Cell Lab Report
Cell Lab Report
OBJECTIVES:
Students will discover that onions are
made up of cells.
Students will observe onion cells under a
microscope.
Students will discover that their skin is
made up of cells.
Procedures:
Onion cells
MATERIALS PER GROUP:
1. Peel a translucent piece of tissue from the onion. (The smaller the
Microscope piece the better.) Translucent means that you can see light through
Two glass slides the specimen, but it is not transparent.
Iodine stain 2. Place the piece of onion on a glass slide and add a drop or two of
Methylene blue stain the iodine solution. Cover the slide with a cover slip using your best
Two cover slips wet-mount making techniques.
An onion 3. Observe the onion cell under both low and high power. Make a
A toothpick drawing of one onion cell, labeling all of its parts as you observe
them. (At minimum you should observe the nucleus, cell wall, and
cytoplasm.)
Cheek cells
1. to view cheek cells, gently scrape the inside lining of your cheek
with a toothpick. DO NOT GOUGE THE INSIDE OF YOUR CHEEK!
2. Gently tap the toothpick onto 1- 2 drops of water in the center of
a glass slide. Some of the cheek cells should fall onto the slide.
3. Add a drop of methylene blue stain (specific for animals) and
cover with a cover slip.
4. Observe the cheek cells under both low and high power of your
microscope. Draw a diagram of one cheek cell and label the parts.
(You should observe the cell membrane, nucleus, and cytoplasm).
OBSERVATIONS:
The following labeled drawings must be completed. Drawings MUST be completed neatly using a
pencil/colored pencil.
1. Onion Cell drawing (scanning 4x and lower resolution 10x)
2. Cheek cell drawing (scanning 4x and lower resolution 10x)