Microscopes and Cells (81pts):

NAME
____________________________________________________________
_______ (1 pt)
TA NAME _________________________ (1pt) SECTION#_________ (1
pt)
Exercise 1.1
The Compound Light Microscope

Label the image below (8 pts):

Procedure (4 pts)
a. Is your microscope monocular (one eyepiece) or binocular (two eyepieces)? (1 pt)
 What is the magnification of your oculars? (1 pt)

b. What is the magnification of each of your objectives? List them in order of

Exercise 1.2
Basic Microscope Techniques
Procedure (15 pts)
m. Move the slide slowly to the right. In what direction does the image in the ocular move?
(1 pt)

n. Is the image in the ocular inverted relative to the specimen on the stage?
(1 pt)

q. The working distance between the specimen and objective lens is called the working
distance, Is the working distance greater with the 40X or the 10X objective? (1 pt)

3. Compute the total magnification of the specimen being viewed. To do so, multiply the
magnification of the ocular lens by that of the objective lens
a. What is the total magnification of the letter as the microscope is now set? (1 pt)

b. What would be the total magnification if the ocular were 20X and the
objective were 100X (oil immersion)? This is the magnification
achieved by the best light microscopes. (1 pt)

4. Measure the diameter of the field of view. Once you determine the size of the field of
view for any combination of ocular and objective lenses, you can determine the size of any
structure within that field.
c. The distance between two lines on a ruler is 1 mm What is the diameter (mm) of
the field of view? (1 pt)

e. Measure the diameters of the field of view for the 10X and the 40X objectives,
and enter all three in the spaces below to be used for future reference.
4X= _________ (1 pt) 10X=__________ (1pt)
40X=___________ (1 pt)
f. What is the relationship between the size of the field of view and the
magnification? (1 pt)

5. Determine spatial relationships. The depth of field is the thickness of the specimen that
may be seen in focus at one time. Because the depth of focus is very short in the compound
microscope, focus up and down to clearly view all planes of a specimen.
 b. Focus on the region where the threads cross. Are both threads in focus at the
same time? (1 pt)

c. Rotate the 10X objective into position and focus on the cross. Are both threads in
focus at the same time? (1 pt)

Does the 4X or the 10X objective have a shorter depth of field? (1 pt)

d. Focus upward, slowly focus down using the fine adjustment. Which thread comes
into focus first? Is the thread lying under or over the other thread?
(1 pt)

e. Rotate the 40X objective into position and slowly focus up and down, using the
fine adjustment only. Does the 10X or the 40X objective have a shorter depth of field? (1 pt)

Exercise 1.3
The Stereoscopic Microscope
Procedure (8 pts)
4. Observe the structure of the Elodea leaf at increasing magnification.
a. Sketch the leaf in the margin of this page and list, in the space below, the
structures that are visible at low and high magnification. (2 pts sketch)
Low (2 pts):

High (2 pts):

Is it possible to see cells in the leaf using the stereoscopic microscope?

Organelles? (1 pt)

Exercise 1.4
The Transmission Electron Microscope
Procedure (10 pts)
1. Compare the features of the light and electron microscopes (2.4).
a. Name three structures found on both microscopes (3 pts)

b. What is the energy source for the electron microscope? (2 pts)

For the compound microscope? (2 pts)

c. Describe how the lenses differ for the two microscopes. (3 pts)
Exercise 1.5
The Organization of Cells
Lab Study D. Unknowns
Record in table 1.1 the characteristics of three different organisms (5 pts)
Unknown Means of Cell wall Chloroplast Unicellular, Eurkaryote
Locomotion (Present or (Present or Multicellular, (yes or no)
Absent) Absent) or Colonial

1.

2.

3.

Name each of the unknowns based on the organisms observed in Lab Study A-C
Reviewing Your Knowledge (12 pts)
1. Describe at least two types of materials or observations that would necessitate the use of
the stereoscopic microscope. (2 pts)

2. What characteristics do all eukaryotic cells have in common? (3 pts)

3. a. What cellular features differentiate plants from animals? (2 pts)

b. How are the structures that are unique to plants important to their
success? (2 pts)

5. Review the criteria used to distinguish between colonial and multicellular organisms. Why is
Volvox now considered multicellular? (3 pts)
Applying Your Knowledge (16 pts)
1. In your own words, describe the evolutionary trend for increasing organismal complexity,
using examples from this lab to illustrate your answer. (3 pts)

2. We often imply that multicellular organisms are more advanced (and therefore more
successful) than unicellular or colonial organisms. Explain why this is not true, using examples
from this lab or elsewhere. (3 pts)

4. One organism found in a termite’s gut is Mixotrichia paradoxa. This strange creature looks
like a single-celled swimming ciliate under low magnification. Howevre, the electron microscope
reveals that it contains spherical bacteria rather than mitochondria and has on its surface, rather
than cilia, hundreds of thousands of spirilla and bacilla bacteria. You are the scientists who first
observed this organism. How would you describe this organism—single-celled? Aggregate?
Colony? Multicellular? Review definitions of these terms on pp. 44-45 in your lab book. Can the
structure of this organism give you any insight into the evolution of eukaryotic cells? (Hint: see
the discussion of the endosymbiosis hypothesis in your text.) (5 pts)

5. Pleodorina is an aquatic green alga that is common in ponds, lakes, and roadside ditches.
This organism is made up of 32 to 128 cells that are embedded in a gel-like matrix. In mature
colonies two types of cells can be distinguished, small somatic cells and larger reproductive
cells that divide to form new colonies. Somatic cells carry on photosynthesis, but may become
reproductive if isolated from the colony. Review the criteria used to determine multicellularity,
and decide if Pleodorina should be classified as multicellular or colonial. (5 pts)