Meade 900X Instruction Manual download pdf (Page 13)

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slide and place to the microscope stage.

Observe the slide and write down your observa-

tions. You will see hundreds of starch grains.

Take a few kernels from an uncooked ear of

corn. Scrape off some shavings and make a

smear as you did with the potato. Compare how

the corn is different from potato. Create smears

of other foods such as apples, bananas, peach-

es, and pineapples. You will observe that these

items have membranes rather than starch.

To save your slides, put gum media on a clean

dry slide and then position your specimen in the

media. Place a cover slip over the media and

attach a label.

Before you make a permanent mount, you may

wish to stain the specimen first.

Staining Smears

Not all specimens are easily observed in the

microscope. Staining specimens make them

easier to see. Staining is not difficult, but it does

require care. It is recommended that you keep

paper towels nearby as the process can be

messy.Before you prepare the smear, you will

need to prepare the eosin. See note at the left.

First, create a fresh smear (you may use shav-

ings from an apple or other piece of fruit), as

described previously. Do not place any water or

a cover slip on the specimen. Set the slide aside

to dry, if necessary.

When the slide is dry, use the eyedropper to

place one drop of eosin (

F, Fig. 1) on the slide.

From the cup labeled flush, draw up water into

the eyedropper. Dispose of the water into the

cup labeled waste. Perform this operation a few

times to clean out all the eosin from the eye-

dropper.

Tilt the slide from side to side to spread the stain

over the specimen. Remove the excess fluid to

the waste cup. Put down the slide and wait about

two minutes.

To flush away the excess stain and to stop the

staining action, hold the slide at an angle over

Note:

In order to stain a

slide, you will need

to prepare the

eosin:

Without opening

the container, look

closely at the

container marked

“Eosin (

F, Fig. 1).”

You’ll notice a few

grains of ‘dust’ at

the bottom of the

container. These

are the grains of

eosin. Remove the

container’s lid and

use the eye

dropper (

N, Fig. 1)

to fill the containe

with water. Gently

stir the mixture.

You have now

prepared the eosin

for use.

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