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Using A Microscope And View Living Cells

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Using a microscope to view living cells

Introduction
Living cells are the most basic unit of life, however, they are impossible to see without the magnification of a microscope. There are different types of microscopes with alterations to serve a specific function, but the general use is the same. It is a tool invented with a curved lense that magnifies things that cannot be seen with the naked eye. A microscope can be used to see many things, in this particular lab they were used to observe cells of different organisms. We began by looking at a few sample slides of euglena, salmonella, and lilium and recording our observations. Then we created the slides ourselves with living matter. The first set of cells that we looked at were onion cells, which we looked at by gathering a sample of onion epidermis from one of the onion’s layers and creating a slide to be placed on the stage of the microscope. Next, we took a look at human cheek cells by obtaining a sample and again creating a slide by swabbing the inside of a mouth with a toothpick. Finally, we looked at pond water by creating a slide with a small amount that was collected in a dropper.

Purpose
The purpose of this lab was to gain more knowledge on the use of lab equipment, focusing principally on the microscope by observing a variety of cells underneath its magnifying lense at different levels of objective power and recording those observations.

Materials
Microscope
Slides: euglena, salmonella, lilium
Iodine
Onion

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