NAME: ________________________________________________Section:___________________________________
I. Label the different parts of the microscope.
II. Viewing specimen under the microscope.
Procedure: (letter e wet mount)
1. Cut out one small letter “e” and place it in a clean slide facing up.
2. Add one drop of water on the top of “e”, then cover it with cove slip. Draw what you see on the glass
slide. (figure A)
3. Place the slide on the stage and view it on low power objective (4x) center the “e” on your field of view.
Draw what you see under the microscope. (figure B)
4. Observe what happen when you move your slide to the right, then left, up and down.
Figure A Figure B
Guide questions:
1. How does letter “e” as seen through the microscope differ from the normal “e”?
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2. When you move the slide to the left in which direction does “e appear to move?
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3. How does the ink appear under the microscope as compares to the normal view?
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4. Why does specimen placed under the microscope have to be thin?
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III. What you need: Onion • Knife • Forceps • Glass microscope slides • Cover slides • Iodine solution •
Pipette/dropper • Microscope • Paper towels
METHOD
1. Set aside a clean microscope slide.
2. Carefully cut away a small, single layered piece of onion (1-2 cm wide).
3. Peel the thin layer of skin (membrane) from the inside surface of your piece of onion. Forceps may help with this.
The membrane looks a bit like soft Scotch tape and should separate relatively easily from the inside surface of
the onion slice.
4. Place section of membrane carefully on the microscope slide, trying to keep it as flat as possible.
5. Apply a couple of drops of iodine solution to the section. Wait 2 minutes for the stain to develop before
positioning a cover slip over the section.
6. Place the slide under 40x magnifying lens and observe the onion cells.
7. Draw the image you see under the microscope.
*note: Be careful, when focusing the microscope, not to break the glass slide with the microscope lens.
Low power objective High power objective
IV. Random object
1. Choose one random object you want to see under the microscope place it in a clean glass slide.
2. Place it under the microscope and observe.
3. Label your specimen.
4. Draw the image you see.
Low power objective High power objective
