• What parts make up a microscope.
• How to set a comfortable ocular width.
• How to put a slide on the stage.
• How to navigate around a slide.
• How to move from scanning power to low power to high power.

Purchasing Information

• A class set of compound microscopes — preferably with 4x, 10x, and 40x objective lenses
• A class set of the following slides and slide materials:
  • Coloured threads slides
    • Available from many places, including Amazon, Ward's Science, and Boreal Science
  • Blank slides
    • 1 class set is recommended in case of breakage
    • Available from lots of places
    • Do not buy plastic ones, as they scratch and bend easily
  • Coverslips
    • Buy lots as they are disposable, and each student needs 2 per lab.
    • Do not buy plastic ones as they scratch and bend easily.
  • A set of random slides with neat samples on them
    • E.g., slides with 4 items per slide that are themed: textiles, insect parts, tiny plants, animals, etc.
    • Some sets are available on the following website: Prepared Slides Bundle: Set I & II (Learning Resources, n.d.).
• Small scissors (like sewing or kids scissors) — 1 pair for every 4 students
• Forceps (or tweezers) — 1 pair for every 4 students
• Small glass bottles with droppers — 1 for water and 1 for IKI
  • Brown glass works best for IKI due to its photosensitivity (see Additional Notes for more information).
• Cutting boards with small paring knives – 1 for every 8 students
• Clear plastic rulers — 1 for every 4 students
• Printed lab labels — laminating them is optional
• Newsprint with small font
• (On lab day) Onion — 1 medium-sized onion is enough for a lab with 20 students, where each makes their own slide.

Lab Setup

Preparations

• Buy an onion.

Lab Activity Setup

Bin Lab

Troubleshooting Microscopes

Why can I not see anything?

• The microscope is plugged in and turned on.
• The slide is in the field of view.
• The objective lens is clicked into place.
• The iris diaphragm is set properly.
• The blue filter is working properly.
• Only one eye is used to view (like a pirate).
• The depth of field is not decreased to the point that the item cannot be focused on.

Why do I lose my image when I move up in magnification?

• The image is centered in the field of view and very well-focused before increasing magnification.
• The objective lens is in properly and clean.
• The iris diaphragm is set properly.

Why will my course focus not work / why does my microscope keep going out of focus?

• Cannot move the course focus – the tension is too tight.
• The microscope falls out of focus spontaneously – the tension is too loose.

Additional Notes

[caption id="attachment_62" align="aligncenter" width="306"] Figure 1.6: Degraded vs. Good to Use IKI (Credit: Christine Miller) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license[/caption]

Media Attributions

• Figures 1.1 to 1.6, by the author, are under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

References

Purchasing Information

• 250 mL beakers — 5 beakers for every 2 students
• A kettle and access to ice
• A plastic bin for the ice bath
• A 1 L beaker for the cold water
• Liquid food colouring — 1 bottle for every 2 students
  • Do not get the gel kind, as it does not diffuse. You may want to check your food colouring ahead of time to make sure it diffuses nicely
• Small electronic scales — 1 for every 4 students.  If you search for "pocket scale" lots of good options will come up
• Cutting boards with small paring knives – 1 for every 4 students
• Erlenmeyer flasks — For preparing the starch, glucose and saline solutions
  • The size will depend on your class size.
  • E.g., 3L Erlenmeyer flasks for the two saline solutions and 1L Erlenmeyer flasks for the glucose and starch solutions
• 6 1L beakers — For saline, glucose, and starch solutions that students to pour from
• Several small weight boats
  • Plastic shot glasses from the dollar store work too.
• 2 glass bottles and droppers — For the IKI
  • Brown glass works best for IKI due to its photosensitivity (see Additional Notes for more information).
• Dental floss — 1 container for every 4 students
• Test tube tongs
• Clear plastic rulers
• Dialysis tubing — About 8 inches for every 2 students
  • The recommended size is 20.4 mm x 32 mm, but a bit bigger or smaller should still work fine.
  • Can buy in 50 ft lengths
• A glass bowl — For soaking the dialysis tubing
• Glucose test strips
  • Sometimes it is cheaper to buy pet urine testing strips than human medical-grade glucose strips. These strips may look like the Figure 2.1 below.

