General Zoology: Compilation of Laboratory Activtes
General Zoology: Compilation of Laboratory Activtes
General Zoology: Compilation of Laboratory Activtes
COMPILATION OF
LABORATORY ACTIVTES
LEGENDS:
Set your microscope on a tabletop or other flat, sturdy surface where you will have plenty of
room to work. Plug the microscope’s power cord into an outlet. (Note: some compound
microscopes don’t use electric lighting, but have a mirror to focus natural light instead.)
Switch on your microscope’s light source and then adjust the diaphragm to the largest hole
diameter, allowing the greatest amount of light through. If you have an iris diaphragm, slide the
lever till the most light comes through. See the diagram below for help locating these parts.
Rotate the nosepiece to the lowest-power objective usually 4x for 40x magnification). It is easiest
to scan a slide at a low setting, since you have a wider field of view at low power.
Place a microscope slide on the stage, either under the stage clips or clipped onto the mechanical
stage if your microscope has one. A prepared slide works best when you do this for the first time.
(If you do not have a prepared slide, place a strand of colored yarn or thread on a blank slide
and place a coverslip over it.) Move the slide until the specimen is under the objective lens.
Adjust the large coarse focus knob until the specimen is in focus. Slowly move the slide to center
the specimen under the lens, if necessary. Do this by nudging it gently with your fingers or by
turning the slide control knobs if you have a mechanical stage.
Adjust the small fine focus knob until the specimen is clearly in focus. Then adjust the diaphragm
to get the best lighting. Start with the most light and gradually lessen it until the specimen image
has clear, sharp contrast.
Scan the slide (right to left and top to bottom) at low power to get an overview of the specimen.
Then center the part of the specimen you want to view at higher power.
Rotate the nosepiece to the 10x objective for 100x magnification. Refocus and view your
specimen carefully. Adjust the lighting again until the image is most clear (you will need more
light for higher power). Repeat with the 40x objective for 400x magnification, which will enable
you to see all of the specimen detail that’s necessary for high school biology lab work.
Optional: If your microscope has a 100x oil-immersion lens, you’ll need to put 1-2 drops of
immersion oil over the slide coverslip (the piece of glass over the middle of the slide) before
viewing it at highest power. Move the 100x objective lens into position, and then slowly move the
stage up until the lens makes contact with the oil. Continue focusing with the coarse focus knob
until the color or blurred outline of the specimen appears. Finish focusing with the fine focus
knob. With the 100x lens, you will be able to see additional cell detail, but you will need to take
extra care with focus and contrast for a clear image. When you are done using the slide, clean
the oil off of the slide and the lens with lens cleaning paper and solution.
PREPARATION OF WET MOUNT:
Cheek cells
LETTER “e”:
The mouth is in the center of the underside, ventral or oral surface of the starfish body. On the oral surface of each
arm are open ambulacral grooves extending from the mouth to the tip of each arm. These deep furrows contain
two or four rows of tube feet, podia, with protruding suckers; features unique to the echinoderms. At the end of
each arm or ray is an eyespot containing red pigment which allows the starfish to sense and respond to light. In
preserved specimens, the eyespot can be located with a magnifying glass or dissecting scope by spreading the tube
feet at the tip of the ray. The spines on the oral surface are softer and bend to cover the mouth of the starfish as
well as the ambulacral grooves. They are basically for protection.
How to dissect a starfish:
Skeletal: Cut one arm off your specimen and study the cross section of the stump. Note that the cavity in the arm is
an extension of the body coelom. Make a cut up the side of the severed arm and then across the top to allow you to
open the body wall and view the structure and pattern of the inner skeletal framework. Observe the network of the
ossicles in the aboral, or dorsal surface and sides of the body wall. The largest ossicles, ambulacral ossicles, support
the ambulacral groove and provide attachment for the tube feet.
Digestive: Sever the tip from an undissected arm and then cut up each side of the arm towards the disk. Carefully
raise the body wall, disconnecting the mesenteries of connecting tissues that attach the internal organs to the wall.
Cut across the aboral surface where the arm joins the disk.
Continue to cut along the edges of at least three of the arms, two of which should be on either side of the
madreporite. Also cut along the outer edge of the disk, and around the madreporite. Carefully remove the upper
surface, separating the organs from the internal surface of the body wall by clipping the mesenteries, but leaving the
madreporite intact.
Internal natomy of a starfish:
Interphase
The mitotic phase is a relatively short period of the cell cycle. It alternates with the much longer interphase, where
the cell prepares itself for the process of cell division. Interphase is divided into three phases: G1 (first gap), S
(synthesis), and G2 (second gap). During all three parts of interphase, the cell grows by producing proteins and
cytoplasmic organelles. However, chromosomes are replicated only during the S phase. Thus, a cell grows (G1),
continues to grow as it duplicates its chromosomes (S), grows more and prepares for mitosis (G2), and finally divides
(M) before restarting the cycle.
