BIOL&241
Lab 6A- Activity 2- Examining Connective Tissue Under the Microscope
Hand in all sketches with Laboratory Report 6.
Although you do not need to sketch/draw mesenchyme, you do need to understand what it is.
Slides 6I-6M are Connective Tissue (CT) Proper
6I. Areolar tissue- Sketch. Label and identify: fibers (identify the two different types), and cells (most
of which are fibroblasts). Be sure you understand what the ground substance consists of here.
6J. Adipose- Draw several cells (we call fat cells adipocytes). Label the nucleus.
-What specific type of lipid is stored in adipose cells?
6K. Retiuclar- Sketch. Label fibers (this is the “hair net” tissue).
-What protein are the fibers made of?
Indicate where you see cells (generically called reticular cells in the lab manual, you do not need to know
this term but understand that the fibers are a framework upon which cells sit).
6L. Dense Regular- Sketch. Label at least two fibroblasts and their nuclei.
-What is the predominant type of fibers this tissue?
-How do the fibers ‘run’, (parallel to each other or not?)
6M. Dense irregular- Sketch. You are looking for the dermis in a slide of skin. (refer to page 97 of lab
book if you need help). Label the basal lamina/basement membrane, and indicate the irregular fibers.
-What is the predominant type of fibers found in this tissue?
-How do the fibers ‘run’, (parallel to each other or not?)
Elastic connective tissue- You do not need to sketch this, but for the exam, you will need to know what
type of fibers are found in this tissue and what protein these fibers are made of.
6N. Blood- Sketch a small sample of blood. Label: a few Red Blood Cells (RBC’s), and all White blood
cells visible (WBCs). Try to identify which type of WBC you are seeing, use your lab manual or text
book to help you (p 426-428)! Remember, the RBC’s will be red, or pale red. The WBC’s will stain
different shades of dark blue/violet. We usually look at the shape of/visibility of the nucleus to help
identify them! Can you see platelets? They look like tiny specs of dirt.
Slides 6O-6Q are Cartilage:
O. Hyaline
P. Elastic
Q. Fibrocartilage
For all of the above, sketch and label. Identify chondrocytes (the cells of cartilage) and label a lacunae
(the cubby-holes that chondrocytes are in), if you can see fibers, indicate them and state what TYPE of
fibers they are. Can you tell these three tissues apart? How will you tell them apart for a histology quiz?
(You don’t need to write an answer to these rhetorical questions, but do know the answer.)
6R. Bone- Sketch and label. Spend some time looking at this slide at low or medium power to see the
patterns within the tissue (you will probably see many rings). On high power, investigate a single osteon
(ring). Use your book and notes to help label: an osteon (remember that osteons are long columns of
bone tissue, which you are seeing in cross section, thus they will look like rings), lamellae (the
layers/rings within the osteon), the hole at the center of the osteon (use its proper name), indicate where
individual osteocytes (bone cells) once lived, and label several canaliculi (the spider web/vein looking
lines between rings).

Written by Heidi Iverson, Ph.D.
Here are just a couple of histology links. If you need to sketch a small number of these slides from the
web, that is fine. JUST REMEMBER TO INCLUDE A REFERENCE, and an estimated total
magnfifcation!
http://www.bu.edu/histology/m/t_connec.htm
http://www.meddean.luc.edu/LUMEN/MedEd/Histo/frames/histo_frames.html
http://lifesci.rutgers.edu/~babiarz/DrBsRev.htm