Lab Setup

Preparations

• Buy potatoes — 1 medium potato for every 4 students
• Make glucose, starch, and saline solutions

Activity 2 Solutions

• Prepare 1.5 L for 20 students.
• Mix 9 g NaCl for each 1 L water.
• Dissolve well.

• Prepare 1.5 L for 20 students.
• Mix 30 g NaCl for each 1 L water.
• Dissolve well.

Activity 3 Solutions

• Prepare 400 mL for 20 students.
• Mix 5 g glucose for each 100 mL water.
• Dissolve well.

• Prepare 500 mL for 20 students.
• Mix 1 g starch for each 100 mL water.
• Dissolve well.

• Dissolve a handful in 500 mL of warm water with a stirring rod.
• This way is easier than using lab-grade starch powder, which clumps up very easily.

Lab Activity Setup

Setup Photos

Bin Lab

Additional Notes

[caption id="attachment_62" align="aligncenter" width="286"] Figure 2.7: Degraded vs. Good to Use IKI (Credit: Christine Miller) CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license[/caption]

Media Attributions

• Figures 2.1 to 2.7, by the author, are under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

Purchasing Information

• Mitosis in onion root tip
  • The slide might say “allium” (the Latin name for onion).
• Mitosis in whitefish blastula cells
• Meiosis I in lily anther
• Meiosis II in lily anther

• Mitosis and meiosis posters, showing diagrams and photos of the onion, whitefish blastula, and lily anther slides
  • Students can use the lecture slides if posters are not available.

Lab Setup

Lab Activity Setup

Board Notes

Setup Photos

Media Attributions

• Figure 3.1, by the author, is under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

• Lots of instructor support required — There is often more than one tissue type on a single slide, and students can get confused easily.  Compound this with a class with little microscope experience and they need significant instructor support.
• Time-consuming — Students may be capable of setting up their own slides, but this is quite time-consuming, and even the classes with the strongest microscope skills may not get through all of the slides in a 2-hour lab.
• Expensive — If you set this up as a demo slide, you need only 1 of each tissue slide. If the students set up their own, you need a class set of each slide, which is expensive.

Purchasing Information

• Tissue slides of the following:
  • Stratified squamous — Human skin
  • Simple cuboidal — Kidney tubule
  • Simple columnar — Intestine with goblet cells
  • Pseudostratified ciliated columnar — Trachea lining
  • Loose fibrous connective tissue (areolar tissue)
  • Dense fibrous connective tissue (white fibrous)
  • Compact bone
  • Spongy bone (cancellous bone)
  • Hyaline cartilage — Trachea rings
  • Fluid connective — Blood
  • Skeletal muscle
  • Smooth muscle
  • Cardiac muscle
  • Nervous tissue — Spinal cord smear or neural smear
• Tissue posters — 1 poster for each tissue category
  • Tissue categories — Epithelial, connective, muscular, and nervous
  • Flinn Scientific (n.d.) has some nice ones.

Lab Setup

Lab Activity Setup

• Demo slides – Approx. 1.5 to 2 hours
• No demo slides – Approx. 15 minutes

Tissue Buffet Setup

Epithelial Tissues

Connective Tissues

Muscular Tissues

Nervous Tissue

References

Activity 2 Solutions

• Prepare 1.5 L for 20 students.
• Mix 9 g NaCl for each 1 L water.
• Dissolve well.

• Prepare 1.5 L for 20 students.
• Mix 30 g NaCl for each 1 L water.
• Dissolve well.

Activity 3 Solutions

• Prepare 400 mL for 20 students.
• Mix 5 g glucose for each 100 mL water.
• Dissolve well.

• Prepare 500 mL for 20 students.
• Mix 1 g starch for each 100 mL water.
• Dissolve well.

