Today Mrs. Stein started class as usual by walking around checking in the homework from the previous night. Which was to complete the pre-lab on page 8 in our unit 3 packet and to fill in the double bubble map comparing and contrasting eukaryotes and prokaryotes. Then we reviewed the double bubble maps and added some more categories. After we went over all of this, we started our notes for today's class. The notes we took in class were about cell specialization. This category is about cells developing in different ways to perform different tasks. Cell specialization was about complex organisms that have more specialized cells and the structure of a cell determines the function of it. Then the next category we talked about was major cellular regions. Under this category we talked about plasma membrane (outer boundary of the cell), the nucleus (organelle which contains DNA), and the cytoplasm, a gel-like substance between the cell membrane and the nucleus.
After we took some notes and went over the homework, we started our new lab which is called cell structure and function. Mrs. Stein said that it is very important to read all of the directions and label. In this lab we are observing various cells and structures of plants and animals under the microscope. The first plant we observed was the elodea leaf. To observe any of the cells, you first have to make a wet mount slide out of it and then you can observe it. The leaf was very interesting to observe underneath the microscope. You could actually see some of the organelles and other characteristics that make up a cell.
The second cell we started to view was the lugol's iodine. We weren't able to get that far into it but we were able to view it a little bit. The other cells we will be observing are a human cheek cell, onion cell, and frog blood.
Here are just some views of the cells we will be observing:
Elodea Leaf:
- Complete U.P. 9-14 - Monday
- Read 7.2 and complete the organelle chart - Monday (the chart is also available on the blog)
The next scribe will be Sam