Practical 18.

5
Observing single-celled organisms

Safety
Take care when using mains-operated microscopes with water or solutions.

Wash hands after handling biological material.

Apparatus and materials

• dropping pipettes • calibrated eyepiece graticule
• microscope • live culture of Amoeba
• hand lens • live culture of Paramecium
• slides • live culture of Chlorella
• cavity slides • sample of pond water, or water from an aquarium
• cover slips

Introduction
In this practical, you will:
• observe some species of single-celled organisms that live in freshwater; they are members of the
kingdom Protoctista.

All protoctists have eukaryotic cells. Some, such as Amoeba and Paramecium, have cells that are
similar in structure to cells of animals. These are sometimes called protozoa. Others, such as
Chlorella, have plant-like cells. They belong to a large group of protoctists commonly termed algae.

Multicellular organisms such as animals and plants are made up of many different kinds of cell, each
specialised to perform a particular function. In a single-celled (unicellular) organism, the one cell has
to perform all these different functions. Because of this, the cell of a protoctist often has a complex
internal organisation.

Procedure

A Observing Amoeba

1 An amoeba is a very large cell, just visible to the naked eye or through a hand lens. Observe a
culture of living Amoeba – they should be just visible as tiny grey specks on the bottom of the
culture bottle. Transfer a drop of water containing some cells onto a cavity slide. Place a cover slip
onto the slide.
2 Examine the slide using the low-power and high-power objectives and find a large specimen of
Amoeba. You may need to observe it for a while before it starts to move. When the Amoeba begins
to move, notice the changes in shape as extensions of the cell (pseudopodia) are formed.
3 Note the streaming of the cytoplasm in the direction of formation of the pseudopodia. The inner
cytoplasm is more granular, and called endoplasm. The clear, stiffer outer cytoplasm is called
ectoplasm. The mechanism by which pseudopodia form is still not fully understood.

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4 Note the nucleus, and any food vacuoles in the cytoplasm. These vacuoles contain food particles
such as bacteria and small pieces of organic matter that the Amoeba has ingested by phagocytosis.
You may also be able to see a contractile vacuole. This organelle fills with water and collapses at
intervals, removing water that has entered the cell by osmosis.
5 Make a labelled drawing of an Amoeba. Use a calibrated eyepiece graticule to measure the size of
the cell, and add a scale to the drawing.

B Observing Paramecium

1 Place a drop of water from a pure culture of Paramecium on a microscope slide. Use forceps to
add a few fibres from a paper tissue or cotton wool. This restricts the movements of the
Paramecium so that they can be seen more easily. Place a cover slip over the specimen and gently
lower it into place.
2 Look at the slide using the low-power and then high-power objectives. Note the Paramecium
moving in the water. It moves quickly, using cilia that cover the surface of the cell. These beat in a
coordinated way, linked by their basal bodies through a network of protein filaments and
microtubules. What happens when the Paramecium hits an obstacle?
3 Observe the nucleus, and the stiff outer covering of the cell, called the pellicle. You may be able to
see the oral groove, where food particles are swept by the beating cilia into the ‘gullet’. If the
organism keeps still for long enough, you may be able to see the two contractile vacuoles filling
and emptying as they remove water from the cell.
4 Make a labelled drawing of a Paramecium. Use a calibrated eyepiece graticule to measure the size
of the cell, and add a scale to the drawing.

C Observing Chlorella

1 Mount a drop of water from a pure culture of Chlorella on a microscope slide.

2 Look at the slide using the low-power and high-power objectives. This unicellular alga consists of
very small cells packed full of chloroplasts. Some single cells will be visible; others will be in
groups of three or four.
3 Make a labelled drawing of a few Chlorella cells. Use a calibrated eyepiece graticule to measure
the size of the cell, and add a scale to the drawing.

D Observing single-celled organisms in pond water

1 Mount a drop of pond water on a microscope slide.

2 Look at the slide using the low-power and high-power objectives and see if you can find any other
unicellular organisms. Algal cells like Chlorella should be easy to identify from their green
chloroplasts. You may see Paramecium or other ciliates, or Amoeba. Some motile species use
flagella for movement, rather than cilia. A flagellum has a similar structure to a cilium, but is much
longer. There are often many cilia covering the surface of the cell, but there will be only one or
two flagella.

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