a keyboard, select the model and use the arrow keys. Tap any organelle, or a name in the list, to highlight it and read its job. Turn the cutaway off to see the whole outer surface, and switch to the plant cell to see the box-shaped cell wall, the large central vacuole and the chloroplasts.
The model is drawn in your browser from simple shapes, so it works without plugins or downloads. Save picture stores the current view as a PNG image for a slide or a report.
Using it to plan a 3D cell model project
A rotating model helps you see that organelles sit at different depths, which a flat diagram cannot show. Before building a foam ball or clay model, turn the cell until you find a view you like, note which parts face the front, and save the picture as your plan. The cell project page lists materials for each part and prints a key card to go with your model.
- Cut away one quarter of a foam ball so the inside shows, like the cutaway view.
- Keep the nucleus near the center of an animal cell and to one side of a plant cell.
- Make the central vacuole large in a plant cell model; it can fill most of the space.
Common questions
Is this a real 3D scan of a cell?
No. It is a simplified teaching model built from spheres and tubes. Real organelles have more complex shapes and a cell holds far more of them.
Does it work on a phone or Chromebook?
Yes. It runs in the browser on phones, tablets and Chromebooks, and you rotate it by dragging.
Sources and further reading
The studio notebook
A useful place to begin.
Clear steps, considered details, and ideas you can put to use.
Cell organelles and their functions: a plain-English list
Every organelle on the cell diagram, what it does, and an everyday comparison that makes it easier to remember.
Animal cell vs plant cell: the differences that matter
How animal and plant cells differ, what they share, and the common mistakes students make when comparing them on a test or a Venn diagram.
How to label a cell diagram and remember every part
A step-by-step method for labeling animal and plant cell diagrams on a test, with clues for telling similar-looking organelles apart.
Cell analogy ideas: the cell as a city, a school or a factory
Ready-to-adapt analogies that compare each organelle to a part of a city, school or factory, with tips for writing an analogy that earns full credit.
Prokaryotic vs eukaryotic cells: where animal and plant cells fit
The difference between prokaryotic cells such as bacteria and eukaryotic cells such as animal and plant cells, explained with the parts each one has.
Onion and cheek cells under a microscope: what you can see
What a classroom light microscope shows in onion skin and cheek cells, why you cannot see most organelles, and how this compares with a cell diagram.