• Dissolve a handful in 500 mL of warm water with a stirring rod.
• This way is easier than using lab-grade starch powder, which clumps up very easily.

1. Wear a lab coat and close-toed shoes. Tie back long hair. Any items from the safety agreement on page 5, including reading the lab ahead of time, knowing where safety equipment is, and keeping your work area clear of clutter.
2. Wash glassware. Wipe countertops. Wash hands.
3. Because light passes through 2 lenses, you can see tiny things.
4. Objective lens — Magnifies the image Condenser — Focuses light on the specimen Stage — What you place your slide on Base and Arm — What you hold when carrying the microscope

Lab 1 Post-Lab Assignment

1. With one hand supporting the base and one hand holding the arm.
2. A fixed mount slide is a pre-prepared slide that is permanent.  A wet-mount slide is made as needed and then dismantled or thrown away once used.
3. Use the fine focus knob when on low power or high power. Use the course focus knob on scanning power and sometimes on low power.
4. Answers will vary.
5. An increase in magnification causes a decrease in the field of view.

Lab 2 Pre-Lab Assignment

1. Diffusion is the movement of particles from an area of high concentration to a low one.  Osmosis is the same type of movement, but specifically the movement of water across a semi-permeable membrane.
2. Semi-permeable means that some substances can cross and some cannot.  We are using dialysis tubing as our semi-permeable membrane.
3. Hypotonic, Hypertonic.
4. To determine if substances have crossed the semi-permeable membrane.
5. To keep the cell contents separate from its surroundings and regulate the entrance and exit of molecules.

Lab 2 Post-Lab Assignment

1. The hot water had higher kinetic energy, causing the molecules to move faster.
2. Answers will vary. Mainly looking for some thought about comparing cells, tonicity, or consistency.
3. To determine if water entered or left the cell. To determine if a solution was hypo-, iso- or hyper-tonic.
4. To see if glucose had left the "cell." Because we already knew glucose was in the cell as we put it there.
5. Answers will vary. Possibly more pronounced results as cells had more time to reach an isotonic state through osmosis.

Lab 3 Pre-Lab Assignment

1. S — The cell is replicating its DNA. M — The cells are actively going through cell division. G2 — The cell is making final preparations for cell division. G1 — The cell is carry out regular cell processes.
2. Prophase → Metaphase → Anaphase → Telophase
3. Mitosis results in 2 identical diploid cells, while meiosis results in 4 unique haploid cells.
4. Synapsis and crossing over and independent alignment/assortment
5. Meiosis 1 → Metaphase 1

Lab 3 Post-Lab Assignment

1. Answers will vary. The animal cells are round, and the plant cells are rectangular. The chromosomes in the plant cells look thicker vs. the thinner ones in animal cells. In animal cells, mitosis looks like a clear central line, while it looks a bit messier in plants. Students will often comment on the colour of the dye.
2. Answers will vary. Students will either pick metaphase or anaphase.  Either answer works as long as they relate the length of time to seeing the fewest of this stage through their microscope.
3. The drawing should show chromosomes aligned at the equator. The drawing should include a rectangular cell wall for the plant cell and a round cell membrane for the animal cell. Encourage students to draw what they saw, not what their diagrams look like.
4. Answers will vary.

Lab 4 Pre-Lab Assignment

1. Epithelial — Forms linings and coverings Connective — Cells in a non-cellular matrix Muscular — Is contractile Nervous — Conducts electrical impulses
2. Atom → Molecule → Cell → Tissue → Organ
3. Tissue is a group of specialized cells working together to perform a specific function. This branch of science is histology.
4. Yes.

