Microscope Organism Lab Analysis

The above diagram is of an amoeba cell. We were able to identify the nucleus, cell membrane, cytoplasm and pseudopods. One of the unique characteristics about this cell is that is has pseudopods to walk, and another is that they have different colors within the cell. One observation about the cell is that is has a cytoskeleton. The amoeba is a eukaryotic cell that is heterotrophic using their pseudopods to eat other cells.

The diagram above is of a euglena cell. We were able to identify chloroplasts, the nucleus, and the cytoplasm. However we could not identify the flagellum. One unique characteristic about the cell is that it has flagellum. Although it is very hard to see in the image above, flagellum are very rare in cells, but do exist in euglena. These are eukaryotic cells, but can be both autotrophic and heterotrophic.

The diagram above is of a bacteria cell. The coccus, bacilis, and spirilum are identified on the cell. The size of this cell compared to other cells, is extremely small, and an observation about the cell is that the bacteria are not in any particular formation - they are all just floating around. Bacteria are prokaryotic, heterotrophic cells. (400x)

The diagram above is of a spirogyra cell. On the cell the cell, the cell wall, cytoplasm and chloroplasts are identified. The cytoplasmic strands that hold the nucleus in place are one of the unique characteristics about the cell. One observation about the cell above, is that it has spiral chloroplasts, something that most plant cell's don't have. It is a eukaryotic, autotrphic cell. (400x)

The diagram above is an example of a plant ligustrum cell. It is an autotrophic eukaryotic cell. A main unique characteristic of the cell above is the epidermis cells surrounding it.  You can clearly see the chloroplasts, the blueish green places, where photosynthesis occurs. The veins of the cells are also very clearly visible. One observation about the image above is that all the cells are very compact and the cell walls are extremely thick, compared to other cells. (400x)

The diagram above consists of animal muscle cells, known as muscle fibers. We were able to label the nuclei (purple dots), the muscle fibers (long strands across cell), and straitons (the bands of fibers). One of the characteristics of the cell shown above that is unique is the fact that they are multinucleate cells. They have many nuclei fused together in one cell. An observation I made about the cell is that  the nucleus is not always surrounded in a certain way, it differs for each muscle cell. The animal muscle cell is a heterotrophic, eukaryotic cell. (Note: The microscope that took this picture was at x400 zoom, and after picture was taken, the image was zoomed in)

The diagram above is of cyanobacteria, also referred to as blue green algae. It is a bacteria, which means it is a prokaryotic cell and it is autrotrophic. One unique characteristic about cyanobacteria is that they were the first types of cells to perform photosynthesis. One unique characteristc seen in the slide is the formation of each cell of cynaobacteria. They live in clusters as opposed to a compact formation. One other observation is that the cells are never in a particular or similar shape, rather different types of round shapes. (400x)

Cell Characteristics

The autotrophic cells were usually green. They also all had chloroplasts as most of the autotrophic cells we observed were plants - and plants need chloroplasts to perform photosynthesis. Most of the autotrophic cells, although it may not have been visible, also had mitochondria, so they would perform cellular respiration.

The heterotrophic cells were mostly eukaryotic except for the bacteria, and most of them utilized some of their special characteristics to help them eat other cells - like the amoeba using its pseudopods.

All the eukaryotic cells had nuclei and all the prokaryotic cells lacked nuclei. Most of the prokaryotic cells were bacteria.

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