Cell Wall

• Plant cells possess a rigid cell wall surrounding their cell membrane, whereas animal cells only have a cell membrane and lack a cell wall. For this reason, animal cells are capable of changing shape, while plant cells cannot. Due to their lack of a cell wall, animal tissues must rely on the support of some type of internal or external skeleton. The presence of a cell wall in plant cells explains why plants, despite their lack of a skeleton such as that in the human body, can stand upright.
  
  

Vacuoles

• Both plant and animal cells contain vacuoles, but they differ in size and quantity. Animal cells have one or more small vacuoles, while plant cells typically contain one large, cell sap-filled vacuole that makes up to 90 percent of the cell's volume. This large, membrane-bound vacuole serves as a sort of storage chamber for the plant cell, holding a variety of organic and inorganic materials, including the pigments that give a plant its color. Although most plant cells have one large vacuole, they sometimes have several smaller ones.
  
  

Chloroplasts and Energy Production

• Chloroplasts, which are absent in animal cells, enable plant cells to engage in photosynthesis, the process by which plants absorb energy from sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into sugars, among other organic compounds. Conversely, animal cells create energy by breaking the sugars created during photosynthesis back down into carbon dioxide, which is then consumed by the plants to convert back into sugar for animal consumption.
  
  

Variety

• There are only four types of plant cells: meristematic, which function in cell division; parenchyma, which aid in photosynthesis support and storage; collenchyma with thick primary walls for support; and sclerenchyma, which help with mechanical support and are dead once the plant reaches maturity. Meanwhile, there are 210 types of animal cells present in the human body, organized into blood, muscle, nerve, epithelial and connective tissue cells.