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Lab Practice #1 Use of the Microscope

1. Background

Welcome to the fascinating world of Biology. This is a very interesting science. In order to study and
understand it, we need to practice some skills. Therefore, we need to know how to handle
common materials and instruments.

When entering the lab, it is extremely important to take into consideration the given risks for
working at the lab, as well as knowing the material and equipment so as to reach maximum
security. .

2. Objectives

● Identify the most common instruments in a biology lab.

● Know the parts of a compound microscope and how to use it.

3. Previous Activities

✓ Check the required material and ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS BRIEFLY, you
must show this page completed to your teacher before entering the lab. If you don´t,
you won´t be allowed in the lab.
✓ Required Material
o Lab coat
o Facemask
o Latex gloves
✓ Scientific Question

What is the importance of having some basic understandings about the tools used in a lab?

✓ Hypothesis

If we know how to use the equipment and the tools of the lab, then we will successfully gain abilities
and knowledge in the safest way possible
 1. How many systems is the optical microscope made of? Which parts of the microscope make
up each system?

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2. How many objective lenses does a microscope have? Provide the name for each one.

Four objective lenses. At a power of 4x it is called scanning objective; at 10x low power objective; at
40x high power objective, and at 100x it is called oil immersion objective.
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3. How is the immersion objective lens used? What is required for it to be used?

It is used for observing the detail of individual cells. For high resolving power, the numerical aperture
(NA) of an objective needs to be greater than 1. This also requires an immersion medium with a
refractive index greater than 1. Common immersion media are oil, water and glycerol.

4. List the lab rules your teacher emphasized. Why is it important to know/follow them?

Googles drawn, lab coat and gloves on, no open shoes, hair tied, don’t tasting or sniffing, check the
labels and instructions before mixing anything, no eating or drinking. It is important to follow them
because they are made with the aim of protecting us and guaranteeing safe and adequate conditions
for learning.
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✓ Identify the parts of the microscope

listed here:
Letter Part of the Microscope
A Tubes
B Revolving nosepiece
C Arm/Carrying handle
D Slide holder
E Coarse focus
F Fine focus
G On /off switch
H Base
I Light source
J Iris diaphragm
K Condenser
L Stage
M Objective lens
4. Materials

o Compound microscope
o Slide
o Cover slide
o Preparations provided

5. Methodology

Caution!
● Transport the microscope using both hands – grab it from the base and the arm.
● Place the microsco..pe at least 20 cm away from the edge of the table.

6. Results
Make a sketch of what you observed through the 10x and the 40x lens.

Figure 1. Image under the microscope using Figure 2. Image under the microscope using
the 10x objective the 40x objective
 7. Results analysis

1. Summarize the main tips to take care of while handling the microscope.
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2. Which objective lens should you start focusing with (10x, 40x or 100x)?
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3. Explain the difference when observing a sample with the 10x lens and the 40x lens.
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8. Conclusions
o Indicate whether the objectives of this lab practice were met or not, and why.
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9. Sources of information.
▪ Miller, Kenneth & Levine, Joseph, 2002 Biology, Ed. Pearsons Education, Inc. Prentice
HallUsing a Compound Microscope pag. 29.
▪ Granillo, P. Valdivia, B. y Villareal, S. 2004 Biología la vida y sus procesos. Ed. Publicaciones
Cultural. México.
▪ Microscope-microscope.org. (2019). Microscope Parts | Microbus Microscope Educational
Website. [online] Available at: https://microscope-microscope.org/microscope-
info/microscope-parts/ [Accessed 3 Sep. 2019].
▪ Bioweb.uwlax.edu. (2019). Microscope 2. [online] Available at:
http://bioweb.uwlax.edu/APlab/Lab-Unit-01/Lab-01-04.html [Accessed 3 Sep. 2019].
▪