Using a microscope
A. What are the parts of a microscope?
Label the diagram with the words provided below.
clip base mirror objective coarse adjustment knob
arm stage eyepiece fine adjustment knob
What is the correct way of carrying a microscope from one place to another?
(Hint: Which two parts should you hold when you carry a microscope?)
B. How do we use a microscope to observe a specimen?
Complete the following steps with the words provided.
microscope eyepiece objective coarse adjustment knob slide specimen
mirror stage clips fine adjustment knob image
Steps:
1
Put a table lamp in front of the .
2
Place a slide on the , and fix it with the
. The on the slide should be
right above the hole of the stage.
3
Look at the
microscope from
the side. Turn the
carefully to
lower the
objective
until it is very close to the
.
4
Look through the eyepiece. Turn the coarse adjustment knob to
raise the objective slowly until you can see an
of the specimen.
5
Turn the to get a sharper
image. The image is now in focus.
C. Practice
Procedure onion cells
1. Peel a translucent piece of tissue from the onion. (The smaller the piece the
better.) Translucent means that you can see light through the specimen, but it is
not transparent.
2. Place the piece of onion on a glass slide and add a drop or two of the water
solution. Cover the slide with a cover slip using your best wet-mount making
techniques.
3. Observe the onion cell under both low and high power. Make a drawing of one
onion cell, labeling all of its parts as you observe them.
4. Draw and label the onion cell.