Stephen Daily

Lab Assignment 4
Learning how to properly use a microscope is relevant to many fields of study in science
and medicine. As a possible biology major, its important that I am familiar with how to use a
microscope and will continue to use them to study specimens throughout my academic career. In
labs and academic research, a compound microscope (or electron microscope) is needed in order
to view life than cannot be seen with the naked eye. Viewing microorganisms is key when
studying life on a cellular level. Some microorganism specimens like spirogyra are larger in size
than others like volvox. In both cases, they are viewed in micrometers which needs a
magnification of at least a 4x objective (with a 40X total magnification).
There are a few differences between plant cells and animal cells. The most obvious is that
plant cells contain a cell wall, giving them a box like appearance on a microscopic level; animal
cells do not. This difference was seen in Lab 4 with the Elodea cells. They contained green
chloroplasts and have a rectangular, rigid shape. In contrast, human cheek cells were more
circular, less rigid, and resembled a fried egg.