Name: Date:

Section: Score:

Plant Cells: Onion Skin Wet Mount

Activity 1

Objective:
The learners should be able to:

1. Prepare cell slides for viewing under a microscope

2. Understand the basics of using a microscope

3. Identify differences between a plant and animal cell

4. Classify different cell types (plant/animal tissues)

Materials Needed:

2 Glass Slides 2 Cover Slips

1 Plastic tray 1 Plastic dropper

1 Bottle of iodine 1 Pair of tweezers

1 Small plastic cup

1 Piece of onion

1 Confocal microscope

Laboratory Precautions:

1. Care must be taken when doing this part of the lab to handle and dispose of the cells with

appropriate concern. Using a prepared epithelial cell slide would also work.

2. Remind students to observe and to practice important laboratory rules.

Procedures:

1. Peel the delicate transparent tissue from the inner surface of a piece of onion using forceps or

tweezers.

2. Make a wet mount by placing the tissue, unwrinkled, in a small drop of water on a glass slide.

3. Add one small drop of iodine stain to the tissue and cover with a cover slip as directed.

(Important: Be careful for the iodine can stain and burn the skin!)

4. Examine the onion cells at low power and focus as necessary.

5. Next examine the cells at medium and high power.

Drawing:

Show a diagram of onion skin tissue showing three to four cells. Label the structures that

you can identify from the microscope. (examples - cell membrane, nucleus, etc.) Remember to

follow guidelines for drawing and labeling a proper biological diagram.

 Guide Questions:

1. Describe the shape of the cells.

The general shape of an onion cell is square or rectangular.  The interior of the cell is easy to see
and focuses well for microscopic observation.  Onion cells fit together like pieces of floor tile, which is
sort of what you would expect to see in a layering effect.

2. What cell structures and organelles can you see?

(organelles are given in the diagram above)

3. How come there are no chloroplasts evident?

Onion is an underground crop and it have no involvement in the photosynthesis. So it have no

chloroplast in their cell. The onion doesn't need them because of its stored chemical energy, but when it
starts growing it will use the chemical energy to produce green shoots which have chloroplasts in them.

4. How do onion cells look under the microscope?

 Large, rectangular interlocking cells,

 Clearly visible distinct cell walls surrounding the cells,
 Dark stained nucleus,
 Large vacuoles at the center,
 Small granules may be observed inside the cells (within the cytoplasm)

5. How do the stains help when looking at cells?

Given that iodine tends to bind to starch, it stains the starch granules when the two come in to
contact making them visible.

Generalization:

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Name: Date:

Section: Score:

Animal Cells: Human Cheek Cell Wet Mount

Activity 2

Objective:
The learners should be able to:

1. Prepare cell slides for viewing under a microscope

2. Understand the basics of using a microscope

3. Identify differences between a plant and animal cell

4. Classify different cell types (plant/animal tissues)

Materials Needed:

2 Glass Slides 2 Cover Slips

1 Bottle of methylene blue 1 Plastic tray

1 Plastic dropper 1 Toothpick

1 Small plastic cup

1 Pair of tweezers

1 Confocal microscope

Laboratory Precautions:

1. Care must be taken when doing this part of the lab to handle and dispose of the cells with

appropriate concern. Using a prepared epithelial cell slide would also work.

2. Remind students to observe and to practice important laboratory rules.

Procedures:

1. Place a drop of water on a clean slide. Gently scrape the inside of your cheek with the blunt

end of a clean toothpick and stir the material on the toothpick in the drop of water on the slide.

Reminder: Do not forget to properly dispose the toothpick.

2. Add one small drop of methylene blue stain to the slide and then add a coverslip as directed.

3. Focus and examine the slide under low power before moving to the higher magnifications.

Drawing:

Show a diagram showing 3 - 4 cells of the cheek and label structures you can identify.

Reminder: Do not forget to identify magnification of the drawing.

Guide Questions:

1. What are the shapes of the cells?

These are generally irregular in shape and are always flat. The cells are made up of many parts including
a very thin membrane on the outer part of the cell. These can easily be viewed under microscope. The
skin that lines the mouth is called the buccal muscosa and is composed of squamous epithelial cells that
divide about once every 24 hours.

2. What cell structures can you identify?

As in all animal cells, the cells of the human cheek do not possess a cell wall. A cell membrane that is
semi-permeable surrounds the cytoplasm. Unlike plant cells, the cytoplasm in an animal cell is denser,
granular and occupies a larger space. The vacuole in an an animal cell is smaller in size, or absent. The
nucleus is present at the centre of the cytoplasm.The absence of a cell wall and a prominent vacuole are
indicators that help identify animal cells, such as cells seen in the human cheek.

3. How do cheek cells look under the microscope?

The cells seen are squamous epithelial cells from the outer epithelial layer of the mouth. The small blue
dots are bacteria from our teeth and mouth.

4. Some of the cells may be folded or wrinkled. What does this indicate to you about the thickness of

the cells?

If a cell is wrinkled or folded, it has to be elongated. Try to fold a ball in half for example, and it is very
difficult. Therefore a cell that can be folded has to be thin. Elongation is one way to increase surface area.
Increasing surface area allows a cell to grow larger and still has enough surface area to get all the oxygen,
water and nutrients that it needs to stay alive.

5. Explain how these cells differ from the plant cells viewed previously.

An onion is a multicellular (consisting of many cells) plant organism. As in all plant cells, the
cell of an onion peel consists of a cell wall, cell membrane, cytoplasm, nucleus and a large
vacuole. The nucleus is present at the periphery of the cytoplasm. The vacuole is prominent and present
at the center of the cell. It is surrounded by cytoplasm. The presence of a cell wall and a large vacuole are
indicators that help identify plant cells, such as seen in the onion peel.

As in all animal cells, the cells of the human cheek do not possess a cell wall. A cell membrane
that is semi-permeable surrounds the cytoplasm. Unlike plant cells, the cytoplasm in an animal cell is
denser, granular and occupies a larger space. The vacuole in an animal cell is smaller in size, or absent.
The nucleus is present at the center of the cytoplasm. The absence of a cell wall and a prominent vacuole
are indicators that help identify animal cells, such as cells seen in the human cheek.
Generalization:

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