Microscope Images of Cells

Introduction

1. How could you distinguish between a plant cell and an animal cell?
2. Can you use the naked eye to see cells?
3. Can you use a light microscope to see cells?
4. What do you think you could see using a scanning electron microscope?

Living systems at all levels of organization (unicellular to multicellular) demonstrate the complementary nature of structure and function. Scientists refer to the overall shape of the organism as their “morphology”. There is a great deal of diversity in the morphology of cells from different organisms (plant, animal, bacterial). Cells are so small, it is difficult to observe cell structure without a microscope.

In this activity, you will view the general shape of single-celled plant cells called diatoms using a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Using the images produced, you will then estimate the size of the cells and produce a detailed scientific drawing of the organism.