The text on this page pertains to the 25 slide intermediate slide set available from GreatScopes.com. Click for information. This guide was written by Bridget Ardoin, author of the homeschool manual What?? Me Teach High School Biology? 1) Hair Make sure you orient the slide so that you can see a round purple and the purple-pink "line" in the whole view. a) Draw what you see and color it the same as the colors you see. Label a nucleus (the darker "spot" inside a cell), and a cell membrane (the "line" around a cell) b) What do you think the round purple parts are? What do you think the purple-pink thick "lines" are? What you see is a cross section of a section of skin with the hair follicles. The round purple parts are the roots of the hair. This is where the strand of hair is made. The purple-pink thick line is the hair shaft inside the skin. The hair grows up between the pink shafts. The darker purple round parts make the hair strand. As the strand gets farther from the root, the hair cells die and take on the color that you see. c) Do you see any hair strands? d) Did you see any solid purple cells? This is the epidermis. The light pink cells next to the solid purple cells move up to the surface of the skin, and die on the way up. e) Do you see a cluster of cells in the dermis, near the shaft? These cells are the oil glands and produce oil. f) Put the pointer on any cluster of cells you are interested in. Change the objective to the next higher power. Refocus and readjust the pointer to what interests you. Change the objective again to the next higher power and focus. Draw what you see and label any parts of the cells you can (nucleus and cell membrane, for example).
2) Sugar a) Draw what you see and color with the same colors that you see. b) Are these cells? c) This slide is not of cells but of crystals. What shape would you call the crystals?
3) Pepper a) Draw what you see and color with the same colors that you see. b) Are these cells? (Yes) c) What shape would you call what you see? Why does it look like it has rectangles? Where does pepper come from? Pepper is a seed from a plant. Since it is from a living thing, it is of cells. The rectangles that you see are really the plant cells.
4) Yeast a) Draw what you see and color with the same colors that you see. b) Are these cells? (Yes) c) These cells like warm, moist places that have a source for food. When they are in such a place, they reproduce, sometimes by budding. Do you see any yeast cells that look like they have a "wart"? The "wart" is a bud. When the bud gets big enough it will break away to make buds of its own. d) What is a byproduct of yeast that benefits us? Yeast makes carbon dioxide. When it "eats" sugar, it gives off the gas. When we put the yeast in bread dough, the yeast eats the sugar in the dough and the gas makes the bread rise.
5) Tendon a) Draw what you see and color with the same colors that you see. b) On the lowest objective, put the pointer between the darker pink and the lighter pink cells. Switch to a higher objective and focus. Put the pointer between the darker and the lighter pink cells again, switch to a higher objective and focus again (if possible). c) The darker pink cells are layered, one on top of another. The lighter pink cells are more round. Both are a part of the tendon that you see. The tendon attaches muscle to bone. It moves up and down inside a sheath (just like a sheath holds a sword, and you can move the sword in and out of its sheath, and just like you slide your leg into a pant leg). The tendon's sheath is made of fibrous tissue. One end of the tendon is woven into the bone and the other is attached to a muscle.
6) Bacteria a) Draw what you see and color with the same colors that you see. b) Do you see any nuclei? c) You should see 3 different shapes (all without nuclei). Label your drawing: the round bacteria are called cocci (one is called a coccus), the long oval ones are called bacilli (one is called a bacillus), and the squiggly ones are called spirilli (one is called spirillus) d) These type of cells are called prokaryotic cells because they have no nucleus. (The "pro" means "before", and scientists think these cells came before the cells with a nucleus.)
7) Fly Head a) Draw what you see and color with the same colors that you see. b) How many different parts do you see? Look for: The compound eyes - It looks like the fly has hundreds of little eyes in one of its eyes. Two antennae - These are the long hair-like projections between the eyes. Tiny hairs - Notice how many tiny hairs there are. Why do you think God made the fly have so many? Palpi - Rounded parts, below the antennae, with hairs covering them. Labellum - It is triangular shaped, below the palpi, with hairs, and is clear. This is what the fly uses as a tongue.
8) Fish Skin a) Draw what you see and color the shapes in the colors you see. b) This fish scale has what kind of shape? Can you see how small the scale was when the fish was very small? As the fish grows, the scale also grows. This is why you see the scale have concentric rings (like a tree!).
9) Human Blood a) Draw what you see and color the shapes in the colors you see. b) Do you see any cells with the darkened nucleus inside? Do all of the cells have a nucleus? c) The clear red cells (no nucleus) are the red blood cells. The darker purple cells with a nucleus are the white blood cells, also called leukocytes. Do you notice a difference in the number of red blood cells and the number of white blood cells? Why do you think that is? (Think about what God created the red blood cells to do and what He created the white blood cells to do.)
