Exploring
Cells in Detail
An introduction to observing cells
with a light microscope
Today, you will...
Describe why cells are called
the building blocks of life
Name the parts of a light microscope
Explain how to use a microscope
A cell is the smallest unit of a living
What is a cell? thing. It is the basic building block of all
living organisms.
plant cell animal cell
Humans have about
37.2 trillion cells!
What is Humans are
multicellular organisms.
a cell?
A living thing may be made Euglena is a
of one cell (a unicellular unicellular
organism) or many cells (a organism.
multicellular organism).
Discovering
the Cell
Who coined the term ‘cell’ and
how did he discover it?
Discovering the Cell
(Answer Key)
Robert Hooke
Robert Hooke coined
the term ‘cell’ in 1665.
Whilst observing plant cells, he
marvelled at how similar they looked
to the cells in monasteries. At that
time, Hooke was actually looking at
the cell walls of cork cells.
The Light
Microscope
Cell sizes can vary from about
0.001 mm to 0.1 mm long.
To see cells up close, we use a
light microscope. It provides a
magnified image of small
structures and samples.
Parts of a Light
Microscope
Try to label all the main parts
of a light microscope.
coarse adjustment wheel objective lenses
eyepiece aperture fine adjustment wheel
mirror/light source stage rotating nose
eyepiece
Answer Key
rotating coarse
Parts of
nose adjustment
wheel
objective
a Light
lenses
fine
Microscope
adjustment
wheel
stage
To use the microscope well, aperture
you must be familiar with its
main parts. mirror/light
source
How to Use a Step 1:
Microscope Turn the light microscope on, move
the mirror to reflect the light up
If you have never used a light towards the eyepiece and check
microscope before, this handy that the aperture is wide open.
guide will explain how it’s done!
Step 2:
Turn the revolving nosepiece
so the lowest objective lens is
pointing directly down.
How to Use a
Microscope Step 3:
Place your specimen
If you have never used a light onto the stage.
microscope before, this handy
guide will explain how it’s done!
Step 4:
Look into the eyepiece and slowly
rotate the coarse adjustment wheel
to bring your specimen into focus.
How to Use a Step 5:
Microscope Slowly rotate the fine adjustment
wheel until you obtain a clearer
If you have never used a light image of your specimen.
microscope before, this handy
guide will explain how it’s done!
Step 6:
Examine and explore your
specimen, holding still or moving
the slide slowly with your thumbs.
How to Use a Microscope What are the things
you would like to
If you have never used a light microscope before,
this handy guide will explain how it’s done!
observe under a
microscope?
Step 7:
Once you have seen enough, switch
to the medium and the high-power
objective lens. Use the fine
adjustment wheel to bring the
specimen into focus as necessary.
Tracing the
Path of Light
Look at the diagram of a microscope shown
here. Using your finger, track the path of the
rays of light from the source to the eyes of the
observer.
In line with your answer above, why is it
necessary for specimens to be very thin?
Answer
Tracing the
Path of Light
Light rays go through the aperture, to the specimen, to
the objective lens, then to the eyepiece and into the
eye.
But remember, light rays bend as they pass through the
lenses, allowing the image to be magnified.
The main idea of a light microscope is for the light rays
to go through the specimen! So, specimens must be
thin enough for the light to pass through.
Summary
How does a
microscope work?
A microscope magnifies the
structure of the specimen.
Specimens must be brought
into focus to be viewed. This
What are cells? is done by moving the
coarse and fine adjustment
A cell is the smallest unit of a living wheels.
thing. An organism may be made of one
cell or many cells.
THANK YOU!!!
