Onion Cells with a Microscope

We did a couple introductory projects with the microscope over the past couple weeks, now it's time to get messy! Onion cells make a logical next lesson as the thin section is easy to prepare and plant cell structures are easy to see.

The staff learned how to pull off the delicate onion membrane and prepare a wet mount on a slide. Getting the air bubbles out is always the tricky part... It became a competition to see who could prepare the best slide and take the best photo.

This is a photo the staff took through the microscope with a point and shoot camera. You can clearly see the cell walls and nuclei, not bad eh?