Jonas, a young boy at the age of 12 has spent all of his life in the village of Hookeville. He has been awaiting this moment because when each young boy turns 12 years old, they get selected by the town founder to complete a trial.

So Jonas was sent to the founder's house and met Robert Hooke. You see, Robert Hooke discovered a thing called cells. Cells are the building block of life. They are so tiny you have to use a microscope to see them!

"Jonas, welcome." Says Mr. Hooke. "I see you have turned 12 today, are you ready to complete the grand trials and get a great reward?" Jonas, with great excitement exclaimed, "Yes! I've been ready for as long as I remember!"

"You will have to complete three trials," warns Hooke. "The first, you shall come to the aid of Virchow the Wise. Second, you shall help Schleiden and Schwann. And third, you shall overcome the final trial. This trial is where many boys fail, but I'm sure you're smart enough to get past it."

I'm Virchow!

I'm Schwann!

I'm Schleiden!

Hooke handed Jonas a map of the land outside of Hookeville to guide his way. After that, he was off to his adventure, word and shield in hand!

Hookeville

(Trial 3)

Trial 1: Virchow

Trial 2: Schwann and Schleiden

Jonas traveled the land far a wide until he looked upon a valley with a whole bunch of gigantic cells. In the middle of the cells there was an old man warding them off! Jonas ran down to meet him and offered to help. "Oh, yes! Jonas! I'm Virchow and I was expecting you! I need help with all these multiplying cells! After all, all cells come from pre-existing cells."

The cells were everywhere. They were round and jelly-like, but were protected by an outer rim called a membrane. "Aim for their core! It's what controls them! Around here we call the core 'the nucleus.' Once you hit that, it can't control itself anymore and will die.

Jonas went all around, left and right hitting the cells' nulcei one by one. Eventually, he completed his task. "Great job Jonas! You have finally slayed all of the cells in this area! Now I can finally get back to my research," Virchow praises. And off Jonas went to go to his next trial.

After wandering in the valley for some time, he comes across a ranch. This ranch had cells too, except this time there were two types of cells. One type was circular, like the ones in Virchow's trial, and one was in the shape of a cube. The cube ones were more sturdy, with what seemed like a thicker skin called the cell wall.

"Ah! Hello there! My name is Schwann." "And I'm Schleiden!" Two older men said simutaneously. "We run the ranch here and were wondering if you could help us round up these cells here. You see, we are studying the difference between plant and animal cells, but we must separate them first!" They hand him a lasso.

With this being part of the trial, Jonas accepted the job and was on his way to round up the cells. He lassoed them left and right, just like a cowboy would! He was so good at it, he was able to finish before nightfall.

"Wonderful!" Schleiden commented. "Spectacular!" Schwann agreed. "You did this way better than I ever could. You really deserve that reward I'm sure you're wondering about." "I'm actually not allowed to say anything, but would you like a hint for what it is?" Schleiden asked. Before Jonas could nod his head Schwann intervened, "Hey! Don't say anything! You'll ruin the surprise."

Jonas gave out a giggle and decided to head off, but before he could, Schwann said "Wait! Wait! You should rest here for the night! It's unsafe to travel these lands in the dark." Jonas let out a sigh and agreed to stay the night, but he would be leaving as soon as the sun rose tomorrow. "It's a deal," said Schleiden.