Microscope Lab

          In this lab, we asked the question, "What are the key features of autotrophs, heterotrophs, eukaryotes, and protists?" The key features we found were different among the different cells that we observed. In the amoeba, I was able to observe the nucleus, cell membrane, and the pseudopods. In the euglena, I was able to observe the nucleus and the chloroplasts. In the bacteria, I was able to observe the different types of bacteria. In the cyanobacteria, I was able to observe a single cell. In the spirogyra, I was able to observe the cell wall, chloroplasts, and cytoplasm. In the muscle cell, I was able to observe the nucleus, muscle fibers, and striations. In the ligustrum, I was able to observe the cell walls, cell membrane, veins, xylem, and phloem. Here are the pictures of all the organisms that we studied in this lab. The characteristics of autotrophs are that they are usually green and have chloroplasts. The characteristics of heterotrophs are they have a nucleus. The characteristics of eukaryotes are that they have nuclei. The characteristics of prokaryotes are that they don't have nuclei.

Amoeba
High power, black, odd shape, many black blobs inside, black blobs may be organelles, eukaryotic, heterotrophic

Euglena
High power, thin, dark nucleus, blue, green, eukaryote, autotroph and heterotroph

Bacteria Cells: General Shapes
Very small, different shapes, prokaryotes, autotroph or heterotroph

Cyanobacteria
High power, ancestor of chloroplast, small blue balls in a string, prokaryote, autotroph

Spirogyra
High power, cells are stacked on top of each other, fits together in boxes, eukaryote, autotroph

Muscle Cell
High power, pink and long, big cell, eukaryote, heterotroph

Ligustrum
High power, red and blue cells, cell walls, eukaryote, autotroph