A Cell, You Say? - Lab 7 review

Pre - Lab Questions

The first day we were introduced to this experiment, I thought it would be cool to look at plant cells because the cells actually produce food! However, I was not very excited to see our own cheek cells because I thought that it would be gross and that it would hurt. We started by doing some post – lab questions, which was a little tricky for me because I did not know most of these things. However, at the end, I learned so much more, that I actually enjoyed every single one of them!

Pre - Lab Questions

The first cell we had to look at was an elodea leaf cell. An elodea is a plant that is mostly kept under water. It looks somewhat like seaweed, but for non-salty water. The first step was to bring our slide to Ms. Pro, where she would give us a fresh leaf from her plant. Then, we put a drop of water on it and started observing it. I learned that we always have to start at four times on our microscope to see a whole view, so that if you are looking for something, you have a full view of the slide to find and then later zoom into it. Therefore, my group started at four times.

Elodea cells

          In four times, my group found some interesting things. First, we had never observed a water bubble under a microscope, so we got see those, but that was not the interesting part. After examining it a little more, we noticed a pattern that looked like a brick wall, and found out they were cells! They were small, but I already saw some characteristics of them. I observed that each little brick (cell) had a thin lining around it. In addition, they had minuscular circles in them, but I could not capture movement.

Elodea 

          In ten times, what I observed was even cooler than four times! This time, there were no air bubbles, but you could see the cells each stacked up on one another even better. I noticed that they were not all stacked perfectly, and each one had one difference than the other in shape. Also, my group and I found a little space were there was a cell missing, but when we looked at the full leaf, we did not notice any holes. Something else that I noticed was that the little circles were all you could see in the cells, and I thought: where are the other cell parts? I was wondering that until I got to the forty times.

Elodea 100x

         In forty time, I was amazed. This time, the little cycles were moving! I thought that the plant was dead, but it was not! I think it was an awesome experience to see these move, and after a chat with Ms. Pro, I found out that they were actually chloroplasts, which functions to feed the plant, although I was still wondering where the other cell parts were. I decided to as Ms. Pro, and I found out that these cells were actually stacked on top of each other, so you could not really see the other parts.

My Drawings

          When we got to one hundred time, I was amazed. I think it was the coolest view to look in. I have to see the cell walls closely and the movement was very clear. However, I was a little disappointed that I could not see the other cell parts. I noticed that the cells walls were thick. I think they were thick because since we were looking bird’s eye view, and the cells were transparent, we could see all of the layers’ cell walls, making it look thick.

          I found out the following: Elodea cell shape – like a brick What they look like altogether – Brick wall Special features observed – small circles (chloroplast) covering cell parts

          The next step was to look at it with iodine, and that was even cooler! I actually have to see the cell parts, especially the nucleus. The cell walls were clear, so you could see the other layers. Something that I noticed was that the chloroplasts stopped moving, so I asked SM. Pro. Later, I found out that the iodine actually sterilizes the cells, so no movement was found.

Before looking at the elodea cells, I thought that the nucleus was going to be the easiest thing to spot. I also thought that the cell shape was going to be like a perfect rectangle, and that they would be stacked neatly on top of each other. Something new that I learned was that only plant cells have chloroplasts, because they produce their own food!

          The next cell we observed were the onion cells. Before starting, I predicted that it would look somewhat like an elodea cell because it was also a plant cell, and it does make its own food. The way we collected, the onion cells were cool. Ms. Pro peeled of a layer of the onion, so that it was not too thick. I think the onion cell was one of the most interesting ones because of what I observed.

Onion cell 

          The first thing I observed was on four times. Since I had already had experience with cells, I had less observation questions, but I did observe more. I saw that in each little cell, there was yellow dot. It was minuscular, but it was viewable. Since every cell had it, I thought it was the nucleus. I noticed that they were yellow. I did not notice much in fur time’s view, but the deeper I got, the more interesting it got.

My Drawings

          On ten times, I kept my eye on the nucleus, just to see if I can look at any better and notice something new, and I did. I saw that there was not only one bubble, but there were two. One was surrounding the other, which made me confused. I thought that the nucleus was just a circle, and that you could not see anything else inside it, but I found out I was wrong.

          I found out when I got to forty times. Now I could clearly see the surrounding bubble, so I decided to ask Ms. Pro what it was. I learned that the nucleus has something else in it, called a nucleoid. The nucleoli looked darker than the nucleus, and that is a wonder that I still have. Why did the iodine make them different colors?

          The last time that I looked on was one hundred. This was an amazing view, because I observed deeper into the nucleus, and I noticed the difference between the nucleus and the nucleoli.

          Before I thought that the onion cells were going to be filled with chloroplasts also, but they ended up having less than I expected. Also, I thought that the cells would be like a perfect square, and all tacked neatly and delicately, just like the other cells, but I learned that cells aren’t perfect, and that they are each very unique.

          I found out the following: Onion cell shape – rectangle with a pointy end what they look like – weird shapes put together special features observed – the nuclei

Cheek cell (Ms. Pro)

          The last cell we observed was our cheek cell, the funniest part. The first thing we had to do was place a drop of iodine on our slide. Then we had to get a toothpick and rub the pointy end against our cheek for about three minutes, which tickled a lot, and place the toothpick in the iodine, then take it out. Then our cells remained in the iodine.

          On four times, the first time I saw it I thought that it was a little gross because there were rd. dots all over and I thought it was blood. In addition, there were black stains all over the place, and I found out that it was because when iodine gets on fiber, it turns black, and I had just eaten an apple. I also thought it was weird how it was not a brick wall, but there were circles with cells in them all over the place. I decided to take notice of that and ask, and I found out that it was because we pulled of the lining from our cheek, so it deformed some cells. In addition, there were some lines here and there, and I found out that they were folded cells.

My Drawings

          On ten times, I did not really notice anything big, just that the cells had folds, probably because they were folded when I scraped them off my cheek.

          On forty time, I found out a lot. First, I noticed that the shape of the cell was different from the other two, they were random shapes. I also noticed that they had a yellow lining, that looked like oil around it, and that is still something that I am wondering about. The last thing I noticed was that the cells did not have a cell wall, and that is because our human cells do not have cell walls.

          On one hundred times, I did notice new things. I noticed the nucleus, which looked the same as the othernucleous that we saw, but I also noticed that there were no chloroplasts. I kept wondering why, but then I found out that only cells that produce their own food have chloroplasts.

          Before I thought that, these cells were going to be perfect little circles, all over the place, with cell walls, and chloroplasts, but now I learned what different cells share and have different.

          I found out that: Cheek cell shape – circular-squares what they look like – small waving flags special features observed – no cell wall

          Overall, this was an awesome experience and I learned a lot!