What Do Plant And Animal Cells Look Like Through A Microscope

Problem:

What do you think plant and animal cells will look like through a microscope?

Hypothesis: While looking through the microscope, I think that the onion cell will look like multiple cells stacked on top of each other with some of its organelles visible. The plant cells will look more like they have a definite shape than the animal cells. This is because plant cells must be rigid and have multiple layers to protect itself (the cell membrane and the cell wall), therefore this will create the shape of the cell to have a more definite shape. The cheek swab cells will have a more organic shape because animal cells have a thinner cell membrane than a plant. Based on what we learned in class, the onion skin cell will have a large vacuole

-Organelles were visible (A dark nucleus in the cells and a thick cell membrane around the cells)

-Veins through the onion skin are visible

-Cells underneath the top layer were slightly visible

-Water droplets

-A small dark cell in the middle of the field of view

-A few other dark spots in the field of view

-Iodine turned the colour of the field of view brownish-orange

-Other than those dark cells, a blank slide

100x

- Bigger image of cells stacked on top of each other

-Cells had a more definite shape

-Large onion vein

-Had a dark nucleus

-A closer view of the dark cell in the middle (bigger, completely dark)

-A few lighter cells around the field of view

-No organelles visible in the main cell (in the middle)

400x

-A large nucleus in the field of view

-Close view of the cell membrane

-Small dark organelles in the gel-like substance in the cell

-The dark cell in the centre is completely dark

-No organelles visible in the main cell

-No other cells visible around the main cell

As I mentioned in my hypothesis, a plant cell has a thicker membrane which causes it to have a more defined shape than an animal cell. A plant cell has a cell wall to protect itself, whereas an animal cell does not and only has a cell membrane. A plant cell also has chloroplast which helps the plant make chlorophyll to produce sugar and energy (photosynthesis) and it also gives a plant its green colour. Animals do not need chloroplast as they are the consumers and they consume the energy they need, rather than produce it. Animal cells have many small vacuoles, and plant cells have one large vacuole that takes up most of the cell. Besides from these, animal cells and plant cells share most of the same organelles that do the same function (example the mitochondrion which is the powerhouse of the cell).

One function of skin is to protect and support the parts underneath it. How might the structure and arrangement of cells of an onion help to do this? Since an onion has many layers of skin of itself, the cells being compact and strong will help the onion maintain itself during harsh weather. Since the onion bulb is underneath the ground, the wind will cause the plant to sway and easily bend over if its roots are not strong enough (the bulb). Since plant cells have multiple layers of a cell wall and a cell membrane, the cell itself is strong. When many cells compact themselves together