Download Objective: To compare different types of cells from various plants

Name: _______________________________ Period: ________
Comparing Plant and Animal Cells
Objective: To compare different types of cells from various organisms.
Materials: microscope, slides, onion, toothpick, methylene blue, iodine
Procedures:
 Follow the instructions under each cell type.
 Your drawings should be accurate and done in pencil. Use colored pencils to enhance the details. Be sure to
label the organelles you see and include magnification!
Part 1: Onion
1. Take a small piece of onion from the front of the room and place it on a slide that is located in the petri dish next to
your microscope. View the onion under low, medium and high power. You should see clear rectangular shapes.
Each rectangle represents a cell.
2. Remove the slide from the microscope and add a drop of iodine to the onion. View the onion again focusing under
low power and medium power. If possible, focus under high power.
3. Draw exactly what you see in your field of view. Label the cell wall and the nucleus. (You may even be able to
see the nucleolus inside the nucleus!)
4. Rinse off the slide, dry it and place it back in the petri dish. Do not use this slide for Part 2.
Magnification: _____
Part 1 Questions:
1. Is the onion a plant cell or an animal cell? ________________________________________________________
2. How did the iodine help with viewing the onion cells? ______________________________________________
3. What did the onion look like without the iodine? __________________________________________________
4. What is the function of the cell membrane of the onion cell? ________________________________________
Part 2:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Cheek Cell
Obtain a different slide from your petri dish. Add a small drop of mehylene blue to the slide.
One person gently scrape the inside of their mouth with one end of a toothpick.
Swirl that end of the toothpick in the methylene blue and throw the toothpick away!
View under low, medium and high power. Draw what you observe and record the magnification.
Label the cell membrane, cytoplasm, and nucleus
CLEAN THE SLIDE WITH SOAP AND WATER, DRY IT AND PLACE IT BACK IN THE PETRI DISH.
Magnification: _________
Conclusion Questions
Fill in the table based on what you could see. (Put a check in the box if you were able to see the part listed.)
Cell
Cell wall
Cell
Nucleus
Nucleolus
Membrane
Cheek
Onion
1. Is the cheek cell a plant cell or an animal cell? _______________________________________________________
2. What are the similarities and differences in the Cheek and Onion cells?
Similar: _____________________________________________________________________________________
Different: ____________________________________________________________________________________
3. What was the shape of the onion cell? _____________________________________________________________
4. What was the shape of the cheek cell? ____________________________________________________________
5. List two structures that you were not able to see in each cell and give their function.
a.
b.