Elodea Lab Report

BIOL1003 Methods:

Lab 1: Cell Size and Structure THURSDAY

Fall 2012

A Leica DME microscope was used for observations of Elodea canadensis, human cheek cell, Paramecium aurelia, Gonium sp., yeast and bacteria. A culture of the aquatic plant Elodea canadensis submerged in water was available in the lab. A single leaf was removed from a stalk and placed in a drop of distilled water on a slide. The preparation was covered with a coverslip and observed in the microscope. The preparation remained illuminated in the microscope for approximately five minutes. After this period observations of cyclosis were recorded. Human cheek epithelial cells were harvested from the mouth of the investigator using the blunt end of a wooden toothpick by scraping the inside of the cheek. The harvested cells were then stirred into a drop of isosmotic methylene blue stain on a slide. The preparation was allowed to equilibrate for five minutes. A coverslip was applied and the preparation observed in the microscope. The culture of Paramecium aurelia was mixed. A drop of culture was then placed on a glass slide with an equal volume of Protoslo. A coverslip was applied and the preparation observed in the microscope. The same procedure was followed to observe Gonium sp. from the mixed pond culture. A mixed culture of yeast (Saccharomyces…show more content…
Several of the cells appeared to be folded over.
Table 1: Cell and organelle sizes for some eukaryotic and prokaryotic organisms.

Elodea canadensis Paramecium Gonium aurelia sp. length chloroplast length (m) Group (m) (m) ours 89 3.2 85 15 G1 94 2.5 92.0 13.5 L2 68 6 78 11 M3 79 4.5 110.0 18.2 N4 99 5.2 126 12.8 Mean 85.8 4.3 98.2 14.1

Human cheek cell width (m) 20.6 22.5 23.6 27.6 31.5 25.2 nucleus (m) 1.5 1.5 2.4 1.9 2.3 1.9

M. roseus

S.