The Objectives of the lab are:

. To gain experience in the use of a compound light microscope

. To gain practice in preparing wet mount slides
. To observe plant and animal cells under the microscope
. To measure the diameter of cells under the light microscope
. To gain experience in recording observations and making accurate drawings
Background:
There are many differences between plant cells and animals both externally and internally.
One of the most noticeable differences between plant and animal cells are the addition of a
cell wall in plant cells. Another difference seen is the shape of the cells, plant cells because
of their cell wall are rectangular shaped, while animal cells only having a plasma membrane
are more circular. One of the major differences between animal and plant cells is the fact
that plant cells have chloroplast which allow the plant cells to make their own food, while
animal cells lack chloroplast and have to consume their own food for energy. Animal cells
on the other hand have lysosomes which allow for the hydrolysis of different materials such
as worn out organelles.
Light microscopes allow for humans to view microscopic molecules and organisms to
further identify and learn about them. Light microscopes work by a incandescent light
pointed toward the microscopes lens beneath the stage which is called the condenser. The
light passes through an objective lens, to the eye through a second magnifying lens, and
finally the eye piece. There are two major terms relating to light microscopy which are
resolution and magnification. Resolution is the detail an image holds hence higher
resolution meaning more image detail simply how clear an image is. While magnification
on the other hand is related to the scaling up visuals or images to be able to see more detail,
increasing resolution. Light Microscopes allow us to view organism more clearly and in
detail allowing us to learn more and more about biological things as technology improves.
Materials:
Bovine Liver (Bos Taurus)
Elodea Canadensis
Banana (Musa x Paradisiaca)
Microscope slides
Cover slips

Clear ruler or graph paper

Water
Dropper
Toothpicks
Compound light microscope
Procedure:
1. Make large circles on unlined paper (only 2 should be on 1 page) and draw what you
observe under the microscope. Remember to draw what you see, not what you think you see!
2.Measure the diameter of 1 cell using the procedure you learned from the virtual lab. Each
drawing should be labeled with the name of the specimen, magnification power, and size of 1
cell.
3. Label as much as you can on your drawing. You will not be able to see all organelles, but you
should definitely be able to see at least 2, maybe 3.
Conclusion:

There are many significant things to be learned from the use of light microscopes to view

biological cells. One of the significances are to use a light microscope and to understand the purpose
and how to use these types of microscopes. Another important thing leaned from this lab is the actual
viewing of biological organisms and their cells rather than just seeing a picture or drawing. Finally one
of the major importances exclaimed in this lab was the differentiation between both animal and plant
cells visibly rather than in a textbook. This lab allowed us to see the shape differences between the two
types of cells both plant and animal. This lab allowed us to draw what we had witnessed in the
microscope through our own sight not another persons depiction of what the cell looked like, allowing
us to further learn about the cell.

I learned many things through the course of the lab, one of the main things that I had

learned was how to properly use a light microscope using actual biological specimens and configuring
the microscope to be able to clearly see the cells and the major organelles such as the plasma
membrane in animal cells, the cell wall in plant cells and in some of the specimens even the nucleus.
Another thing I learned was the actual visible difference between both plant and animal cells, rather
than seeing representations of them, actually seeing the cell gave a more profound knowledge of the
conformation of the cell. We did not encounter any major problems but the use of too much of the
specimen did not allow us to view the cell as clearly as possible. Over all this lab retaught how to use a

light microscope in which I had previously forgotten and to learn more about them and about cells in
greater detail.
Justin Varghese

12/1/14

IB Biology 11

Ms. Santos
IB Biology 11 Lab: Observing Animal and Plant Cells
under a Compound Light Microscope