Name ______Period ______Date ______

Animal & Plant Cell Lab

Highlight ALL main points for credit. (6 pts.)

Write in complete sentences for credit.

Background: All living things are made up of cells. They have small membrane-bound compartments filled with an aqueous solution of chemicals. The simplest forms of life are solitary cells that propagate by dividing into two. Higher organisms, such as us, are like cellular cities in which groups of cells perform specialized functions and are linked by intricate systems of communication. We study them to learn how they are made from molecules and how they cooperate to make an organism as complex as a human being.

The cell theory tells us that the cell is the basic unit of life, all organisms are made up of cells, and new cells come only from other living cells. Whether you are a simple organism, an amoeba, made up of only one cell or a complex organism, a human, made up of many cells, each cell is built the same way. A single cell works like a fast food restaurant. There are many important jobs to be done to get an order out to the customer, someone to make the French fries, someone to cook the hamburgers, someone to prepare the sandwiches, someone to prepare the drinks, someone to take the order, etc. In order for a cell to work as efficiently, there are many cell parts that must work together as well. Cells can also work together to perform some complicated functions. For example, cells work together to form muscle tissue which aids in movement.

Purpose: To identify and observe the epidermal cells of an elodea leaf.

To become familiar with the structure of plant and animal cells.

To be able to distinguish the different parts.

To be able to tell the different between a plant and animal cell.

Materials:microscope, slides, coverslips, cheek cells, flat toothpicks, methylene blue, elodea, iodine, forceps, lens paper, map pencils and eye dropper or prepared slides.

Part I

Procedure:

Making a Wet Mount or use the prepared slide the teacher has placed on the microscope.

  1. Locate the elodea plant.
  2. Cut or tear off a good green leaf. Do not select a brown one.
  3. Place the small leaf on a microscope slide.
  4. Add 1-2 drops of iodine to stain the cells so you can see them clearly.
  5. Add a coverslip on top, and check for any air bubbles.
  6. Be careful to not wrinkle the elodea plant. If you do, it will not look correct under the microscope. It will be hard if not difficult to see any cells.

Questions and Drawings:

  1. Draw the elodea leaf cells as you see them under 10X. Make a detailed drawing, color, label and state the power. Draw all of the cells using map pencils. This drawing needs to be detailed. (10 pts.)

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Power _____

2. What is the shape of these cells? (7 pts.)

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  1. Are the nuclei always in the exact same position in the each cell? YES or NO, and Why? Look at your slide to answer this question. You might want to use the fine adjustment knob (small one) and move it back and forth. (7 pts.)

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  1. Draw a SINGLE elodea plant cell at 40X. Label, state power, and color with map pencils as follows: cell wall-black, cytoplasm-light green, nucleus-brown. Use map pencils. (10 pts.)

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Power _____

  1. Does this elodea epidermal cell show depth? Why or why not? Use your fine adjustment

know back and forth to see if the parts change or they stay the same. If they stay the same,

there is no depth. (7 pts.)

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Part II

Procedure:

  1. Find the prepared cheek cell slide.
  2. Place this slide on the microscope or the teacher will put on this slide on the microscope before the lab.

Questions and Drawings:

  1. Draw the human cheek cells under 10X. Label, color, and state power. Draw all of the

cells.Use map pencils for this drawing. This drawing needs to be detailed. If you see stick

like structures it is probably food. (10 pts.)

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Power _____

  1. Describe the shape of the cheek cells. (7 pts.) ______

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  1. Describe the appearance of the cytoplasm. Look at it closely. Do you see anything?

(7 pts.)

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  1. Draw a SINGLE cheek cell at 40X. Label, state power, and color this cell as follows:

cell membrane-black, cytoplasm-blue, nuclear membrane-brown and nucleus-purple.

Remember to use map pencils. (10 pts.)

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Power _____

  1. How does the cell membrane of the cheek cells compare with the cell wall of the

elodea plant? (7 pts.)

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Summary: All answers must be in COMPLETE sentences.

  1. What are several things you saw when observing the cells today? Write a minimum of 4 observations below. (12 pts.)

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