Name: ________________________ Date: _______________________

Activity: Looking at Letter “e”, Hair and Prepared Slides Using the Compound
Microscope
Purpose
In this activity, you will practice making a dry mount and a wet mount, using the compound light microscope
and drawing biological diagrams.

Materials
Compound light microscope Microscope slide
Cover slip Piece of paper with the letter “e”
Human hair (your own) Probe
Scissors

Procedure / Observations / Questions

Part A: Observing the letter “e”
1. Place the slip of paper with the letters in the middle of the microscope slide.
2. Place a coverslip over the paper on the slide.
3. Place the slide on the stage of the compound light microscope so that when you are looking from the side,
the letters on the paper are rightside-up.
4. Looking through the ocular and using the scanning / LP lens (4x), locate and focus on the letter “e” on the
paper. Center the letter “e” in your field of view. What is the orientation of the image? (circle one)
5. Move the slide in different directions (left, right, up, and down). Observe and record how the image moves
in each case.

Image moves:

When slide is moved to the left…

When slide is moved to the right…

When slide is moved up…

When slide is moved down…

6. Make a prediction and then try it: If the specimen is in the upper left-hand corner in the field of view, how
should you move the slide in order to center the specimen? (circle one answer.)
a. Move the slide down and to the right.
b. Move the slide down and to the left.
c. Move the slide up and to the right.
d. Move the slide up and to the left.
e. Move the image back to the centre of the field of view.
7. Why should the specimen being viewed through the microscope be centered in the field of view before you
increase the magnification?

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8. Looking from the side, rotate the revolving nosepiece so that the medium power objective lens (10x) is in
the viewing position. At this magnification, use only the fine adjustment knob to focus the image. If
necessary, adjust the light intensity by opening or closing the diaphragm.
9. As magnification increases, what happens to the:

size of the field of view? _________________ brightness of the field of view? _____________________

10. Looking from the side, rotate the nosepiece to the highest magnification. Again, use only the fine
adjustment knob to focus.
11. As magnification increases from medium power to high power, what happens to the:

size of the field of view? _________________ brightness of the field of view? _____________________
12. Complete the following table to compare the size of the field of view and the brightness of the field of view
at different magnifications.

Size of field of view Brightness

Magnification
(small, medium, large) (dim, brighter, brightest)

Scanning / Low Power

Medium Power

High Power

13. The light intensity / brightness often needs to be adjusted at higher magnifications. Why?

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Part B: Observing human hair and estimating its diameter

1. Use the scissors to cut 1 cm off the end of a strand of your own hair.
2. Place the hair on a microscope slide and cover it with a coverslip.
3. Place the slide on the stage of the compound light microscope.
4. Locate and focus on the hair using the scanning / LP lens (4x). Center the image in your field of view.
5. Looking from the side, rotate the revolving nosepiece so that the medium power objective lens (10x) is in
the viewing position. At this magnification, use only the fine adjustment knob to focus the image. If
necessary, adjust the light intensity by opening up or closing the diaphragm.
6. Looking from the side, rotate the revolving nosepiece so that the high power objective lens (40x) is in the
viewing position. At this magnification, use only the fine adjustment knob to focus the image. If necessary,
adjust the light intensity by opening up or closing the diaphragm.
7. Using a pencil, make a biological drawing of the human hair while observing it with the high power lens.
Remember to write the title and total magnification at or near the top of the diagram.
Part C: Observing Prepared Slides
1. Get a prepared slide from the front of the room.
2. Place the slide on the stage of the compound light microscope
3. Locate and focus the image using the scanning/LP lens (4x). Centre the slide in your field of view
4. Looking from the side, rotate the revolving nosepiece so that the medium power objective lens (10x) is in
the viewing position. At this magnification, use only the fine adjustment knob to focus the image. If
necessary, adjust the light intensity by opening up or closing the diaphragm.
5. Using a pencil, make a biological drawing of the slide. Remember to write the title and magnification at or
near the top of the diagram.
Discussion
1. When using a microscope, with which objective lens should you always begin? (Circle one.)
Scanning / LP lens MP lens HP lens

2. True or False:
_____ The stage should be raised to the highest position, closest to the objective lens when you first begin

to focus.

_____ You should not adjust the coarse adjustment knob when you change objective lenses.

_____ Specimens that are in focus under low power should be in approximate focus under medium power.

3. Why should a person always look from the side when changing the objective lens?

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4. Which knob should be used to focus under low power? _________________________________________

5. Which knob should be used to focus under medium power? _____________________________________

6. Which part of the microscope should be adjusted if the field of view is too bright or too dim?
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7. List four things you should do when you have finished using the microscope and before you put it away.

a. _______________________________________________________________________________________

b. _______________________________________________________________________________________

c. _______________________________________________________________________________________

d. _______________________________________________________________________________________

8. Why was it necessary to stain onion cells?

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9. Was every part of the cells stained equally? Explain.

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10. What shape were the onion cells you observed? _______________________________________________

11. How were the cells arranged? ______________________________________________________________

12. What is the function of onion skin cells? _____________________________________________________

13. How are the shape and arrangement of the onion skin cells suited to their function?

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14. If you were to look at other plant cells under the microscope, describe how they might differ from the
onion skin cell. Give reasons for these differences.

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