10) Paramecium a) Draw what you see and color the shapes in the colors you see. b) What is the shape of the nucleus of the paramecium? What is the shape of the paramecium? c) The shape of the paramecium is characteristic of this organism. Do you notice that it looks grainy between the nucleus and the cell membrane? This is the cell's cytoplasm. When a cell looks grainy, it is said to be "granular".
11) Wing of House Fly a) Draw what you see and use the same colors that you see. b) Why do you suppose God made the fly's wings so thin and transparent, and with tiny hairs around the edges? The tiny hairs are very sensitive to air movement. Any slight disturbance and the fly will zoom away!
12) Cotton Stem a) Draw what you see and use the same colors that you see. b) What do you notice about how the cells are "clumped" together? The clear cells in the middle of the stem are called "pith". The darker, purple cells that are interspersed among the pith cells are called the "xylem". The xylem cells carry water throughout the plant. The rings of cells between the darker purple outer cells (like the skin of the stem) are called the "phloem". The phloem transports the food the leaves have made (in photosynthesis) to all other areas of the plant.
13) Cotton Leaf a) Draw what you see and use the same colors that you see. b) Which side do you think is the top of the leaf (where the sun can shine on it) and which is the bottom? Do you notice that one side has many cells that look like hot dogs stacked vertically next to each other? Those are called "palisade cells", and the darker purple dots inside of these palisade cells are the chloroplasts. What do the chloroplasts do? They are the "centers of photosynthesis", the place in the plant cell that makes the food for the plant. The bottom side of the leaf has cells that open to let air in (the molecules that the plant needs for photosynthesis that is in the air is carbon dioxide), and close when it's not needed. These special cells are called "guard cells" and the openings itself are called "stoma". You can tell where the guard cells are and where the stoma is by noticing the other cells at the bottom. The cells around the stoma are in a circular pattern, like the cul-de-sac in a neighborhood. In between the sides of the leaf you can see a ring of purplish cells. This is a small vein that carries the food to the middle of the leaf. c) In the middle of the slide is the vein. The bottom part of the vein, the darker purple cells are the phloem tissue. The lighter cluster of cells above the phloem tissue is the xylem tissue.
14) Penecillium a) Draw what you see in the colors you see. b) What are the dots? What are the lines with the dots on the end? What are all the other lines? Do you notice how all the lines are more concentrated in the middle, making it look like a dividing line? All the lines are called hyphae. The hyphae going down from the middle (away from all the hyphae with the dots) attach the fungus to the food source and are called "rhizoids". The hyphae going up from the middle, and branch at the ends (are fork-like) are called candidiophores. These bear the spores ("mitosporangia"), which are the fungi's "seeds". The little dots are the spores. c) Try to label your drawing: hyphae, rhizoids, candidiophores, and spores.
15) Hydra a) Draw what you see in the colors you see. b) The hydra is a tiny organism that you can actually see with your eyes. You should be able to see almost the whole hydra on the lowest objective setting on your microscope. The hydra has a long slender body and projections at one end called the tentacles (sometimes the tentacles get torn off when they put the hydra on the slide, but you should be able to tell where they were). c) At which end do you think the mouth is located? The hydra grabs its food with its tentacles and brings it to its mouth. Can you find where the mouth is located on your slide specimen? d) Do you notice how the body of the hydra is like a hollow tube? Each side is lined with specialized cells, some digest the food it takes in. e) The bottom part of the hydra can attach to something. How does the hydra move? The hydra can detach itself and move by doing something with its tentacles and its body that looks something like a child's cartwheel. f) Label your drawing: tentacles, body, mouth
16) Lily Anther a) Draw what you see in the colors you see. b) Where is an anther located on a flower? Lok at an anther up close if you can. Do you notice how the anther has two "humps" and a "valley" in the middle? This slide is a cross section of an anther. c) If you look at the slide, you can see the two "humps" with a "valley" in the middle. Inside each of these "humps" are little circular cells. What do you think these are? These circular cells are called "microsporocytes". They combine with the pollen to germinate and eventually make a seed of the plant. d) Label your drawing: microsporocytes.
