Topics

Biological Material at the Microscopic Level

What this standard covers

The light microscope — what each part does, how to focus it, and what a light microscope can and cannot show you.
Preparing material — wet mounts, epidermal tears, cellulose impressions, cut sections, cavity slides and stains.
Magnification — total magnification, working out real sizes, and stating the magnification of a drawing.
Biological drawings — the conventions a drawing has to follow, and what makes one accurate.
Specialised features — the shape of a cell, the arrangement of cells, and which organelles are present, in plant tissues and in unicellular organisms.
Feature to function — naming a feature, stating its job, and giving the reason it does that job well.

Using a Light Microscope

What this standard covers

The light microscope — what each part does, how to focus it, and what a light microscope can and cannot show you.
Preparing material — wet mounts, epidermal tears, cellulose impressions, cut sections, cavity slides and stains.
Magnification — total magnification, working out real sizes, and stating the magnification of a drawing.
Biological drawings — the conventions a drawing has to follow, and what makes one accurate.
Specialised features — the shape of a cell, the arrangement of cells, and which organelles are present, in plant tissues and in unicellular organisms.
Feature to function — naming a feature, stating its job, and giving the reason it does that job well.