SCHUYLERVILLE PREPARATORY HIGH SCHOOL

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OBSERVING CHEEK CELLS

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Background
Many things that are viewed using a microscope, particularly cells, can appear quite
transparent under the microscope. The internal parts of the cells, the organelles, are so
transparent that they are often difficult to see. Biologists have developed a number of
stains that help them see the cells and their organelles by adding color to their transparent
parts. Today we will be using methylene blue to see these parts of our own cheek cells!

Learning Target: We will be observing our cheeks cells through a compound light
microscope.

Materials: glass slides, cover slips, pipette, water, microscope, paper towel, methylene blue

Pre-Lab
1. When using a microscope, what lens should you start out with and why?
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2. What knob do you use first to focus?

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3. What knob should you use when using the high power objective? Why?
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4. Why are we using methylene blue?

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Part I. Cheek Cells

1. Gently scrape the inside of your cheek with the flat side of a toothpick. Scrape lightly.
Smear the toothpick on the slide. Add one drop of water.

2. Put one edge of a coverslip in the water, then slowly lower the opposite edge to the
water to reduce the formation of air bubbles as shown in the picture below.
 3. Put one drop of methylene blue at one edge of the coverslip.
4. Put a piece of paper towel at the opposite side of the coverslip. Allow the towel to
absorb some water so that the stain will move under the coverslip as shown in the
diagram below.

5. Examine the cheek cells at scanning, then at low power, and at high power.
6. Sketch the cells at each magnification. Label the cell membrane, cytoplasm, and the
nucleus of the cell.

Conclusion Questions:

1. Why did we have to stain the cell?

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2. What did you notice between the scanning and high power image?
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