The Fundamental Unit of Life
ACTIVITY ZONE
ACTIVITY 1
Objective
Observation of plant cells.
Materials Required
Onion, knife, forceps, watch-glass, water, dilute glycerine,
safranine (safranin) solution, thin camel hair paint brush,
dropper, mounting needle, glass slide, cover slip, blotting
paper and microscope.
Procedure
Cut a small piece from an onion bulb. Separate a fleshy
scale with the help of forceps and remove a transparent
peel (called epidermis) from the inner concave side of the
scale. Place it immediately in the watch-glass containing
small quantity of water. Pour 2-3 drops of safranin
solution in the watch-glass. After 5-10 minutes, remove
the stain, pour water in the watch-glass and wash it again.
Place a drop of water or dilute glycerine in the middle of a
glass slide. Transfer a small piece of stained onion peel
onto it by the means of a fine camel hair paint brush. Place
a cover slip over the peel with the help of a mounting
needle, avoiding the appearance of air bubbles. Wipe out
excess of liquid by blotting paper. Now observe it under
the compound microscope.
Observation
The peel is found to have a number of similar elongated
rectangular cells joined with each other. Each cell consists
of an outer cell wall, a filler material or cytoplasm with a
covering of plasma membrane containing a small oval
nucleus.
Check Yourself
1. Why glycerine is used in this experiment?
Ans Glycerine is used in this experiment because it acts as a
preservative and has a high refractive index.
2. Why safranin is used in this experiment?
Ans Safranin is an azo dye commonly used for plant
microscopy, especially to stain lignified tissues such as
xylem of plants, etc.
3. Why was sample washed again with water after keeping
in safranin solution for 5-10 minutes?
Ans The sample was washed again with water to remove extra
stain of safranin.
4. What will happen, if air bubbles appear while placing a
cover slip?
Ans If air bubbles appear, then the structure of the sample will
not be observed properly.
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ACTIVITY 2
Objective
Temporary mounts of cells from different sources. Prepare
temporary mounts of onion peel, leaf peel and onion root tip.
Study the shapes, sizes and internal structures of the cells.
Materials Required
Same as activity 1.
Procedure
Repeat the procedure described in Activity 1 for all three
types of tissues onion peel, leaf peel and onion root tip.
Observation
The cells from different sources are of different shapes and
sizes beside having certain specific structures.
Check Yourself
1. What conclusion can be drawn from this activity?
Ans The cells from different sources are of different shapes and sizes,
but have same structure.
2. Describe briefly the basic structure of cells as observed in
this activity.
Ans Cells consist of an outer cell wall having cytoplasm, plasma
membrane and a nucleus.
3. Why blotting paper is used in this activity?
Ans Blotting paper wipes out excess liquid.
4. What is the shape of cells in onion peel?
Ans The cells of onion peel are elongated and rectangular.
ACTIVITY 3
Objective
To observe the phenomenon of osmosis in a typical cell.
Skill Developed
Observation skill, problem solving and critical thinking.
Time Required
1 hour 30 minutes.
Materials Required
Containers, dilute hydrochloric acid, eggs, concentrated
sugar/salt solution and water.
Procedure
1. Place an egg in dilute hydrochloric acid.
2. The outer shell starts to dissolve in the acid and the egg
membrane appears clearly. A thin outer skin now encloses
the egg.
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3. Place the egg into a container containing distilled water. Ans A–2, B–1 and C–3. When a cell is placed in hypotonic
4. Record the observation. solution, the concentration of water is more outside the
cell than the concentration of the cell inside. Hence, water
5. Place another similar egg into a container containing moves inside the cell leading to its swelling.
concentrated salt/sugar solution. When a cell is placed in hypertonic solution, the
6. Record the observation. concentration of water in the outside medium is lower
than the concentration of water in the cell. Thus, the cell
Observation loses its water and shrinks.
1. The egg in distilled water swells up because water moves In isotonic solution, the water concentration is same on
into the egg by osmosis (in this case solution inside the egg both sides of the cell. Hence, there is neither gain nor loss
is more concentrated). of water.
2. The egg in the concentrated solution shrinks because water
moves out of the egg, into the concentrated sugar/salt
solution (in this case solution outside the egg is more
concentrated).
ACTIVITY 4
Objective
To observe osmosis in raisins or apricots.
Time Required
Pure 1 hour 30 minutes.
Concentrated
Water salt solution Materials Required
Water, raisins or apricots, sugar or salt solution and
beakers.
Endosmosis Exosmosis
Procedure
1. Take two beakers and label one as ‘water’ and other
Check Yourself as ‘concentrated’.
1. Name the process that made the egg swell. 2. Take some water in the beaker labelled ‘water’
(beaker A)
Ans The egg swelled up due to the process of endosmosis.
The inward flow of a fluid through a semipermeable membrane 3. Put some raisins or apricots in this beaker A
towards the fluid of greater concentration is called endosmosis. containing water for sometime.
4. Add salt or sugar concentrated solution in beaker
2. Differentiate between exosmosis and endosmosis. marked as ‘concentrated’ (beaker B).
Ans Exosmosis The passage of water molecules out of the cell into a
5. Now add raisins or apricots to concentrated beaker.
concentrated solution surrounding it.
Endosmosis The passage of water molecules into the cytoplasm 6. Observe the raisins or apricots in both the beakers
of a cell from a less concentrated solution surrounding it. carefully.
3. What happens to egg, when it is kept in hydrochloric acid? Observation
Ans Hydrochloric acid dissolves the outer shell of the egg and thin
semi-permeable membrane of egg becomes visible.
