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Cheek Cell

This document provides instructions for viewing cheek cells under a microscope using methylene blue staining. It involves gently scraping the inside of one's cheek, mixing the sample with methylene blue stain, and viewing under low and then high power on a light microscope. At low power, cheek cells appear as nearly clear purplish blobs. Switching to high power allows focusing on individual cells. The methylene blue is necessary for staining the cells so they are visible. Only the nucleus and cytoplasm were visible at the microscope's power level. Organelles like mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum should have been present but were not visible. Cheek cells are eukaryotic as they contain a nucleus. Many mitochondria would be

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Azeneth Santos
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323 views2 pages

Cheek Cell

This document provides instructions for viewing cheek cells under a microscope using methylene blue staining. It involves gently scraping the inside of one's cheek, mixing the sample with methylene blue stain, and viewing under low and then high power on a light microscope. At low power, cheek cells appear as nearly clear purplish blobs. Switching to high power allows focusing on individual cells. The methylene blue is necessary for staining the cells so they are visible. Only the nucleus and cytoplasm were visible at the microscope's power level. Organelles like mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum should have been present but were not visible. Cheek cells are eukaryotic as they contain a nucleus. Many mitochondria would be

Uploaded by

Azeneth Santos
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Name ______________________________

The Human Cheek Cell


Procedure:
Put a drop of methylene blue on a slide. Caution:
1. List the 3 parts of the Cell Theory methylene blue will stain clothes and skin.
Gently scrape the inside of your cheek with the
flat side of a toothpick. Scrape lightly.
Stir the end of the toothpick in the stain and
2. Describe or define each of the following throw the toothpick away.
Place a coverslip onto the slide
--cell membrane Use the SCANNING objective to focus. You
probably will not see the cells at this power.
Switch to low power. Cells should be visible, but
--cytoplasm
they will be small and look like nearly clear
purplish blobs. If you are looking at something
--nucleus very dark purple, it is probably not a cell
7. Once you think you have located a cell, switch
--organelle to high power and refocus. (Remember, do NOT
use the coarse adjustment knob at this point)

3. Sketch the cell at low and high power. Label the nucleus, cytoplasm, and cell membrane. Draw your
cells to scale.

Low Power High Power

4. Why is methylene blue necessary?

5. The light microscope used in the lab is not powerful enough to view other organelles in the cheek cell.
What parts of the cell were visible.

6. List 2 organelles that were NOT visible but should have been in the cheek cell.

7. Is the cheek cell a eukaryote or prokaryote? How do you know?

8. Keeping in mind that the mouth is the first site of chemical digestion in a human. Your saliva starts the
process of breaking down the food you eat. Keeping this in mind, what organelle do you think would be
numerous inside the cells of your mouth?

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