BIO A & EI*BIO A
Plant Cells & Animal Cells under the Microscope
Lab #
Objective: Observe animal cells and plant cells under the microscope. Prepare wet mount-slides. Describe the
differences and similarities between plant cells and animal cells.
MATERIALS: Microscope, prepared slides, microscope slides, cover slips, tap water, onions, lettuce, droppers
PROCEDURE
Prepared slides (3 slides).
1. Observe the prepared slide under the 4X objective.
2. Draw a circle with the Petri-dish and draw in it what you see under the microscope.
3. Label your pictures with names, overall magnification, and any structures you see.
4. Do steps 1-3 using the 10X objective.
Wet-mount slides of Plant cells (2 slides) .
1. With a slightly twisting motion, tear the onion or/and lettuce leaf.
2. Snip off a small piece of the very thin, transparent tissue that appears on one of the torn edges of the
vegetable.
3. Place this skin on a slide.
4. Add a drop of water.
5. Place a cover slip over the drop being careful that no bubbles form between the slide and the cover slip.
6. Examine with the 4X objective.
7. Draw a circle with a Petri-dish and draw in it what you see under the microscope.
8. Label your pictures with names, overall magnification, and any structures you see.
9. Repeat steps 6-8 using the 10X objective.
DATA (2 drawings for each slide observed!)
Name ______________________ 40X
Name _____________________ 400X
Copy this table and indicate with a check mark whether each type of cell has the following organelles
Lettuce
Onion
Animal Cell (the one that you
observed)
Chloroplast
Cell wall
Nucleus
Cell Membrane
Mitochondria
BIO A & EI*BIO A
ANALYSIS
Prepared slides
1. Did you see individual cells? How could you tell?
2. Were there more than one kind of cells in any one picture?
3. Describe the structures you saw within the cell. Describe the functions of the
structures you observed.
Wet-mount Slides
4. Why observe the skin of the onion (thin piece) and not an entire thick piece?
5. Describe what you saw in onion cells.
6. What makes an onion a good material to observe?
7. What are some other materials that would make good wet-mount samples?
General
8. What type of eukaryotic cells are the onion cells, elodea cells, and the cells on
the prepared slide?
9. Compare and contrast what you saw in animal cells and plant cells.
10.
If you did this lab again, what would you do different.
V) CONCLUSION
What did you learn while doing the Lab? (microscope, cells and organelles you
observed, organisms, etc.). Answer in 10-15 complete sentences.