Procedure

Equipment Required:

• A healthy leaf
• Single edged Sharp blades
• Fine detail paint brush
• Watch Glass
• Beaker with distilled water and tap water
• Microscope glass slides
• Cover glass
• Dropper
• Needle
• Microscope
• Blotting paper

Observing leaf cells under a microscope involves several steps such as preparation of the sample and optimizing the viewing conditions. The following steps are required to study leaf cells:

Sample Collection:

1. Select a healthy leaf from the plant (e.g. Hibiscus, Petunia)

Sample Preparation:

1. Cut the leaf from the selected plant
2. Use a single edge blade to cut the leaf transversely around the middle portion. Take a small portion of leaf area between veins and place it in the cork material.
3. It's often best to choose a thin part of the leaf, such as the area between veins. Hold the cork material with the inserted leaf portion between your thumb and index finger, such that the blade edge is parallel to the leaf’s longitudinal axis. Make very thin slices
4. Using the edge of the blade, transfer these slices that carry the thin leaf section with the help of a brush into watch glass containing water. This helps maintain turgidity and prevents wilting during the observation.

Mounting the Sample:

1. Use a pair of fine-pointed forceps to transfer the leaf section onto a glass microscope slide.
2. Add a drop of water to the leaf section to prevent drying out and to create a wet mount.
3. Carefully place a coverslip over the leaf section, using a needle to gently lower it to and avoid trapping air bubbles.

Microscope Setup:

1. Place the prepared slide on the stage of the simple microscope.
2. Observe the section by turning the lowest magnification objective lens (usually 4x or 10x) and bring the sample into focus using the coarse and fine adjustment knobs.
3. Once the sample is roughly in focus, switch to higher magnification objective lens (40x) to observe finer details of the internal cells of the leaf.

Observation:

1. Move the slide around using the stage controls to explore different regions of the leaf section.
2. Observe various structures such as epidermal cells, stomata, mesophyll cells, and vascular bundles.
3. Take note of cell shape, size, arrangement, and any distinct features like chloroplasts or cell walls.