Investigate cheek and onion cell

Material and apparatus

Onion Cheek cell Forceps Glass slide Cover slip Iodine solution Methylene blue solution needle

Creating your own slide

Cheek cell

procedure
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Make sure your cover slips and slide are clean Put a drop of methylene blue solution on a clean slide Scrape the inner cheek of your mouth Stir the end of toothpick into the stain Place the coverslip at a 45 degree on the edge of specimen.-avoid bubble air, remove excess solution with filter paper. Switch to lower power Once you think you have located a cell,switch to high focus and refocus. Do not use course focus knob at this point. Draw a picture of your cheek cell. Label the cell membrane , cytoplasm and nucleus.

Onion cell

procedure
Peel a translucent piece of tissue from the onion/ the smaller the piece the better ( translucent = you can see light through the specimen but not transparent) Place the onion cell on a glass slide and add with iodine solution remove excess solution with filter paper. Draw a diagram of onion cell, label cytoplasm,nucleus,cell wall and membrane cell

Onion cell under microscope

Cheek cell under microscope

QUESTIONS
1. How were your cheeks cells similar to onion cell? 2. What structures were present in the onion cells that were not present in your cheek cells?