17) Sprout a) Draw what you see in the colors you see. b) What is a sprout? What do you think those lines are that are coming out of the middle and curving upward are? A sprout is otherwise known as "primary shoot growth". If you look at a plant in the spring time, it is very evident by the lighter green color (in most plants) at the very tips of the branches of the plants. All of those curving upward lines on the slide are the new leaves of the plant. c) Do you notice how the very top of the middle looks like the top of a missile? This part is very important to the plant's growth. This cap is called the "apical meristem" and produces new stem cells making the stem grow longer and it produces new leaf cells. All parts of the stem below the apical meristem are called the maturing stem. As the stem matures, the leaves fall open and the apical meristem moves farther away. d) Label your drawing "primary shoot growth", apical meristem, leaves
18) Monocotyledon stem a) Draw what you see in the colors you see. b) What do you think the darker purple cells are? Do you notice how they are grouped in a pattern? God created the monocot stem "simply". The darker cells in a group are called the phloem (pronounced "fleem"). These act like pipes allowing the food to be transported from the leaves to the rest of the plant. The lighter cells in the same groups are called the xylem. These also act like pipes, transporting water from the roots to the rest of the plant. c) Label your drawing: phloem, xylem
19) Dicotyledon stem a) Draw what you see in the colors you see. b) How does this slide compare to the monocot stem? Would you say the dicot is more or less complex than the monocot? From what you have learned in the nonocot stem, what do you think the darker purple cells and the lighter cells are? Do you notice the darker purple cells are in different sizes than the monocot slide and are in a special order? The smaller, darker purple cells are in a ring toward the outside. These cells are the phloem cells. The larger, darker purple cells are in a ring toward the inside. These cells are the xylem. c) The ring of cells that has the xylem on one side and the phloem on the other is called the cambium. All the other cells in the middle are called the pith. d) Label your drawing: phloem, xylem, cambium, and pith.
20) Simple Squamous Epithelium a) Draw what you see in the colors you see. b) Try to focus on some of the cells with the strongest objective you have. c) Do you notice if any of the cells have a nucleus? Where does the "squamous epithelium" come from? Do you notice the edges of the cells? Isn't it amazing how they all fit together? The squamous epithelium is the outer layer of skin of our body. This slide is a sample of what our skin cells look like. Our skin cells start out with a nucleus, yet when they reach the surface of the skin, the nucleus is gone and they are no longer alive.
21) Stratified Squamous Epithelium a) Draw what you see in the colors you see. b) Try to focus on the cross section with the strongest objective you have. c) Do you notice that the cells seem to be grouped in what looks like layers? ("Stratified" means "layers".) How many layers can you see? What are the darker purple circles inside each of the pink cells? Some parts of our outer skin (epithelium) has as many as five layers, others have 4 layers. The bottom layer contains the cells that reproduce and push the new cells upward. These replace the cells that get flaked off the outside of our skin. The darker purple circle inside a pink cell is the nucleus of the cell. d) Label your drawing: nucleus
22) Cardiac Muscle a) Draw what you see in the colors you see. b) Try to focus on the highest objective you can. Do you notice tiny lines inside of the cells? Do you see any nuclei (more than one nucleus)? Cardiac muscle is unique. God designed the cardiac muscle to have some properties of the skeletal muscle and the smooth muscle. Each cell has what is called "striations" (the tiny lines). These contract the heart muscle. c) Label your drawing: nucleus, and a striation.
23) Smooth Muscle a) Draw what you see in the colors you see. b) Try to focus on the highest objective you can. Do you notice any striations in any of these smooth muscle cells? (There should not be any!) Is there a difference in the way the nuclei are compared to the cardiac muscle nuclei? Where would you find smooth muscle? It is called smooth muscle because there are no striations; the cells look "smooth". c) Label your drawing: nucleus.
24) Testes Mammal a) Draw what you see in the colors you see. b) What is the purpose of the testes? Do you notice how all the cells are arranged? The purpose of the testes is to produce sperm, the male gametes. Do you notice that there are little spaces in each of the "bundles"? These spaces are called the "seminiferous tubules" and allow the new sperm to go to the ducts.
25) Ovary a) Draw what you see in the colors you see. b) What is the purpose of the ovary? The larger, darker purple parts (roundish) are called the follicles. These take care of the ovum (the egg) until it is mature enough to be released. c) Do you notice if there are any ova (more than one ovum) inside any follicles? The ovum is more pink and round. When the ovum is released from the follicle, the follicle changes. It becomes thicker and is called the "corpus luteum". d) Label your drawing: follicle, ovum, and corpus leuteum
© 2001, GreatScopes.com All rights reserved. May be printed and distributed in class or to students as long as this copyright notice remains. May not be reproduced or duplicated online.
To order this set, visit us at www.greatscopes.com.Quantity pricing available.
Toll Free Ordering & Product Information: (877)
454-6364 Copyright © 1996-2001 by John E. Lind, all rights reserved. The contents of this site, text, graphics, and computer code inclusive, are protected by copyright laws worldwide, and may not be copied, reprinted, published, or distributed by any means without explicit permission. www.greatscopes.com |