Name Period

The Case of the Shipwrecked Sailor

A Laboratory Exercise in Observing Osmosis in Living Cells

Introduction: A shipwrecked sailor is stranded on a small desert island with no fresh water to drink. She knows
she could last without food for up to a month, but if she didn't have water to drink she would be dead within a
week. Hoping to postpone the inevitable, her thirst drove her to drink the salty seawater. She was dead in two
days. Why do you think drinking seawater killed the sailor faster than not drinking any water at all? This lab
explores the cause of the sailor's death. We'll prepare solutions of salt water to represent the sea, and we'll use
slices of red onion to represent the sailor. Onions are made of cells, as is the sailor!

Objectives: To observe the effect of osmosis on cells in hypertonic and hypotonic solutions.

Materials: Dropper bottle with distilled water, dropper bottle with 10% salt solution, microscope slide, cover
slip, Red onion, microscope

Procedure:
1. Place a drop of distilled water in the center of a clean slide to prepare a wet mount specimen.
2. Use tweezers to remove a small layer of the red cells of the red onion. Place a cover slip over the thin
slice (make sure to choose cells from the red part!).
3. Observe the red onion through the microscope under low power and then under high power.
4. Using high power, sketch 2-3 cells and label the cell parts listed below.
5. Remove the slide; raise the cover slip and add a drop of 10% salt solution to the red onion slice.
6. Observe under high power what happens over the next few minutes. Sketch 2-3 cells and label the cell
parts listed below.

CELL WALL, CELL MEMBRANE, VACUOLE

Red Onion Cells with Distilled Water (400x) Red Onion Cells with 10% Salt Solution (400x)

Hovance 2009
Analysis Questions:
1. When the cells were placed in distilled water, what happened to the cell membrane and vacuole? Did they
expand or shrink?

2. Which one of these diagrams best represents a cell placed in distilled water? (Circle One)

3. Distilled water is what kind of solution? (circle one) Hypertonic or Hypotonic

4. When the cells were placed in 10% salt solution, what happened to the cell membrane and vacuole? Did they
expand or shrink?

5. Which one of these diagrams best represents a cell placed in 10% salt solution? (Circle One)

6. Salt solution is what kind of solution? (circle one) Hypertonic or Hypotonic

Conclusion: Write a conclusion that answers the following questions. IT SHOULD BE IN PARAGRAPH FORMAT
WITH COMPLETE SENTENCES!!!
 Why did the sailor die more quickly drinking salt water than not drinking at all?
 What do you think killed the sailor?
 Is sea water hypotonic or hypertonic? What happened to the sailor’s cells?

Adapted from: Kevin C. Hartzog's Web Page: Stars and Seas; http://www.starsandseas.com/SAS%20Cells/SAS%20cellphysiol/Osmosis.htm

Hovance 2009