Grade 7, Science Notes:
Topic: living things and their environment
Important:
The history of the cell started with the invention of the microscope in the 1600s. Because of the
limitations of the human eye, scientists during this period concentrated on developing tools to examine
very small objects.
1. Anton Van Leeuwenhoek (1632 – 1723)
A Dutch naturalist and craftsmen, is known to have made over 500 microscopes throughout his lifetime.
With his microscopes, Leeuwenhoek first observed what he called animalcules, known today as protozoa,
in pond water and rainwater.
2. Robert Hooke
An English botanist, examined the thin slices of cork from the bark of an oak tree with a crude compound
microscope, Hooke observed empty, honeycomb like boxes which he called “cells” because they
resembled the box – like rooms of monks in monasteries.
3. Robert Brown
He identified a dark stained structure at the center of every cell he observed. He referred to such as
nucleus.
4. Matthias Schleiden
A German botanist proposed, as a result of his experiments that all plants are made up of cells.
5. Theodor Schwann
A German physiologist observed and proposed that all animals are made up of cells.
6. Rudolf Virchow
A German pathologist concluded and proposed that cells can arise only from the division of a previously
existing cells.
The cell theory:
1. All organisms are composed of one or more cells
2. The cell is the basic unit of structure and function of all organisms
3. All cells arise from preexisting cells.
Types of microscopes:
1. Light Compound Microscope
- One of the most common microscopes in schools. It uses light and lenses to magnify objects up to about
1500 larger than its original size.
2. Stereomicroscope (Dissecting Microscope)
- it is used to look at the external structures of a specimen, such as insect.
3. Light fluorescent Microscope
- Illuminates objects stained with fluorescent dyes (colors that will glow in the dark).
4. Confocal Scanning Microscope
- It used to examine the three - dimensional structure of a cell or organelle without cutting the specimen
into sections. It uses laser beams to scan across the specimen.
5. Electron Microscope
-
It uses beams of electrons to enlarge objects up to 250 000 times larger than their original size
also the resolution is up to 1000 times more powerful than the light microscope.
a. Transmission Electron Microscope
- is used to study the internal structures of cells through section specimens, the specimen should be
nonliving.
b. Scanning Electron Microscope
- is used to examine the surfaces or shapes of specimen such as virus.