Name
Period
PLANT AND ANIMAL CELLS -A Lab Exercise Comparing Cell Types
Objectives: To observe, identify, and distinguish between plant and animal cells and their organelles.
Materials: Dropper, beaker for water, 2 slides, tweezers, Elodea plant, cover slips, microscope, flat
toothpick, iodine
PART I: Elodea Plant Procedure
1. Place a drop of water in the center of a clean slide to prepare a wet mount
specimen.
2. Use tweezers to remove a small leaf from the Elodea plant. You only
need ONE leaf. Place the leaf, BOTTOM SIDE UP, in the drop of water.
Place a cover slip over the leaf.
3. Observe the Elodea leaf through the microscope under low power and
then under high power.
4. Using high power, sketch 2-3 cells and label:
CELL WALL, CHLOROPLASTS, NUCLEUS, CELL MEMBRANE, CYTOPLASM
Part I: Elodea Analysis Questions
1. There are some tiny green circles within each Elodea cell. What are they called? ______________
2. What is the function of the green circles?
3. What is the shape of the Elodea cell? _____________________________________
4. Which part of the plant cell gives it shape?_________________________________
5. What organelles do Elodea (and all other plant cells) have that animal cells don’t?
PART II: Onion Cell Procedure
Onion Cells
1. Use tweezers to remove a small, thin piece of the onion skin.
2. Place one drop of methylene blue on the onion skin – make sure it stains
the onion. Add a coverslip (Make sure you can put the slip cover on the
sample and it still lay FLAT.)
3. Observe the Elodea leaf through the microscope under low power and
then under high power.
4. Using high power, sketch 2-3 cells and label:
CELL WALL, NUCLEUS, CELL MEMBRANE, CYTOPLASM
Part II: Onion Analysis Questions
1. What kind of cell in the onion cell? _____________________________
What structure is missing from the onion cell? _____________Why?
_____________________________________________________________________________
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PART III: Animal Cheek (Epithelial) Cells Procedure
1. Using the blunt end of a toothpick, gently scrape some cells from the
inside of your cheek.
2. Make a wet mount by smearing the cheek cells onto a slide containing
ONE drop of IODINE and covering it with a cover slip.
3. Observe the cheek cells using the microscope under low power and then
under high power.
4. Using high power, sketch 2-3 cells and label:
CELL MEMBRANE, NUCLEUS, CYTOPLASM.
Part III: Animal Cheek Cell Analysis Questions
1. How does the shape of the cheek cell differ from the Elodea?
2. When you added the iodine to the cheek cell, an organelle became visible as a small darker
gold circle in the middle of the cell. What do you think this gold circle is? ______________
3. Are the cheek cells the same or do they vary in shape?
4. Why are there no chloroplasts in the cheek cells?
5. Which part of the animal cell gives it shape?_________________________________
CONCLUSION:
Are any of the cells observed prokaryotic? ______
Explain why or why not. ______________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
1. A nucleus can be found in (circle one)
PLANT
ANIMAL
BOTH
2. A cell membrane can be found in (circle one)
PLANT
ANIMAL
BOTH
3. A cell wall can be found in (circle one)
PLANT
ANIMAL
BOTH
4. Cytoplasm can be found in (circle one)
PLANT
ANIMAL
BOTH
5. Ribosomes can be found in (circle one)
PLANT
ANIMAL
BOTH
6. Chloroplast can be found in (circle one)
PLANT
ANIMAL
BOTH
7. Mitochondria can be found in (circle one)
PLANT
ANIMAL
BOTH
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