Question

What might a student do to see that the human body is made up of cells?

Answer 1

This is a really good question that could have a lot of different answers! The human body is made up of many different types of cells. Humans have roughly 200 different types of cells. This includes blood cells, skin cells, brain cells, bone cells (several types), muscle cells, and many others. Most cells can only bee seen under a microscope. One very non-invasive and easy way a student could see that the human body is made of cells is to swab his or her cheek, transfer the cells onto a slide, and look at them under a microscope. 

In order to be able to take a look at your cheek cells, you simply have to follow a few steps:

1. Use the end of a toothpick to gently scrape cheek cells from the inside of your cheek.
2. Place the swabbed end of the toothpick and lay it on a microscope slide.
3. Gently take a pipette and place one droplet of water on the middle of the slide. Swirl the toothpick around in the water droplet to release the cheek cells into the water. 
4. Add one droplet of methylene blue (a dye) to dye the cheek cells so you can view them under the microscope. Place a cover slide over the mixture.
5. Use a light microscope to view your cells!

Hope this helps!