Microscopy!

The first unit my GCSE Biology classes are doing is all about cells and our first practical was preparing and observing a slide of onion cells. The main point was to get them to learn how to do this, and use a microscope, correctly and safely.

My very first practical of this year, with a Year 8 class, was a bit of a disaster. They were supposed to put 1-2 drops of a chemical onto spotting tiles however I realised too late that they didn’t know the difference between ‘drops’ and ‘litres’! No harm done in the end but, for this practical, I took my students slowly through each step and it went brilliantly.

This is a photo taken through one of the microscopes - didn’t they do well?