Required Practical 1: MicroscopyMarking points
Question
RP1: describe how to prepare a microscope slide.
Answer
Plant cells (for example onion): use forceps to peel off a thin layer of tissue and place it on a drop of water on a glass slide
Animal cells (for example cheek cells): swab the inside of the cheek with a cotton bud and smear the cells onto the centre of the slide
Then for both:
- Add a drop of stain using a pipette, to make sub-cellular structures visible
- Lower a coverslip at an angle onto the specimen to avoid trapping air bubbles
Tutor tip
The stain and the angled coverslip are the two steps students most often leave out.