THE STUDY OF CELLS: DO NOT WRITE ON THIS

Introduction:
The cell is the basic unit of life and the individual part of which the whole organism is composed. Many
of the substances in a cell are organized into specific organelles. In this investigation you will be able to see
some of these organelles as they exist in animal and plant cells.
When Robert Hooke first observed cells almost 400 years ago, he saw only the cell walls of what were
once living cells that came from cork tissue. You may not know it, but the cork that is used in bottles and to
make bulletin boards does come from a species of tree. However, what you see are the compressed remains of
cells, which is a good example of how strong cell walls are. Even in a “dead” state, they remain for years before
they decompose.

PART 1: CELLS OF THE ELODEA LEAF

Since plants are stationary and lack a skeletal system, it makes sense that their cells should have rigid
cell walls for support. The Elodea plant is an ideal specimen for observing the cell wall in plants and the
chloroplasts which contain chlorophyll, the pigment that makes photosynthesis possible. It’s also a good
example for demonstrating basic microscope technique because of the relative ease in finding cells.

Procedure and Observations:

Remove a fresh leaf from and Elodea plant.

Hold the leaf in your hand for a minute to warm it
(this will get the chloroplasts to swirl around within
the cytoplasm which is pretty cool). Prepare a wet
mount of the whole leaf by placing it in the center
of a glass slide. Add one or two drops of water and
a coverslip according to the procedure discussed in
class.
Find a good section of cells with the LOW
power lens, (the red 4X one). Move up to the mid
power lens, and refocus. Finally, move up the
highest power (the blue lens) and refocus. Draw a
group of cells as they appear under 400X.
Label the cell wall, and chloroplasts. Estimate the size of the cells in microns.

PART 2: ONION EPIDERMAL CELLS

The epidermis or “skin” of an onion is an ideal subject for the study of cells because it is composed of a
single layer of cells and you can distinguish several individual organelles. Remember, you are looking into
functioning units of living material!

Procedure and Observations

Obtain a section of an onion from me. This specimen is interesting because it is only one cell layer
thick, and is transparent. Apply a single drop of IODINE to the specimen and apply a coverslip according to the
procedure discussed in class. The iodine is absorbed by the cell to make certain structures more visible.
(CAUTION: Avoid wrinkling the tissue. Doing so will cause the cell layers to “accordion” on top of one
another). The iodine should make the cell wall and cell membrane visible. The nucleus is the auburn
structure and the nucleolus is visible inside the nucleus.
Find a good section of cells with the LOW power lens (the red
4X one). Move up to the mid power lens, and refocus. Draw a group
of cells as they appear under 100X. Label the cell wall, and
nucleus. Estimate the size range of cells by determining the size of
them smallest cell and size of the largest cell

For Your Information… The small dark spots in the

cytoplasm are vacuoles, containing compounds that gives the onion its
odor. When an onion is peeled and the cell membranes are broken,
these compounds spread into the air and are picked up by cells in your
nose. These cells communicate with the olfactory lobes in the brain
and you “smell” it. These potent compounds
also initiate a reaction from the lacrimal glands in the corner of
your eyes. Tears are produced as a response to an irritation of
the cornea (the surface of the eye) by these compounds.

PART 3: CELLS OF TOMATO PULP

In this observation, you will examine the cells of a tomato from a pulp mixture. These cells are
characteristically thin walled, very large and
mostly circular as opposed to the rectangular
shape of the Elodea cells and the diamond shaped
cells of the onion. In addition these cells contain
structures called chromoplasts. Chromoplasts
are similar to chloroplasts but they can contain a
variety of different pigments other than green.

Procedure and Observations:

Place one or two or three drops of tomato

pulp on the center of a glass slide and apply a
coverslip according to the procedure discussed in
class. Position the specimen over the center of the
lighted portion of the stage. Position the specimen
so it is in the center of the field of vision. Examine
the cells under low power (4X). Set the
diaphragm to #1. Too much light coming
through the stage will make these cells
invisible to the eye. Find a good section of cells with the LOW power lens (the red 4X one). Draw a group of
cells as they appear under 40X. Estimate the size of the cells from smallest to largest.
PART 4: STUDY OF HUMAN
CHEEK CELLS
In this observation, you will see a typical animal cell (yes,
you are an animal!) and how it is different from a plant cell.

Procedure and Observations:

Gently scrape the inside of your cheek with a

toothpick. Smear the material from the tip on of the
toothpick onto the center of a glass slide in a circular motion
about the size of a dime.
Add one small drop of METHYLENE BLUE. Be careful with this stain. A little goes a long way
and using too much will result in staining the microscope, your hands and possibly your clothes. Apply a
coverslip according to the procedure discussed in class. The methylene blue is used to make the cell membrane
and nucleus stand out and be more visible. BE CAREFUL. THIS WILL STAIN YOUR CLOTHES!
Note the irregular shape of the cells; not quite square and not quite circular. The cells may appear in
clumps or individually. This was the purpose of spreading out the specimen with the toothpick. Just this tiny
scraping contains hundreds of cells. Ideally, you want to find a single cell.
Find a good section of cells with the LOW power lens (the red 4X one). Move up to the mid power lens,
and refocus. Now go up to high power. Draw a group of cells as they appear under 400X. Label the cell
membrane and the nucleus. Label the cell membrane, and nucleus. Estimate the size of the cells you are
observing

CONCLUSION:

This lab demonstrated, through direct observation, that living things are composed of smaller units not
visible to the naked eye. It also allowed you to see how the compound microscope is used to see the detail of
these smaller units called cells.
You learned how to apply the micron as a unit of measurement, and how to measure the size of cells;
noting that not all cells are the same size. In addition, cell shape varies greatly and these four specimens only
show a fraction of this variety.
Finally, you should be aware that although the compound microscope can offer a glimpse into the
microworld, we have much more powerful, electron microscopes that provide scientists with much more detail.
These details provide an in depth study of structure and function of living things as well as non living things
which may affect your life in ways you are completely unaware of.