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Observing Cheek Cells

This document provides instructions for a lab experiment observing cheek cells under a microscope. Students will scrape cheek cells from the inside of their cheek, place them on a slide with water, and add methylene blue stain to make the transparent cell structures more visible. They will use different microscope lenses to view and sketch the stained cheek cells, labeling key cell structures like the cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus. The purpose is to observe cells at higher magnifications and see how staining helps make internal structures visible.

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J15
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28 views

Observing Cheek Cells

This document provides instructions for a lab experiment observing cheek cells under a microscope. Students will scrape cheek cells from the inside of their cheek, place them on a slide with water, and add methylene blue stain to make the transparent cell structures more visible. They will use different microscope lenses to view and sketch the stained cheek cells, labeling key cell structures like the cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus. The purpose is to observe cells at higher magnifications and see how staining helps make internal structures visible.

Uploaded by

J15
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SCHUYLERVILLE PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL

Name___________________ Date_________________________
Class___________________ Teacher’s Signature_____________

OBSERVING CHEEK CELLS


Lab # ________

Background
Many things that are viewed using a microscope, particularly cells, can appear quite
transparent under the microscope. The internal parts of the cells, the organelles, are so
transparent that they are often difficult to see. Biologists have developed a number of
stains that help them see the cells and their organelles by adding color to their transparent
parts. Today we will be using methylene blue to see these parts of our own cheek cells!

Learning Target: We will be observing our cheeks cells through a compound light
microscope.

Materials: glass slides, cover slips, pipette, water, microscope, paper towel, methylene blue

Pre-Lab
1. When using a microscope, what lens should you start out with and why?
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2. What knob do you use first to focus?


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3. What knob should you use when using the high power objective? Why?
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4. Why are we using methylene blue?


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Part I. Cheek Cells


1. Gently scrape the inside of your cheek with the flat side of a toothpick. Scrape lightly.
Smear the toothpick on the slide. Add one drop of water.

2. Put one edge of a coverslip in the water, then slowly lower the opposite edge to the
water to reduce the formation of air bubbles as shown in the picture below.
3. Put one drop of methylene blue at one edge of the coverslip.
4. Put a piece of paper towel at the opposite side of the coverslip. Allow the towel to
absorb some water so that the stain will move under the coverslip as shown in the
diagram below.

5. Examine the cheek cells at scanning, then at low power, and at high power.
6. Sketch the cells at each magnification. Label the cell membrane, cytoplasm, and the
nucleus of the cell.

Conclusion Questions:

1. Why did we have to stain the cell?


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2. What did you notice between the scanning and high power image?
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