how can i test an object to see if it is composed of one or more cells?

  • Thread starter Thread starter ccdnh<3
  • Start date Start date
C

ccdnh<3

Guest
i have to perform a science experiment for biology. i was given an unidentified object to test and see if it is alive. all living things are composed of one or more cells but im not sure how to test this. help please!
the objects are small (mm), brown, hard, circular, look like tiny snails, but i suspect that they are a type of seed
 
Cells can be stained. How big is the "object'? Is it simply a slurry of material (liquid) or solid? And how large? And of what consistency?

If it is relative soft, (i.e., contains water) you can slice thru it very thinly, stain it, put it on a slide, put a slip cover on that slide, and examine it under a microscope. The stain will delineate the outlive of the cell wall or membrane. And depending upon the stain, and the size of the cells, some other structures too.

In the plant elodea ( a plant which grows in water) even without stain, you can see the chloroplasts.

If the "object" is absolutely rock hard, it likely is bone (long dead, and the cell walls no longer there, just the minerals of the bone), or rock, and thus, you would see no cells.
 
Back
Top