NAME PERIOD
Matter is anything that takes up space and has mass. That includes a lot of things! Some things, like a mountain, a house or a baseball are large. It is obvious that they are made up of matter. But some things are so small that we cannot see them. Are they made of matter too? A microscope is a device used by scientists to observe things that are too small to see with the unaided eye. They can make things seem 100 times bigger than they truly are. All of the things that you will look at today are made of matter. Believe it or not, they are made up of A LOT of matter. The building blocks of matter are extremely small. Hopefully this exercise will give you a sense of just how small matter can be.
You will go to your lab tables and use the microscopes. You will have about 6 minutes for everyone to make an observation and make a quick sketch. IF YOU FINISH BEFORE THE 6 MINUTES ARE UP, USE THAT TIME TO ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ON THE LAST PAGE!
Lab Table #1
Table salt is really a mineral known as Halite. Halite is made of sodium chloride, or NaCl.
Where do you think most of the table salt you put on your food comes from?
When you look at table salt with your eyes, it looks like a course powder. Actually, halite has a natural crystal shape.
· Observe the slide under low power. Describe what you see, then make a sketch in the space below.
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Lab Table #2
Cells are the building blocks of life. All living things are made up of cells. The slide at Table 2 contains a thin sliver of onion skin. When you are eating plants or animals, you are eating cells. Describe what you see then make a sketch in the box below.
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Table #3
Have you ever tried to swat a fly? How about a dragonfly? Pretty hard isn’t it. Most animals like fish, birds and people have only two eyes. A dragonfly however has 20,000 eyes (they are called ommatidia). With all of those eyes, flies and dragonflies have excellent vision that is very sensitive to movement.
· Observe the dragonfly’s eyes under low power, then high power with the microscope. Describe what you see, then make a sketch in the space below.
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Lab Table #4
One slide has a small section of a dragonfly wing. Dragonflies have been around for 350 million years (That’s before the dinosaurs folks!) 350 million years ago, dragonflies were a little different. The most obvious difference was their wingspans. The wingspan of an ancient dragonfly was about 76 centimeters (check that out on your metric ruler!) How would you like to have one of those land on you? Or eat one on Survivor? YUCK!
The other slide has a small section of a rabbits tongue! You can actually see the taste buds!
· Look at either the tongue OR the wing under low power, then high power with the microscope. Describe what you see, then make a sketch in the space below.
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Lab Table #5
The slide at your table has a few drops of pond scum from the pond below the soccer field. See if you can find anything interesting.
· Observe the slide under low power. Describe what you see, then make a sketch in the space below.
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Lab Table #6
Examine a specimen of anything that you wish. I’ll have some objects for you, but if you want to check something out for your own, you can.
What is your specimen?
· Observe your specimen under low power. Describe what you see, then make a sketch in the space below.
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Questions.
1. What are the three different magnification powers available on this microscope
2. What is the large black dial on the side used for? What does it do to the base that the slide sits upon?
3. Remember those things in the pond water. What do you think those were? Do you think there are living things smaller than that?
4. What object did you like to look at the most? Why?
5. If could look at anything under a microscope, what would it be? Explain why you would like to see it?