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Science Activity Sheet

Quarter 2 – MELC 2
Week 2
Using the Compound Microscope

REGION VI – WESTERN VISAYAS

Science 7
Activity Sheet No. 2: Using the Compound Microscope
First Edition, 2020

Published in the Philippines

By the Department of Education
Region 6 – Western Visayas

Republic Act 8293, section 176 states that: No copyright shall subsist in any
work of the Government of the Philippines. However, prior approval of the government
agency or office wherein the work is created shall be necessary for exploitation of such
work for profit. Such agency or office may, among other things, impose as a condition
the payment of royalties.

This Learning Activity Sheet is developed by DepEd Region 6 – Western

Visayas.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this learning resource may be

reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical
without written permission from the DepEd Regional Office 6 – Western Visayas.

Development Team of Science Activity Sheet

Writer: Ellamae H. Condor, MEd

Editors: Erol Jane P. Bandiola and Cindy Mae M. Monteclaro
Reviewer: Moonyeen C. Rivera, Ed.D.
Layout Artist: Kris Dawn C. Rivera

Schools Division Quality Assurance Team:

Analie J. Lobaton
Moonyeen C. Rivera, EdD
May P. Pascual
Division of Cadiz City Management Team:
Ma. Lorlinie M. Ortillo,CEO VI,PhD.
May P. Pascual
Analie J. Lobaton
Moonyeen C. Rivera, Ed.D

Regional Management Team:

Ma. Gemma M. Ledesma,
Dr. Josilyn S. Solana,
Dr. Elena P. Gonzaga,
Donald T. Genine,
Rovel R. Salcedo, DSEd,
Moonyeen C. Rivera, Ed.D,
Anita S. Gubalane, Ed.D,
Minda L. Soldevilla,
Daisy L. Lopez,
Joseph M. Pagalaran
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Introductory Message
Welcome to Science 7!

The Learning Activity Sheet is a product of the collaborative efforts of the

Schools Division of Cadiz City and DepEd Regional Office VI - Western Visayas
through the Curriculum and Learning Management Division (CLMD). This is
developed to guide the learning facilitators (teachers, parents and responsible adults)
in helping the learners meet the standards set by the K to 12 Basic Education
Curriculum.

The Learning Activity Sheet is self-directed instructional materials aimed to

guide the learners in accomplishing activities at their own pace and time using the
contextualized resources in the community. This will also assist the learners in
acquiring the lifelong learning skills, knowledge and attitudes for productivity and
employment.

For learning facilitator:

The Science Activity Sheet will help you facilitate the leaching-learning
activities specified in each Most Essential Learning Competency (MELC) with minimal
or no face-to-face encounter between you and learner. This will be made available to
the learners with the references/links to ease the independent learning.

For the learner:

The Science Activity Sheet is developed to help you continue learning even if
you are not in school. This learning material provides you with meaningful and
engaging activities for independent learning. Being an active learner, carefully read
and understand the instructions then perform the activities and answer the
assessments. This will be returned to your facilitator on the agreed schedule.

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Name of Learner: ____________________________________________________
Grade and Section: _______________________________Date: _______________

SCIENCE 7 ACTIVITY SHEET No. 2

Using the Compound Microscope

I. Learning Competency with Code

Focus specimen using the compound microscope (S7LT-IIb-2)

II. Background Information for Learners

Microscopy: How to Focus Specimens

The microscope is a tool, which will help you see tiny living organisms and
objects that cannot be seen by the naked eye by making them look bigger. This
property of the microscope is called its magnifying power or magnification. The
microscope also has the capacity to distinguish small gaps between two separate
points, which humans cannot identify. It is called its resolving power or resolution.

Observation is an essential part of science. Bacteria and cells of an organism

are too small to be seen with the naked eye. For this reason, the compound
microscope has become an important and widely used tool by scientists.

The compound microscope uses diluted light from the sun or artificial light to
illuminate the object to be observed. From its source, the visible light passes through
the small or thin specimen to be observed through the glass lenses. As light passes
through the lenses, it is bent so the specimen appears bigger when it is projected to
the eye. The form and structure of the specimen can then be viewed and seen because
some of their parts reflect light.

Figure 1 below shows the image of the onion skin under the Low Power
Objective (LPO) and High Power Objective (HPO). The use of stains in studying the
onion cells has made cell parts easier to find, observe and identify. Thus, it gives clear
image of the specimen viewed under the microscope.

Figure 1: Image of onion skin under the LPO (left) and HPO (right)

III. Accompanying DepEd Textbook and Educational Sites

Department of Education. (2014). K-12 Basic Education Curriculum, Science 7

Learners Material (p 91-96). Pasig City, Philippine

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IV. Activity Proper

Directions: Study the steps in using and proper handling of the compound
microscope, how to make a wet mount, and how to observe specimens in the
succeeding pages of this learning activity sheets and answer the guide questions.
Write your answer on a sheet of paper.

