Theory

A cell can be thought of as a bag in which the chemistry of life is allowed to occur
and partially separated from the environment outside the cell
1
. The thin membrane
which surrounds all the cell is essential in controlling exchange between the cell and
its environment. It is a very effective barrier and also allows a controlled traffic of
materials across it in both directions. The membrane is therefore described as
partially permeable. If it freely permeable, life could not exist because the chemicals
of the cell would simply mix with surrounding chemicals by diffusion.
Animal cells and plant cell have some common features. Both cells have cytoplasm,
endoplasmic reticulum, ribosome and mitochondria
2
. But there are some organelles
which are not present in both cells. or example chloroplast only can be found in the
plant cells while centriole only can be found in animal cells. Animal cells also has
small vacuole will plant cell has large vacuole.
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!ractical "# $bservation of animal cell#chee% cell and plant cell#leaf epidermal cell
$b&ective# To prepare slides of animal cell and plant cell using the correct staining
techni'ue.
(aterial and apparatus#
(icroscope
(icroscope slide
)overslip
*ropper
orceps
Blade
Toothpic%
(ethylene blue
Iodine solution
$nion
!rocedure#
+a, $bservation of chee% cells
1. -inse your mouth.
2. .sing a toothpic%, gently scrape off a thin layer of cells from the inside of your
chee%.
". (ount the scrapings in a drop of methylene blue solution on a slide.
/. 0ower the coverslip gently over it.
1. 2xamine the specimen under low power ob&ective lens followed by high power
ob&ective lens.
3. *raw the chee% cell and label the following parts# nucleus, chromatin material, cell
membrane and cytoplasm.
If you do not li%e to use your own chee% cells, you can loo% at dead s%in cells
instead. !ut a
small piece of sellotape on your hand and then peel it off and stic% it down to a slide.
This
will show you the the si4e and shape of cells but you will not be able to ses the
contents.
(b) Observation of leaf epidermal cells
1. .sing a forceps, peel off the epidermal layer of onion scale leaf.
2. )ut off a small piece and mount the epidermal layer in a drop of iodine solution on
a slide.
". 0ower the coverslip gently over it.
/. 2xamine the specimen under low power ob&ective lens followed by high power
ob&ective lens.
3. *raw the onion leaf epidermal cell and label the following parts# nucleus,
chromatin material, cell membrane, cell wall, cytoplasm and vacuole.
2
-esults#
*rawings and labeling
(agnification of drawing
"
5uestions#
1. 6ame the type of cells which lines the inner chee%.
The type cells which lines the inner chee% is epithelial cell
"

2. 7hy is it the onion leaf epidermal cell do not contain chloroplast8
This is because the onion leaf epidermal cell do not perform photosynthesis
/
.
". 9tate the similarities and differences between animal cells and plant cells.
Animal cells !lants cells
similarities Both cells have nucleus, golgi apparatus, and
mitochondria
2
.
Both cells also surrounded by a very thin of plasma
membrane
differences Irregular shape -egular shape
Absent of chloroplast !resent of chloroplast
!resent of centriole Absent of centriole
/. 7hy is the nucleus called the :control centre; of the cell8
6ucleus called as control centre because all the performance of the cell are instruct
by nucleus
1
. Besides it also contain genetic material of cell. It control the activity of
the cell by maintaining and regulating the gene inside the chromosome.
1. 7hat is tissue8 7hat word means collection of tissues doing one particular &ob8
Tissue is a collection of specialised cell with a common structure and function
1
.
)ollection of tissues doing one particular &ob is %nown as organ
1
.
/
*iscussion
1. <andle the iodine solution and methylene with care because both dye will
stain your cloth and s%in.
2. *uring prepared the slide, ma%e sure no air bubble trap inside the slide cell
because this air bubble can disturb your observation.
". At first set the ob&ective lens at the lower power until we can see the cell.
Then ad&ust the ob&ective lens to higher power or high magnification so that
we can see the cell clearly and can observed the cell easily.
/. The function of iodine and methylene blue are to increase the contrast so that
we can see the cell clearly. But these stain are not suitable for photosynthetic
cell and to living organism li%e proto4oa because stain will %ill them.
1. To avoid trapping air bubbles, set one edge of the coverslip on the slide, and
then let the rest of the coverslip drop. As it drops from one side to the other,
air will be pushed out, and this will reduce the number of bubbles in the wet
mount.
3. 7hen we can see both cells clearly we can see the different between the
plant cell and animal cell.
)onclusion
!lant cell and animal cell has similarity and differences. )entriole is not available in
plant cell while chloroplast not available in animal cell. !lant cell has fixed shape will
animal cell has irregular shape.
1
-eferences
Bibliography
&ones, m. +2==",. 1)AS LEVEL AND A LEVEL BIOLGY. cambridge# )ambridge .niversity
!ress.
2) animal cell vs plant cell. +n.d.,. -etrieved ebruary 21, 2=11, from diffen.com#
http#>>www.diffen.com>difference>Animal?)ell?vs?!lant?)ell
3) wiki answe. +n.d.,. -etrieved ebruary 2@, 2=11, from answer.com#
http#>>wi%i.answers.com>5>6ame?the?type?of?cells?which?is?lines?the?inner?chee%
!) "i#l#$%& #ni#n. +n.d.,. -etrieved ebruary 2A, 2=11, from all experts#
http#>>en.allexperts.com>'>BiologyB33/>onions.htm
') cl#nin$( $l#ssa%. +n.d.,. -etrieved ebruary 2A, 2=11, from nova science in the news#
http#>>www.science.org.au>nova>=/">=/"glo.htm
)#w t# pepae an #ni#n cell sli*e. +n.d.,. -etrieved ebruary 2A, 2=11, from
%nowledgerush#
http#>>www.%nowledgerush.com>%r>encyclopedia><ow?to?prepare?an?onion?cell?slide>
+ic#sc#pe Sli*e ,epaati#n #- E.ka%#tic /ells. +n.d.,. -etrieved ebruary 2@, 2=11, from
suite1=1# http#>>www.suite1=1.com>content>microscopeBslideBpreparationBa131A@2
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