Lab 4 Post-Lab Assignment

1. Epithelial cells have a free surface and a basement membrane. Half marks for "forms linings and coverings."
2. The loose fibrous connective tissue has open spaces between the cells and between protein fibres. The dense fibrous connective tissues are made of densely packed parallel strands of fibres, with no extra spaces between them.
3. Osteocyte — Supportive connective/bone Intercalated disc — Cardiac muscle Chondrocyte — Supportive connective/cartilage Leukocyte — Fluid connective Neuroglia — Nervous Collagen & elastin — Fibrous connective Goblet cell — Epithelial Peristalsis — Smooth muscle
4. Answers will vary but must include visual characteristics. May talk about the shape and layering of cells, type of matrix (fibres, bone, cartilage, fluid), striations, and relative size of cells.

Lab 5 Pre-Lab Assignment

1. Chemoreceptor — Presence of chemicals Photoreceptor — Presence of light Thermoreceptor — Change in temperature Mechanoreceptor — Movement/pressure
2. Central nervous system (CNS). Peripheral nervous system (PNS).
3. Sensory input, interpretation/integration, and motor output.
4. Fight or flight. Rest and digest.
5. Neurons and neuroglia (glial cells).

Lab 5 Post-Lab Assignment

1. Brain and spinal cord
2. Answers will vary. Can include size (sheep smaller), shape (sheep elongated), and position of the brain stem (sheep exits the brain at an angle more to the dorsal side).
3. Answers will vary. Should discuss age, gender, and eye health.
4. Answers will vary. Should talk about the density of receptors in different areas of the dermis.

Lab 6 Pre-Lab Assignment

1. Osteocytes. Bone marrow.
2. Axial — Ribs, spine, and skull Appendicular — Leg, arm, and shoulder
3. Sinus — A cavity or open space Condyle — A rounded bump where a bone meets another bone Foramen — A hole or opening Diaphysis — The middle portion of a long bone
4. Proximal. Medial. Inferior.

Lab 6 Post-Lab Assignment

1. Answers will vary. Should mention that the ball on the femur is extended, and on the humerus, it sits directly atop the bone. Should talk about range of motion and/or weight-bearing function.
2. Answers will vary. The tibia is much thicker and has a flattened space on the proximal end for the femur to articulate. The fibula is much more slender.
3. Femur — Large ball on the proximal end Cervical vertebrae — Large central foramen and two smaller transverse foramen Patella — Small oval-shaped bone found at the knee Sacrum — Curved triangular-shaped bone with several pairs of foramen
4. Ossicles of the inner ear. Femur.

Lab 7 Pre-Lab Assignment

1. The AV valves sit between the atria and ventricles and have chordae tendineae supporting them. The semilunar valve sits at the exit of the ventricles and has no chordae tendineae.
2. Epicardium — Connective tissue Myocardium — Cardiac muscle tissue Endocardium — Epithelial tissue
3. 

Lab 7 Post-Lab Assignment

1. The tricuspid valve had three cusps and three points of attachment for the chordae tendineae, which are much smaller.  The bicuspid valve had two cusps and two points of attachment, and the chordae tendineae were much larger.
2. The myocardium of the left ventricle was much thicker than that of the right ventricle.
3. These went directly back to the heart tissue.  The purpose of these coronary arteries is to provide high-oxygen blood to the myocardium.
4. The aorta was much stretchier to accommodate for fluctuations in blood pressure due to the pumping of the left ventricle.
5. The left ventricle because it has to be strong enough to pump blood to the entire body.

Lab 8 Pre-Lab Assignment

1. Erythrocyte — A red blood cell Antigen — A glycoprotein projecting from the surface of a red blood cell Antibody — A protein created by the immune system that targets and destroys a specific antigen Agglutination — Clumping of blood cells caused by exposure to an antibody
2. The blood type is A+. Antibodies are Anti-B
3. To avoid agglutination, which can kill the patient. Agglutination and death.
4. Blood typing. We expose an individual's blood to each antibody type and watch for agglutination.  If agglutination occurs to a specific antibody, we know that that type of antigen is present.
5. Blood type B+. Can receive B+, B-, O+, O-.

