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Take a cotton bud and gently rub it on the inside of your cheek. Smear the cotton bud onto a microscope slide to cover an area of about 1cm³. Now add one drop of methylene blue onto the smear. This will help you to see the cells more clearly. Carefully place a cover slip on top of the blue dye.

Look at the cells under the microscope with the objective lens x10. Compare what you see to the drawing below. Can you observe the same parts?

Labels for the drawing: the cell membrane surrounds the cell, the cytoplasm contains food and all other substances to allow the cell to function and the nucleus contains all the hereditary information.

• How to use a Microscope
• How to make a Microscope Slide
• Chapter on Cells
• Top of Page

©  Shirley Burchill 2008