Your skin, your blood, your heart and your nerves are all made of cells, but of different kinds. Here we learn the four main tissues of animals, what each one does, and how to tell them apart.
3 lessons, about 1 h 15 min3 simulations10 problems6 practice questionsPython in every lesson
Created by StemPy LabEpithelial tissue covers the body and lines its organs. Its cells are packed closely with little space between them. The kinds are named by shape: squamous (flat), cuboidal (cube), columnar (tall) and ciliated (with hairs). The shape fits the job: thin flat linings let substances pass quickly, while many layers protect.
Connective tissue connects and supports the other tissues. Its cells are spread apart in a matrix, which may be a liquid, a jelly or a solid, and the matrix decides the kind of tissue. Blood has a liquid matrix, plasma, with red cells, white cells and platelets. Bone has a hard matrix; ligaments join bone to bone and tendons join muscle to bone; cartilage, areolar and adipose tissue complete the group.
Muscular tissue makes the body move by contracting. Skeletal muscle is voluntary and striped, smooth muscle is involuntary and not striped, and cardiac muscle is involuntary, striped and branched. Nervous tissue is made of neurons: dendrites receive messages, and the axon carries them away, as fast as about 100 metres a second.
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