Lab 8 Post-Lab Assignment

1. Patient	Response to Anti-A	Response to Anti-B	Response to Anti-Rh	Blood Type
   Mr. Smith
   Mr. Jones
   Ms. Brown
   Mr. Green

• Images for Lab 5 for the Provincial Biology Lab Manual (Miller, 2024)

References

• Different types of vertebrae
• Regions of the spine
• The arm
• The leg
• A labelled diagram of an entire skeleton

• Images for Lab 6 for the Provincial Biology Lab Manual (Miller, 2024)

References

Who Is It For

Provincial Biology (Miller, 2023).

About This Manual

• Lab setting – this lab manual was designed for 2-hour, in-person labs in a biology lab setting. However, many of the labs could be adapted to be kitchen labs, and a few could be adapted to virtual labs.
• Board notes – each lab includes notes to put on the board to help students know what to do and provide hints for setup, procedure, and cleanup.
• Lab activities – each lab has three activities for students to work through, with materials they need for each at its own station.
• Bin labs – setting up specific bins (18 in x 12 in) containing everything (except perishables) needed for each lab cuts down on prep time and ensures necessary supplies are available.
• Reference section – this lab manual includes lab-specific instructions along with a reference section including solution recipes and printable labels.

Visual Prompts

References

• Brain anatomy
• Structure and function of the eye
• Mechanoreceptors in the skin

Purchasing Information

• A human brain model that shows external features and comes apart to show internal structures
  • The ideal brain model is close to life-size and comes with a key.
  • Available on Amazon and other educational materials sites.
• A Plastimount sheep brain or sheep brain model (life-size)
• A Comparative Brains Specimen Mount Plastimount (for fun)
  • Can be found on the following website: Comparative Brains Specimen Mount Plastomount (Nebraska Scientific, n.d.)
• Slide of a cross-section of a mammalian spinal cord
• Model of the human eye
  • The ideal model is large enough for several students to examine at the same time.
  • Look for a model that comes apart, so students can look at the internal structures easily (it helps if it comes with a key).
• Printouts for Lab 5 (in Lab 5 Printables section in the back matter).
  • In the back matter of this instructor guide
  • Laminating is recommended so they hold up to students handling them.
• Flexible measuring tape (like for sewing) — 1 tape for every 4 students
• Forceps (or blunt scissors/tweezers) — 1 for every 4 students
• Small clear rulers (6 inches) — 1 for every 4 students
• Coins — 1 for every student
  • E.g., pennies, nickels, or anything else metal that is roughly the same size and weight

Lab Setup

Lab Activity Setup

Board Notes

Setup Photos

Media Attributions

• Figures 5.1 to 5.5, by the author, are under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

References

• Have the opportunity to handle real bones.
• Learn how to identify bones by shape, size, and features.

• Learn the Bones of the Human Body (27:32 min) by Basic Biology (2020)

Purchasing Information

• Posters of the skeletal system showing the main bones of the axial and appendicular skeleton
• 2 or 3 complete human skeletons — Preferably real ones, but plastic works too
• Loose bones, including:
  • Skull — Showing plates, fissures, and foramen (nice if the mandible is detachable)
    • (Optional) An "exploded" skull — Shows each piece detached from each other in the same orientation/grouping they would be in a regular skull
  • (Optional) A fetal skull — Highlights differences in fissures and size compared to the female pelvis
    • This skull is optional because it can be difficult to acquire.
    • Although it is not critical to the lab, you will have to amend the manual a bit or provide a photo (in the Lab 6 Printables section of this guide).
  • Pelvis structure models — 1 male and 1 female
  • Sacrum
  • Sternum
  • Loose vertebrae, including:
    • Axis & atlas (C1 and C2)
    • Cervical example
    • Thoracic example
    • Lumbar example
  • Long bones (loose bones and a sample arm and leg), including:
    • Femur
    • Tibia
    • Fibula
    • Humerus
    • Radius
    • Ulna
  • A knee model — Includes bones and ligaments
  • Extra bones for the "name that bone" bonus activity

Lab Setup

Board Notes

• Please hand in:
  • Post Lab 5
  • Pre Lab 6
• Work with a partner, talk about what you are looking at
• Point at the bones with a probe or your finger – please do not point with pencils or pens
• Remember to do the "Name that bone" activity before you leave

Setup Photos

I STILL NEED TO ADD THESE

References

• Reading over the lab.
• Watching the dissection video (link below).
• Getting a good night's rest.
• Eating breakfast before coming to the lab.

