Dela Cruz, Albert Bryan R.

BSMT - 1 | February 22, 2022

Human Histology (MED 3)

Activity #1: Microscopy

 In a short bond paper, Calibri, 12, do the following activities. Answer the questions
comprehensively.

1. Draw and label at least 15 parts of a microscope. Scan or take a picture of your
drawing and paste it after the question.
2. Discuss the magnifying parts of a microscope. Give their magnification.
 In a compound microscope, there are two systems of lenses that are used for
magnification. First is the ocular lens, which is the part that is used to look
through the microscope. Located at the top of the microscope, the ocular lens
can magnify up to usually 10x to 15x. Another magnifying part of a microscope
are the objective lenses. These lenses are placed above the stage and are used
to magnify or visualize the specimen. The lenses have varying magnifications
that are classified as the following:
A. Scanning objective - 4x (represented by a red band)
B. Low power objective - 10x (represented by a yellow band)
C. High power objective - 40x (represented by a blue band)
D. Oil-immersion objective - 100x (represented by a white band)

3. Enumerate the illuminating parts of a microscope and give their respective

functions.
 Aside from the magnifying parts, a microscope also has illuminating parts. First
is the condenser. Located beneath the stage, it is made up of a system of
convex lenses which focus light coming from the light source onto the
specimen. Second is diaphragm. It is seen immediately below the condenser
with several collector lenses that control the amount of light entering the
condenser. The third and last one is of course, the light source. It is situated at
the base of the microscope and is controlled by the on/off switch and rheostat
knob. Usually made of tungsten and halogen, the light source generates a
continuous distribution of light.

4. Enumerate and discuss the mechanical parts of the microscope. Give their
respective functions.
 Now that we already discussed the magnifying and illuminating parts of the
microscope, let us move forward with the mechanical parts. The list below
enumerates the mechanical parts seen in a microscope.
Part Function
Supports and connects the binocular body and revolving
Arm
nosepiece; used for holding the microscope
Helps in holding the various parts of microscope and
Base
contains the light source
Binocular body / head Holds the ocular lenses in their positions
Mechanical stage Flat surface on which the specimen is placed
Aperture Permits the light from the bottom to reach the object
Stage controls Used to move the stage and the microscope slide
Fine tunes the focus and used to focus on various parts
Fine adjustment knob
of the specimen
Used so that the objective lenses can be moved towards
Coarse adjustment knob
or away from the specimen
 Revolving nosepiece Holds the objective lenses
On and off switch Turns the light source on and off
Controls the amount of light emitted from the light
Rheostat control knob
source

5. Identify and describe the steps in tissue preparations.

 Histology is the study of tissues. Therefore, in conducting histological
procedures, it is important that we are aware or familiar on how we should
prepare the tissue samples to be used for studies. The following list describes
the steps we must follow in preparation of tissues for microscopic
examinations.
1. Sectioning refers to the process where tissues are sectioned into thin,
translucent sections since tissues and organs are too thick for light to pass.
2. Fixation refers to the process of treating the tissues with fixatives (usually a
buffered isotonic solution of 37% formaldehyde) to preserve the structure
and molecular composition of the organs and to avoid autolysis or tissue
digestion.
3. Dehydration refers to the process of bathing the tissue fragments in a
graded series of ethanol solutions to extract water from specimen since
paraffin is immiscible with water. Clearing, on the other hand, uses clearing
agent (like xylene) to displace the ethanol in the tissue.
4. Embedding refers to the process of filling a mold with molten wax
(paraffin) and placing the specimen to it. This process facilitate sectioning,
by which the tissue will the be taken to a microtome to be sectioned for 1 -
10 μm thick.
5. Trimming refers to the process where the resulting paraffin block is
trimmed on a microtome to expose the tissues for sectioning.
6. Staining refers to the process where the tissue sections are stained with
dyes (usually a combination of hematoxylin and eosin) in order to be
studied microscopically. Observing unstained tissues in a light microscope
would be useless since most tissues are colorless.