Purpose:
To view live eukaryotic cells under a microscope and identify two cellular organelles
To continue developing microscope skills
Microscope
Two slides and two clean cover slips
Clean toothpicks
Chem wipes
Anachris plant
Methylene Blue
Cheek cells
Pipet
trash
Soapy H2O beaker
paper towels
1. Use a chemwipe to clean your microscope lenses
2. Obtain a clean slide and cover slip and place them at your lab station ready for use
3. Using a clean toothpick scrape the inside of your cheek, smear it on a DRY slide, place a
drop of Methylene Blue on the slide, and cover it with a cover slip from a 45 degree angle
4. Bring your slide up under your viewing field using LOW power firs (shortest occular) and
focus finding the little blue speckles.
5. Switch to middle power and focus on a small group of cells.
6. Study the cells carefully, notice the morphology and shape
7. On medium or high power draw a detailed picture of ONE or TWO cells only –they must
be a minimum of 2 cm in diameter
8. Label the two organelles visible, use your text to aid you in identification
9. Throw away all toothpicks at your station clean or dirty.
Drawing of Cheek Cell
Procedure for Plant Anachris Cell
1. Use a chem. Wipe to clean your microscope lenses
2. Prepare a clean slide and cover slip
3. Take a leaf from the beaker with the Anachris plant and place it on your slide, place a drop
from the water on the leaf and cover it with a cover slip at a 45 degree angle
4. Bring the slide up under low power and focus
5. Move to medium power and focus
6. Study the cells carefully, notice the morphology and shape
7. Draw a detailed picture of ONE or TWO cells only –they must be a minimum of 2 cm long
8. Label the two organelles visible, use your text to aid you in identification
9. Using the beaker of soapy water at the two side sinks, dip your slide in the beaker (the
cover slip will remain in the beaker, that’s ok) and clean it carefully rubbing it with your
fingers. Rinse it well, dry with a chemwipe and replace it into the slide container at the
back lab sink.
10. Wipe down lab station, turn microscope off, throw away all trash
11. Have me initial your paper verifying that your lab station is clean when you are ready to
be checked off ________________________
12. Sit down and answer the questions below.
13. Turn your lab in at the beginning of the period on ______________________________________.
Anachris Plant Cell drawing
Questions – answer on a separate piece of paper and staple to your lab sheet. Respond in
complete sentences with correct spelling and punctuation. Make sure you understand the
question and understand the correct answer before you respond.
1. What two organelles did you see in the cheek cell?
2. What function do those two organelles perform for the cell?
3. What type of cell is the cheek cell? How do you know this?
4. Describe the shape of the cheek cell.
5. What two organelles did you see in the Anachris cell?
6. What function does each organelle perform for the cell?
7. What type of cell is the Anachris cell? How do you know this?
8. Describe the shape of the Anachris cell.
9. Contrast the difference in shape between the cheek and Anachris cells.
10. What is a vital (you will have needed to listen to your teacher)?
11. What is the difference between a eukaryotic cell and a prokaryotic cell?