4. Name the process of diffusion through a semi-permeable Water Concentrated
membrane that occurs during certain conditions.
Ans Osmosis is the special case in which diffusion takes place
through a selectively permeable membrane.
5. Match the following columns. A B
Beaker A Beaker B
Column I Column II containing water containing salt or sugar solution
A. Hypotonic 1. A cell placed in it will lose water by 1. The raisins in beaker A swell up as water moves inside
solution osmosis. It is also known as
from outside due to low concentration of water inside
plasmolysis.
the cell. This process is called as endosmosis.
B. Hypertonic 2. A cell placed in it will gain water by 2. The raisins in beaker B shrink because water moves
solution osmosis. out of the cell. Since, the solution outside the cell is
concentrated and water concentration is lower than
C. Isotonic 3. A cell placed in it will neither gain nor
solution loose water across the cell
that present inside the cell, the water moves outside
membrane. the cell and this process is called as exosmosis.
 The Fundamental Unit of Life
Check Yourself
1. What does a concentrated solution mean?
Ans Concentrated solution is a solution with high amount of
solutes. When a large amount of solute (like sugar) is mixed
in a solvent (like pure water) the solution becomes
concentrated solution (e.g. sugar solution).
2. Why did the raisins in beaker A swell?
Ans In beaker A, raisins were kept in water.
The concentration of water outside the cell was more than the
concentration of water inside the cell. Therefore, water
moved from the region of high concentration to the region of
low concentration (inside raisin) and caused swelling of
raisins.
3. Why did the raisins in beaker B shrink?
Ans In beaker B, raisins were kept in a concentrated solution,
where water concentration was lower than that of the cell.
Hence, water moved from the cell to outside leading to the
shrinkage of the cell (exomosis).
4. What is the primary requirement of osmosis?
Ans For osmosis, the presence of a semi-permeable membrane is
the primary requirement.
ACTIVITY 5
Objective
To study plasmolysis using the cells of Rheo leaf.
Time Required
1 hour 30 minutes (approximately).
Materials Required
Microscope, glass slide, cover-slip, Rheo leaf, salt/sugar
solution, water and burner.
Procedure
1. Mount an epidermal peel of a freshly plucked Rheo leaf
in a drop of water on a glass slide.
2. Cover it with a cover-slip and observe it under a
microscope.
3. Remove the cover-slip and add a drop of concentrated
sugar/salt solution. Place the cover-slip again onto the
slide.
4. Observe the slide again under a microscope after 1 or 2
minute.
5. Record your observation.
6. Remove the cover-slip and wipe out the salt/sugar
solution, add one or two drops of water and observe the
slide under a microscope after 1-2 min.
7. Record your observation.
8. Repeat the same experiment with a leaf that was kept in
boiling water for a few minutes.
9. Record your observation.
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Observation
1. When the peel is mounted first in water, pink colour is
uniformly filling up the cells.
Concentrated Water
salt solution
2. When sugar/salt solution is added, pink colour
(protoplasm) of the cell appears in small areas of the cell,
i.e. it has undergone plasmolysis (shrinking of cell
protoplasm due to outward movement of water).
3. When water is added to replace sugar/salt solution, the
pink colour/protoplasm fills the cell again.
4. In the second leaf, which was kept in boiling water for
few minutes, no effect of sugar/salt solution was seen.
Check Yourself
1. Name the phenomenon which occurs due to shrinkage or
contraction of the content away from the cell wall.
Ans During osmosis, when a living plant cell shrinks or contracts
with its contents away from the cell wall, the phenomenon is
called as plasmolysis.
2. The boiled leaf showed no change with sugar/salt solution.
Why?
Ans The cells of the leaf died when the leaf was kept in boiling
water for few minutes.
3. Can osmosis occur in dead cell?
Ans No, osmosis can occur only in living cell.
4. What happens to the cell when kept in isotonic solution?
Ans In isotonic solution, the concentration of medium was exactly
the same as that of cell, there is no net movement of water
across the cell membrane. Thus, the cell will stay in the same
size.
ACTIVITY 6
Objective
Study of human cheek cells.
Materials Required
Sterilised tooth pick or ice-cream spoon, glass slide, needle,
cover-slip, water or dilute glycerine, dropper, methylene
blue, blotting paper and microscope.
Procedure
1. Scrape a small piece of membrane from inside of
your cheek lightly with the help of a clean sterilised
tooth pick or an ice-cream spoon.
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2. Mount the membranous scraping in a drop of water or dilute glycerine over a clean glass slide. Spread the scraping
with the help of a needle.
3. Put a drop of methylene blue over it. Wait for two minutes.
4. Now put a cover-slip gently over the slide avoiding entry of air bubbles.
5. Replace the stain by pouring water drop on one side and soaking stain from the sides by means of blotting paper.
6. Observe it under the microscope first with normal or low power (10x) and then with high power (45x).
Observation
A number of polygonal flat (squamous) cells are present in the scraped membrane. Each cell has a distinct boundary of plasma
membrane, a central rounded or oval nucleus, many small dotted mitochondria, small vacuoles and cytoplasm.
Plasma membrane
Vacuole
Nucleus
Mitochondria

Human cheek cells

Check Yourself
1. What is the purpose of putting methylene blue on the cell?
Ans Methylene blue is poured on the slide to stain the cells.
2. What is the shape of the observed cells?
Ans The observed cells are polygonal, flat or squamous shaped.
3. Why it is necessary to avoid air bubbles?
Ans Air bubbles will not give the correct image to the observer.
4. Why after staining, water is poured over the cell?
Ans Water is poured after staining to remove the excess of stain. Blotting paper is used for soaking this stain and water mixture.