BEST - BCL - 1 - 2 - Response - What Is It Made of

STUDENT WORKSHEET
What is it made of?
You are going to use a light microscope to investigate what samples from different organisms are
made of. Can you find out whether they’re made of cells?
Safety
 Be very careful when handling glass slides.

 If your microscope has a mirror, never use it to reflect direct sunlight.
 If your microscope has a light, never look down the eyepiece without a slide on the stage.
 Always start with the slide near the objective lens and then move it away from the lens, so
that the lens does not smash the slide.
Apparatus and materials
 light microscope
 samples from different organisms, mounted on slides with coverslips
Procedure
1 Turn the turret until the lowest

power objective lens clicks into
position.
2 Place the slide on the stage and eyepiece

fasten it with the stage clips.
3 Look from the side and turn the

focus knob to move the objective
focus knob
lens closer to the stage. Stop before
the objective lens touches the slide.
turret
4 Look through the eyepiece.
objective lens
5 Turn the focus knob until the image
is sharp and clear.
stage clip
stage
6 Move the mirror to reflect more light
through the sample, if needed.
mirror
7 Turn the turret until the medium
power objective lens clicks into
position, then re-focus the image.
8 When finished, use the focus knob to

move the objective lens away from
the stage, and then remove the slide
from the stage.
Developed by the University of York Science Education Group and the Salters’ Institute. 1
This document may have been edited. Download the original from www.BestEvidenceScienceTeaching.org
© University of York Science Education Group. Distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) license.
STUDENT WORKSHEET
Checklist
Tick the checklist for each step that is successfully completed.
Completed by person
1 2 3
a) Checks that the lowest power objective

lens is in place to look through.
b) Places the slide on the stage and fastens it

using the stage clips.
c) Looks from the side and turns the focus

knob so that the objective lens closer to
the stage without letting the objective
touch the slide.
d) Looks through the eyepiece and turns the

focus knob until the image is sharp and
clear. Moves the mirror to reflect more
light, if needed.
e) Turns the turret until the medium power

objective lens clicks into position, then re-
focuses the image.
f) Records observations of the sample on the

slide.
g) Uses the focus knob to move the objective

lens away from the stage, and removes the
slide from the stage.
To answer
1 Were all of the samples made of cells?
2 How were the cells of the samples different?
3 How were the cells of the samples similar?
TEACHER NOTES
Biology > Big idea BCL: The cellular basis of life > Topic BCL1: Cells > Key concept BCL1.2: Cells and cell structures
Response activity
What is it made of?
Overview
Learning focus: Organisms are made up of one or more cells, which have common
structures that carry out life processes.
Observable learning Use a light microscope to make and record observations of cells from a
outcome: range of tissues and organisms.
Activity type: Practical investigation
Key words: cell, microscope
This activity can help develop students’ understanding of what cells look like, and that organisms are
made up of cells, following these diagnostic questions:
 Diagnostic question: Alien invasion!

 Diagnostic question: Using a light microscope
 Diagnostic question: Made of cells?
What does the research say?

Researchers have acknowledged that the cell is, when first introduced, an abstract concept (Dreyfus
and Jungwirth, 1988; 1989). When introducing ideas about cells, several sources advocate starting
with hands-on light microscopy of cells from a range of tissues and organisms, to enable students to
discover for themselves that cells are the common building blocks of living things and what they look
like (AAAS Project 2061, 2009; Skinner, 2011).
Limiting students’ experience of cells (e.g. through microscopy and cellular imagery) to just animal
and plant cells (typically epidermal cells from onion and human cheek) can introduce or reinforce
the misunderstanding that there are only these two kinds of cells (Clément, 2007).
Haşiloğlu and Eminoğlu (2017) found that light microscopy coupled with drawing cells was effective
in helping students to overcome misunderstandings about what cells look like.
Ways to use this activity

Students should complete the microscopy and the checklist in pairs or groups of three, apparatus
permitting. The students in each group should take turns to complete the different tasks on the
checklist each time a different slide is examined. Students could be asked to make scientific drawings
of what they see using the light microscope. The quality of learning may be improved with a careful
selection of groups, or by allocating specific roles to students in each group.
Typically, this practical is completed using epidermal cells from onion (as examples of plant cells) or
from a human cheek swab (as examples of animal cells). However, limiting students’ microscopy
experience to just these two tissues can introduce or reinforce the misunderstanding that there are
only these two kinds of cells, or that all plant and animal cells have these shapes. Therefore, if
possible, provide students with samples of cells from a range of different plant and animal tissues.
TEACHER NOTES
Equipment
For each pair/group:
 light microscope
 tissue samples from different organisms, stained as appropriate and mounted on slides with
coverslips
 (optional) pencils and paper to make drawings of what they see using the microscope
Technician notes
Samples of cells from a range of plant and animal tissues should be provided to students. The
samples should be already mounted onto slides with coverslips, and stained as appropriate to make
cell structural features visible under the light microscope.
Single layers of epidermal cells can be easily obtained from white or red onion, leek, spring onion, or
white or red cabbage (Martin, 2002). If possible, slides of human cells from skin, nerve, bone, muscle
should also be provided for students to observe (AAAS Project 2061, 2009).
Health and safety

Direct sunlight must never be used as the light source for microscopes with a mirror.
Practical work should be carried out in accordance with local health and safety requirements,
guidance from manufacturers and suppliers, and guidance available from CLEAPSS.
Acknowledgments
Adapted by Alistair Moore (UYSEG) from an activity developed for the York Science project.
Images: UYSEG
References
AAAS Project 2061. (2009). Benchmarks for Science Literacy [Online]. Available at:
http://www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/online/index.php.
Clément, P. (2007). Introducing the cell concept with both animal and plant cells: a historical and didactic
approach. Science & Education, 16(3-5), 423-440.
Dreyfus, A. and Jungwirth, E. (1988). The cell concept of 10th graders: curricular expectations and reality.
International Journal of Science Education, 10(2), 221-229.
Dreyfus, A. and Jungwirth, E. (1989). The pupil and the living cell: a taxonomy of dysfunctional ideas about an
abstract idea. Journal of Biological Education, 23(1), 49-55.
Haşiloğlu, M. A. and Eminoğlu, S. (2017). Identifying cell-related misconceptions among fifth graders and
removing misconceptions using a microscope. Universal Journal of Educational Research, 5, 42-50.
Martin, M. (2002). Looking at cells: alternatives to onion cells. School Science Review, 83(301), 103.
Skinner, N. (2011). Cells and life processes. In Reiss, M. (ed.) ASE Science Practice: Teaching Secondary Biology.
London, UK: Hodder Education.

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STUDENT WORKSHEET

What is it made of?

 Be very careful when handling glass slides.

Apparatus and materials

1 Turn the turret until the lowest

2 Place the slide on the stage and eyepiece

3 Look from the side and turn the

8 When finished, use the focus knob to

Tick the checklist for each step that is successfully completed.

a) Checks that the lowest power objective

b) Places the slide on the stage and fastens it

c) Looks from the side and turns the focus

d) Looks through the eyepiece and turns the

e) Turns the turret until the medium power

f) Records observations of the sample on the

g) Uses the focus knob to move the objective

1 Were all of the samples made of cells?

2 How were the cells of the samples different?

3 How were the cells of the samples similar?

 Diagnostic question: Alien invasion!

What does the research say?

Ways to use this activity

Health and safety

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