• Heart Dissection (26:32 min) by Learn Basic Biology (2020)

Purchasing Information

• A class set of dissection trays (glass or plastic foodware dishes also work fine)
• A class set of dissection scissors (scalpels do not work as well for this type of dissection)
• A class set of probes
• Latex or vinyl gloves — For students who wish to use them
  • Buy medium to extra large sizes (smalls seem to only fit children)
• Fresh or preserved pig hearts (see discussion above) — 1 heart for every 2 students
  • Keep a couple of spare hearts in case any are damaged.

Lab Setup

Preparations

• Preorder and prep the pig hearts.

Lab Activity Setup

• You can spend some time rinsing the hearts out for the students so they do not find huge blood clots.

Board Notes

• Please hand in:
  • Post Lab 6
  • Pre Lab 7
• Work with a partner
• Be safe:
  • Be careful with scissors
  • Sit down if you feel lightheaded
  • Ask for help if you need it
• Dispose of hearts in the waste bag provided
• Clean your dishes well with warm, soapy water
• Wipe your lab bench down with disinfectant

Setup Photos

References

• Practice a blood typing technique.
• Learn to make inferences about antigens, antibodies and blood type compatibility.

Purchasing Information

• Ward's Simulated ABO Blood Typing Kit — 1 complete kit for every 2 students
  • Find it on the Ward's Science website: Simulated ABO and Rh Blood Typing Lab Activity (Ward's Science, n.d.a).
  • This kit comes with:
    • Blood typing trays
    • Mixing sticks
    • 4 squeeze bottles of synthetic blood (Mr. Smith, Mr. Jones, Ms. Brown and Mr. Green)
    • Squeeze bottles of antibodies — Anti-A, Anti-B, and Anti-Rh
  • If you run low on supplies, you can also buy a refill kit: Simulated ABO Blood Typing Kit (Ward's Science, n.d.b).
• Ward's Simulated Blood Typing "Whodunnit Kit" — 1 complete kit for every 2 students
  • Find it on the Ward's Science website: Simulated Blood Typing "Whodunit" Kit (Ward's Science, n.d.c).
  • This kit comes with:
    • Blood typing trays
    • Mixing sticks
    • 6 squeeze bottles of synthetic blood (Victim, Crime Scene, Suspects 1-4)
    • Squeeze bottles of antibodies — Anti-A, Anti-B, and Anti-Rh
  • If you run low on supplies, you can also buy a refill kit.

Lab Setup

Lab Activity Setup

• 1 vial of each of the 4 synthetic bloods
• 1 vial of each of the 3 types of antibodies
• 2 mixing trays
• 2 mixing sticks

• 1 vial of each of the four suspects' blood and the murder scene blood
• 1 vial of each of the 3 types of antibodies
• 2 mixing trays
• 2 mixing sticks

Board Notes

• Please hand in:
  • Post Lab 7
  • Pre Lab 8
• Work with a partner
• Make sure to mix the antibody and blood for at least 20 seconds (sing "Happy Birthday" in your head)
• Clean out trays right after you record results (if the trays sit too long, it wrecks them)
• Do not let your skin come into contact with the "blood" or "antibodies" if at all possible
• Return your activity baggie with all the supplies it came with
• Wipe down your lab bench when you are all done

Setup Photos

Media Attributions

• Figures 8.1 to 8.4, by the author, are under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license.

References

The web version of NAME OF SITE AND HYPERLINK has been designed to meet Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0, level AA. In addition, it follows all guidelines in Appendix A: Checklist for Accessibility of the Accessibility Toolkit – 2nd Edition.

Accessibility Checklist