Introduction:

In this lab, my partner Jacob Hodge and I will be doing four different experiments using a microscope. The purpose of this lab is to know the proper technique of focusing and making slides. In these experiments, Jacob and I will learn the parts of a compound light microscope, the functions of those parts, and the proper use and care of the microscope. We will also learn how to clean up wet mount slides.

Objects, or specimens, to be observed under a microscope are generally prepared in one of two ways. Prepared or permanent slides are made to last a long time. They are usually purchased from biological supply houses. Temporary or wet mount slides are made to last only a short time-usually one laboratory period. In the 1600’s, Anton von Leeuwenhoek discovered the life that lives in a drop of pond water. This discovery opened up a new world for biologists that could be explored only with the aid of magnification. Since Leeuwenhoek’s time, the microscope has become one of the most important tools used by biologists. Much has been learned about the nature of life and about living things with the help of the microscope.

Methods & Materials:

Compound light microscope

prepared glass slide

lens paper

newspaper

beaker

rubbing alcohol

glass slide

coverslip

forceps

pipette

scissors

kim wipes

dark thread

light thread

medicine dropper

pond water

The steps or procedures of the regular class procedure is first we had to grab the two microscopes that Jacob and I were using. Then we would have to get the wet-mount slide ready for experimentation or since we did one permanent slide we would have to go grab one of the permanent slides. Once as we made the wet-mount slide or grabbed the permanent slide we had to do the correct procedures to make sure we would be able to see the specimen that we are looking for. First we had to put the magnification on low power then we had to move the table that had the slide on it to make sure that we could get the slide close enough or at the right spot to see clearly and then we had to use the fine adjustment knobs to make to specimen clear enough to look at. But near the end of the class we would get about the last five minutes to clean up slides and put away microscopes. The correct procedure to clean up a wet-mount slide is first we rinse the slide off in the sink. Second we put the coverslip in the mini-size beaker. Third we swirl the slide in alcohol for a final rinse but we had to make sure that we cleaned the slide well enough in the sink so nothing would get in the alcohol. Lastly we dried the slide with Kim wipes and return the slide back to the original spot where it was taken and then we throw away the Kim wipes.

Letter E Slide:

To make the letter E slide we had to first grab a slide, then we had to cut out a word that was not to small but not to big but in normal size print and once as we found a word that was normal size print and had the letter E in it we had to then put one drop of water on the word and put the cover-slip on top of the word.

Thread Slide:

To make the thread slide first we had to grab a slide, then we had to cut two strings about a inch long and they could not be the same color. After you have the two one inch long different color threads we had to put those threads on the slide but we had to put them in an X or make them cross. After doing that we had to put two drops of water on the slide then cover it up with the cover-slip.

Pond Water Slide:

To make the pond water slide we had to first grab a slide then we had to put a drop of pond water on the slide and cover it up with the coverslip. In the pond water specimen we found rotifers and we looked at a planarian.

Results & Observations:

In the prepared slide we looked at the liver. When we looked at the liver on low magnification it looked light pink with with a small purple accent