In this lab review I will be covering the history of the microscope, the parts of a microscope and how they work together to achieve a clear image of cells, the importance of the microscope in our world today and pictures of cells viewed through a microscope.
The history of the microscope dates back to 1595 when Zacharias Janssen or possibly his father created the first microscope using simply two tubes and lenses at the end of those tubes. Around 1660 Robert Hooke improved on the structure of a microscope and was also the man who named the cell after discovering it in plant bark. Later on Anton van Leeuweenhoek built a more sophisticated version of the microscope due to which he was partially responsible for the theory of blood circulation being proven. The microscope has played an important role in history and continues to do so today. Due to the use of the microscope biologists and chemists are able to view cells in a high resolution in order to see how they are structured, how they behave and react. This in turn helps us discover bacteria, illnesses and mutated cells and formulate medications to respond. This is a picture of a microscope similar to the one used in the simulator.
The history of the microscope dates back to 1595 when Zacharias Janssen or possibly his father created the first microscope using simply two tubes and lenses at the end of those tubes. Around 1660 Robert Hooke improved on the structure of a microscope and was also the man who named the cell after discovering it in plant bark. Later on Anton van Leeuweenhoek built a more sophisticated version of the microscope due to which he was partially responsible for the theory of blood circulation being proven. The microscope has played an important role in history and continues to do so today. Due to the use of the microscope biologists and chemists are able to view cells in a high resolution in order to see how they are structured, how they behave and react. This in turn helps us discover bacteria, illnesses and mutated cells and formulate medications to respond. This is a picture of a microscope similar to the one used in the simulator.
The parts of the microscope beginning from the top and moving clockwise around are the eyepiece which is what you look in to see the specimen. Next are the objective lenses which are low, medium, high and oil emersion. The stage is where you place the specimen and secure it into place. The iris diaphragm controls the angle and amount of light that goes to the specimen. The illuminator is what provides the light source. Fine focus can be used to make small adjustments to the sharpness of the image. The coarse focus moves the stage up and down. And finally the arm connects the stage to the lenses.
My first step in the microscope simulator was to turn the microscope on. From there I chose the slide I wanted to view which was the cheek cell. I then put the 4x lens in place and moved the specimen into the viewer. Adjusting the oculars was the next step right before adjusting the coarse focus. I opened the iris to give the specimen more light and from there was able to adjust the fine focus and see the specimen. I then was able to toggle between the views to go to a higher resolution and then fine focus and finally ending up with the image you see here. In this image you can see the nucleus clearly and also some parts of the plasma membrane are visible. In the second image are what are called rod cells located in the retina. I found this very interesting because it shows just how incredibly diverse cells can be. These particular cells are responsive to light which I'm sure makes them incredibly interesting to view through a microscope!
In conclusion I can say that watching the video on how to use a microscope, participating in the microscope simulation and researching all the components of the microscope have given me a base knowledge on how to use on in a lab, and I would feel comfortable doing so.
My first step in the microscope simulator was to turn the microscope on. From there I chose the slide I wanted to view which was the cheek cell. I then put the 4x lens in place and moved the specimen into the viewer. Adjusting the oculars was the next step right before adjusting the coarse focus. I opened the iris to give the specimen more light and from there was able to adjust the fine focus and see the specimen. I then was able to toggle between the views to go to a higher resolution and then fine focus and finally ending up with the image you see here. In this image you can see the nucleus clearly and also some parts of the plasma membrane are visible. In the second image are what are called rod cells located in the retina. I found this very interesting because it shows just how incredibly diverse cells can be. These particular cells are responsive to light which I'm sure makes them incredibly interesting to view through a microscope!
In conclusion I can say that watching the video on how to use a microscope, participating in the microscope simulation and researching all the components of the microscope have given me a base knowledge on how to use on in a lab, and I would feel comfortable doing so.
I used images from google image search.
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