Drawing Biological Diagrams

Guidelines for Biological Drawings

Biological drawings large, clear, neat and contain all the relevant structures, labels and
annotations. Here are some guidelines for drawing them.
1.Use a sharp pencil . Do not use a soft, black-marking pencil as it will smudge and
look untidy. The standard writing pencil - HB - will suffice. I highly recommend using
.! mm mechanical pencils. "s they reduce on sharpening time and make drawing
#lines of e$en thickness# a bree%e. &nsure you ha$e spare leads in an e'am.
(.Use a clean and soft eraser . I recommend soft $inyl erasers, as they erase more
cleanly than standard pink erasers and are non-abrasi$e, so will not tear the paper.
).Use white, unlined paper for biological drawings.
*.Decide how large your diagram should be , and where you will place it on the
page, so that structures are clearly seen and there is ade+uate space for labeling. "
Drawing should occupy at least half the page. "* paper is often used for drawings.
!.Move your specimen around , obser$ing its general features from all angles. "s
you draw, keep referring to your specimen to capture the detail accurately. ,se a
magnifying glass to obser$e fine detail. ,se one eye to look through a microscope and
the other to draw. -bser$e the specimen under different magnifications.
..Draw continuous lines.
/.Draw structures proportionately.
0.Avoid shading and hatching, as well as excess detail. Include distincti$e
features. Draw only one complete structure e.g. " cell if the neighboring cells are
similar. 1ou may ha$e to e'aggerate the thickness of structures if they are thin. "dd an
e'planatory note if you do.
2.Use conventions e.g. a double line to show cut edges
1.Draw horizontal labeling lines , ensuring that they do not cross. 3abeling lines in
biological drawings should be on the right. &nsure that the labeling lines touch the
structures. Do not include arrowheads or dots on the lines.
11.rint correct labels. 4or drawings, all the letters need to be lower case. 5heck for
correct spelling. Do not use the plural form of the word, if you are pointing to a single
part.
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Drawing Biological Diagrams
1(.!emember to include annotations , especially if they are re+uired. "nnotations
are brief notes ne't to labels which are either descripti$e or state the function of the
structure. These can help you earn marks in an e'am.
1)."entre the title and print it in capitals at the bottom. The title should include the
name of he specimen and the $iew. 6cientific names are capitali%ed in the title. If
appearing elsewhere, con$ention is followed.
1*.The magnification should be included at the end of the tile, to 1 decimal
place. The magnification is obtained by di$iding the length of drawing, by the length of
the specimen. 7hen using a microscope, calculate the combined magnification of the
eyepiece and ob8ecti$e lenses. If you continue Biology beyond secondary le$el, you will
ha$e to add a scale to the drawing, by making a rough estimate of the field diameter
using a transparent ruler on the stage, or a graticule.
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