Students learn the parts of a light microscope and what each one does, calculate total magnification, estimate the size of cells from the field of view, and order the steps for preparing a stained wet-mount slide of onion cells. They finish by explaining how to focus a microscope correctly and safely.
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Curriculum: New Zealand Curriculum. We show specific outcome codes only where they have been verified against the official curriculum document.
Completed: Using a Microscope: Parts, Magnification and Slide Preparation
Year 8 students (typically ages 12–13) working on cells & classification. It is pitched at level 2 · standard.
Yes. The PDF includes a full answer sheet with model answers and success criteria where there is more than one good answer. You can also view the answers online.
About 35 minutes for 14 questions. Short, regular sessions work best: two or three a week beats one long one.
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Try Plant and Animal Cells: Structures and Functions.
Success TutoringWorksheetsYear 8 · Science · Cells & ClassificationName
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Total magnification = eyepiece × objective. Always start on low power.
Read the passage, then answer the questions.
A light microscope uses lenses to magnify small objects such as cells. Light shines up from a lamp or mirror through a thin specimen on a glass slide, then through the objective lens and the eyepiece lens to your eye.
Most school microscopes have three or four objective lenses on a turning nosepiece, often 4×, 10× and 40×. The coarse and fine focus knobs move the stage up and down to bring the image into focus.
Show your working.
Total magnification = eyepiece magnification × objective magnification.
The field of view is the circle of light you see. To estimate a cell's size, divide the width of the field of view by the number of cells that fit across it. Cells are usually measured in micrometres (µm): 1 mm = 1000 µm.
Preview — the PDF contains the full resource and answer sheet.
Students learn how scientists group living things by shared features, starting with vertebrates and invertebrates and the five vertebrate…
Students learn that all living things are made of cells, the job of each cell structure (nucleus, cell membrane, cytoplasm, mitochondria,…
Worksheet · Year 9 · Cells & Classification · Level 2 · Standard
Worksheet · Year 9 · Cells & Classification · Level 2 · Standard
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