Download LAB – HOW DO ANIMAL AND PLANT CELLS DIFFER

Name:____________________________________________________Date:________________
Plant Cell vs. Animal Cell Lab
Problem: Students must determine how plant and animal cells differ.
Hypothesis: Students should tell what organelles or cell structures that they will be able to view
under the microscope for plant and animal cells.
For introduction: state the purpose of the lab and include a few sentences about what
you know about the differences between plant and animal cells.
Materials:
 Microscope
 2 glass slides
 2 coverslips
 Dropper
 Methylene blue stain
 Flat toothpick
 Onion Leaf
Cheek Cell Procedure
1. Put a drop of stain on a slide. Gently scrape the inside of your cheek with a toothpick.
CAUTION: Do not scrape hard enough to injure your cheek.
2. Rub the toothpick in the stain and leave it there for 30 seconds.
3. Remove the tooth pick from the stain and coverslip.
4. Break the toothpick in half and discard it in the trash.
5. Cover the slide with a coverslip.
6. Use a microscope: Look at the cheek cells under low power, then under high power.
7. Locate the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cell membrane. Fill in the table by putting a check
mark in the box if the cell part can be seen.
8. Draw and label the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cell membrane of a cheek cell.
Onion Cell Procedure
1. Ask your teacher for an onion. Cut onion leaf in half with razor blade. Scrape off
epidermis. The whiter it is the better. Add a coverslip.
2. Look at the onion cells under low power, then under high power.
3. Locate the cell wall, nucleus, and cytoplasm. Fill in the table below.
4. Draw and label the cell wall, nucleus, and cytoplasm of an onion cell. Locate the
stomatas as well and draw them. (these are small pore openings)
5. Now add a small drop of methylene blue to the slide. Let it sit for a minute. Repeat steps
2 through 4.
Name:____________________________________________________Date:________________
Observations: Include chart and pictures for data
Copy the data below and check off which cellular structures you have found or should find for
each of the cells.
Cellular Structures
Cheek Cell – Parts Present
Onion Cell – Parts Present
Cytoplasm
Nucleus
Chloroplast
Cell Wall
Cell Membrane
Cell Pictures ( use color)
Cheek Cell 40X (Higher power)
Onion Cell 40X( after methylene blue)
Onion Cell 40X( before methylene blue)
Name:____________________________________________________Date:________________
Post Lab: Analysis Questions (include in analysis part)
1. Describe the shape of a cheek cell
2. Describe the shape of an onion cell.
3. What is the difference in shape between them?
4. Compare: What parts did you see in both cells?
5. Was there any difference between the onion cell with methylene blue versus without?
6. What parts are found in plant cells that are absent in animal cells?
Post Lab: Conclusion Questions ( include this in conclusion in sentence form)-make sure to
include what you did and what was the purpose of the lab
1. What are the functions of the cell parts found only in plant cells?
2. Is the nucleus always found in the center of the cell?
3. Which parts of a plant cell give shape to the cell?
4. Why are stains such as methylene blue used when observing cells under the microscope?
5. Apply: Why don’t animal cells have chloroplasts? (HINT: How do animals get energy?)
6. Are these cells prokaryotic or eukaryotic? What organelle makes this determination?