Examining blood

Aim: to examine prepared slides of blood and identify the components of blood Equipment: Microscope, prepared slides of blood (blood smear, normal, sickle cell anaemia, sex chromatin Method: Examine the blood smear (normal) slide with the microscope. Use a magnification that allows you to see all the different types of blood cell, but also allows enough detail to be seen. Draw a diagram of what you can see in the field of view, labelling the different components of blood. (Dont forget to include the magnification you are using!) Count the number of each type of blood cell in the field of view and put your results in a table. Examine the other slides and draw a diagram showing anything abnormal or different about the blood that you see. Results:

Magnification: _______

Blood cell Number in field of view Percentage (divide

individual cell numbers by the total cell number x 100)

Red Blood cells

White blood cells

Platelets

Abnormal cells/Different structures observed in remaining slides:

Discussion: 1. Describe the shape of the different cells you have observed.

2. Which cell type is most common? Which is least common?

3. What does the plasm look like?