Here are the proper steps to follow in using and proper handling of the compound
microscope, how to make a wet mount and how to observe specimens.

A. Steps on How to Handle the Microscope

Step 1
After getting the microscope from the box, it should be handled properly by
grasping the curved arm with one hand and supporting the base with the other
hand.

1.a
The microscope can be
handled by grasping the arm
using the right with the left
hand below the base.
1.b
It can also be handled by
grasping the arm using the left
hand with the right hand below
the base.

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Step 2

The microscope must be gently placed on the laboratory table with a distance
of at least 10 centimeters from the edge, with its arm facing the one carrying it.

10cm

Shown above is the distance

of the microscope from the
edge of the table.

Step 3
The third step in handling the microscope is to wipe it with the tissue paper or
an old t-shirt.

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B. Steps on How to Make a Wet Mount

A specimen is a part or sample of any material such as plant, animal, paper or

mineral for study or examination under the microscope. It is necessary that specimens
should be small and thin for light to pass through them.

Step As a sample for specimen

preparation, a small letter “e” is

1 being cut from an old newspaper.

Forceps or tweezers can be used

Step to place the letter “e” in the
center of a glass slide facing

2 upwards.

Figure 2: This is the output

when we already place the
letter “e” on a glass slide

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 Step A medicine dropper is used to add a drop of water to
the specimen as a mounting medium to make the

3 image of the specimen clear.

Step The cover slip is positioned at 450 with one

side touching the edge of the water on the

4 glass slide.

Glass Slide

Step
After positioning the cover slip at 450, the other edge of the

5 cover slip is slowly lowered until it rests on the water and on

the specimens.

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 Step
The eraser-end of the pencil can be used to gently tap the
cover slip to remove or minimize trapped bubbles. These

6 bubbles are moved toward the edge of the cover slip.

C. Steps on How to Observe Specimens

Step 1
In observing the specimen, the glass slide is placed on the stage making sure
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that the letter “e” is at the center of the hole on the stage and under the
scanner. The glass slide must be held firmly by the stage clips. It is important to
always start with the scanner objective before moving to the LPO.

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 Step 2

The body tube must be carefully lowered until the end of the LPO will almost
touch the cover slip without tilting the microscope.

Step 3
While looking through the eyepiece, the coarse adjustment knob is slowly
turned upward to raise the objective until the letter “e” appears. This step is
continuously done until the letter “e” can be seen clearly. This indicates that
the specimen have already been focused.

Figure 3: This is the

image of letter “e” under
Low Power Objective

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 Step 4
To shift LPO to the HPO, the body tube is raised first. While looking from either
side of the microscope, the revolving nosepiece is turned to put the HPO in
place. With the use of the fine adjustment knob the objective lens is slowly
lowered until it almost touches the cover slip.

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 Step 5

While looking through the eyepiece, the fine adjustment knob is turned until the
clearest image is seen. Note: There’s a need to raise the objective a little
and look to the side of the microscope while changing objectives.

Figure 4: This is the

image of letter “e” under
High Power Objective
(HPO)

Guide Questions
1. Based on the image shown in Figures 3 and 4, describe the position of the letter
“e” as seen under the microscope.
2. Compare the image of the letter “e” that you see using your unaided eye (Figure
2) with what you see through the microscope (Figures 3 and 4).
3. Why do you have to watch from the side when changing the objectives?
4. Why is it not good to tilt the microscope while observing a wet slide?
5. Why should the fine adjustment knob be used only when using the HPO?
6. What are the advantages and disadvantages of using the HPO?
7. How important is microscope in studying specimen such as the onion cell?

V. Reflection

Complete the statement.

I have learned that
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
I have realized that
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________
I will apply
_____________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________

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1. The letter “e” is inverted.
2. The image is larger or is enlarged as compared to the one using the eyes only.
With the microscope, the letter “e” also appears grainy and not in straight lines.
3. Objectives are of different lengths. This is done to avoid accidental crashing of
the objectives into the side and breakage of objective lens, glass slide or cover
slip.
4. It is not good to tilt the microscope while viewing a wet mount. It might cause
water to spill and flow into its mechanical parts. This will cause its parts to rust.
5. The HPO is longer and can easily crash into the cover slip and glass slide.
6. The advantage of using the HPO are: the image is greatly magnified, details of
the letter or cell structure can be observed. Disadvantages include: reduced field
of view and the whole letter or structure cannot be observed.
7. The microscope makes one see objects that are not seen by just using the eyes. It
enables one to see enlarged images of specimens such as cells for a thorough
study of their structure and thus, infer their function.
Guide Questions
Key Answer VI.