Required Practical - Microscopy

Question 1

What equipment are you provided with in this experiment?

Answer 1

• A small piece of onion
• A knife
• A white tile
• Forceps
• A microscope slide
• A coverslip
• A microscope
• Iodine solution in a dropping bottle
• Prepared animal and plant cells
• Perspex ruler

Question 2

What is the method to this experiment?

Answer 2

1. Use a dropping pipette to put one drop of water onto a microscope slide.
2. Separate one of the thin layers of the onion.
3. Peel off a thin layer of epidermal tissue from the inner surface.
4. Use forceps to put this thin layer on to the drop of water that you have placed on the microscope slide.
5. Make sure that the layer of onion cells is flat on the slide.
6. Put two drops of iodine solution onto the onion tissue.
7. Carefully lower a coverslip onto the slide. Do this by:
   • placing one edge of the coverslip on the slide
   • use the forceps to lower the other edge onto the slide
8. There may be some liquid around the edge of the coverslip. Use a piece of paper to soak this liquid up.
9. Put the slide on the microscope stage.