To Examine Plant and Animal Cells

Title: To examine an animal and cheek cell using a compound microscope

Date: 25th September 2012

Lab Partner: xxxxxxxxxxxxx

Objective:

The main aim of this experiment was to prepare a wet mount of human cheek cells and a wet mount of plant cells and examine them both under a compound microscope.

Introduction:

Cells are the basic units of life which make up every structure in the human body. They are the smallest units which are living. All cells contain different organelles which carry out different functions. Plant and animals vary slightly. Plant cells consist of a nucleus, chloroplasts, cell wall, cell membrane a large vacuole and cytoplasm. Animal cells however do not have chloroplasts a cell wall or a large vacuole instead they have mitochondria and small vacuoles located throughout the cell. All cells require energy to work plants get this energy from chloroplasts while animals get it from the mitochondria. Both plants and humans are multi-cellular i.e. they contain more than one cell. Bacteria or amoeba are examples of unicellular organisms. Every cell contains a nucleus this is the control centre of the cell.

Materials:

• Microscopes

• Slides

• Coverslips

• Swabs

• Methylene Blue

• Onion

• Sterile water

• Pasteur pipette

• Knife and board

• Iodine

Method:

Cheek Cells

1. With a sterile swap the inside of one`s cheek was scraped to obtain the cells.

2. It was rubbed onto a clean dry slide.

3. Using a pipette a small drop of methylene blue was added to the slide to stain the cheek cells.

4. Before viewing the cells a coverslip was lowered slowly onto the specimen at a 45° to prevent air bubbles forming.

5. The observation were recorded at low magnification and then at high magnification also. Labelled drawings of the cells were also recorded.

Plant Cells

1. A small drop of water was placed onto the slide.

2. Using about 1cm of the thin inner skin of the fleshy part of an onion place onto the drop of water on the slide.

3. Using a clean cover slip place over the cell on the slide at a 45° to prevent the formation of air bubbles.

4. Using a pipette a small drop of iodine was dropped on the edge of the cover slip and allowed to stain the cell.

5. At low the high magnification the cell was viewed and the results were recorded. The image viewed under the microscope was drawn.

Results:

Cheek Cells

[pic]