1. How can you tell plant cells and animal cells apart (if you only see them under the microscope)? 

a) Animal cells resemble round, blotchy like shapes. When observing a animal cell underneath the 400X power, I was able to see the nucleus, cell membrane and the cytoplasm.

b) Plant cells resemble more block like shapes. When observing a plant cell underneath the 100X power, I was able to see the cell membrane, cell wall, cytoplasm and a few dots, although I could not  figure out what they were.

2.   How can you tell plant cells and animal cells apart (if you only see them under the microscope)?

When looking under a microscope, you can tell animal and plant cells apart very easily. Plant cells have a more rigid structure (like a square), unlike the animal cell which is more “loose” (like a circle). Also when looking at a animal cell it is more easier to spot the nucleus, while in a animal cell is it more easier to spot the outer cell.

3.  We used methylene blue on the animal cell. Why was it important to treat animal cells with this compound? Why didn’t we use it on the plant cells? 

I think it was important because without the methylene, we would have not been able to see the cell as it is very tiny and it would have been more difficult find the organelles to . We didn’t use it on the plant cell because it would have already been visible underneath the microscope.

4. Reflection:
What did you learn while doing this lab?
What questions arose while doing this lab? What are you curious about?

During this lab I learnt more about using microscopes, more into what an actual cell looks like and more about figuring out the different organelles in the cell while looking through a microscope.  One question the arose while doing the lab was what type of microscope do scientists use so that they are able to see all the organelles in the cell; and how much power does that microscope hold?