Prophase
During prophase, which occurs after G2 interphase, the cell prepares to divide by tightly condensing its chromosomes
and initiating mitotic spindle formation. During interphase, the genetic material in the nucleus consists of loosely
packed chromatin. At the onset of prophase, chromatin fibers condense into discrete chromosomes that are typically
visible at high magnification through a light microscope. In this stage, chromosomes are long, thin and thread-like.
Each chromosome has two chromatids. The two chromatids are joined at the centromere.
Prometaphase
At the beginning of prometaphase in animal cells, phosphorylation of nuclear lamins causes the nuclear envelope to
disintegrate into small membrane vesicles. As this happens, microtubules invade the nuclear space.
In late prometaphase, kinetochore microtubules begin to search for and attach to
chromosomal kinetochores. A kinetochore is a proteinaceous microtubule-binding structure that forms on the
chromosomal centromere during late prophase.
Metaphase
After the microtubules have located and attached to the kinetochores in prometaphase, the two centrosomes begin
pulling the chromosomes towards opposite ends of the cell. The resulting tension causes the chromosomes to align
along the metaphase plate or equatorial plane, an imaginary line that is centrally located between the two
centrosomes (at approximately the midline of the cell).
Anaphase
During anaphase A, the cohesins that bind sister chromatids together are cleaved, forming two identical daughter
chromosomes. Shortening of the kinetochore microtubules pulls the newly formed daughter chromosomes to
opposite ends of the cell. During anaphase B, polar microtubules push against each other, causing the cell to
elongate. In late anaphase, chromosomes also reach their overall maximal condensation level, to
help chromosome segregation and the re-formation of the nucleus. In most animal cells, anaphase A precedes
anaphase B, but some vertebrate egg cells demonstrate the opposite order of events.
Telophase
Telophase is a reversal of prophase and prometaphase events. At telophase, the polar microtubules continue to
lengthen, elongating the cell even more. If the nuclear envelope has broken down, a new nuclear envelope forms
using the membrane vesicles of the parent cell's old nuclear envelope. The new envelope forms around each set of
separated daughter chromosomes (though the membrane does not enclose the centrosomes) and the nucleolus
reappears. Both sets of chromosomes, now surrounded by new nuclear membrane, begin to "relax" or decondense.
Mitosis is complete. Each daughter nucleus has an identical set of chromosomes. Cell division may or may not occur
at this time depending on the organism.
Cytokinesis
Cytokinesis is not a phase of mitosis but rather a separate process, necessary for completing cell division. In animal
cells, a cleavage furrow (pinch) containing a contractile ring develops where the metaphase plate used to be,
pinching off the separated nuclei.
Meiosis is a specialized type of cell division that reduces the chromosome number by half, creating four haploid
cells, each genetically distinct from the parent cell that gave rise to them. This process occurs in all sexually
reproducing single-celled and multicellular eukaryotes, including animals, plants, and fungi.
In meiosis, DNA replication is followed by two rounds of cell division to produce four daughter cells, each with half
the number of chromosomes as the original parent cell.[1] The two meiotic divisions are known as Meiosis
I and Meiosis II.
Prophase I
Prophase I is typically the longest phase of meiosis. During prophase I, homologous chromosomes pair and exchange
DNA (homologous recombination). This often results in chromosomal crossover. This process is critical for pairing
between homologous chromosomes and hence for accurate segregation of the chromosomes at the first meiosis
division. The new combinations of DNA created during crossover are a significant source of genetic recombination,
and result in new combinations of alleles, which may be beneficial. The paired and replicated chromosomes are
called bivalents or tetrads, which have two chromosomes and four chromatids, with one chromosome coming from
each parent. The process of pairing the homologous chromosomes is called synapsis. At this stage, non-sister
chromatids may cross-over at points called chiasmata.
Metaphase I
Homologous pairs move together along the metaphase plate: As kinetochore microtubules from both centrosomes
attach to their respective kinetochores, the paired homologous chromosomes align along an equatorial plane that
bisects the spindle, due to continuous counterbalancing forces exerted on the bivalents by the microtubules
emanating from the two kinetochores of homologous chromosomes.
Anaphase I
Kinetochore microtubules shorten, pulling homologous chromosomes (which consist of a pair of sister chromatids) to
opposite poles. Nonkinetochore microtubules lengthen, pushing the centrosomes farther apart.
Telophase I
The first meiotic division effectively ends when the chromosomes arrive at the poles. Each daughter cell now has half
the number of chromosomes but each chromosome consists of a pair of chromatids
Meiosis II
Meiosis II is the second meiotic division, and usually involves equational segregation, or separation of sister
chromatids. Mechanically, the process is similar to mitosis, though its genetic results are fundamentally different. The
end result is production of four haploid cells.
Prophase II
We see the disappearance of the nucleoli and the nuclear envelope again as well as the shortening and thickening of
the chromatids. Centrosomes move to the polar regions and arrange spindle fibers for the second meiotic division.
Metaphase II,
The centromeres contain two kinetochores that attach to spindle fibers from the centrosomes at opposite poles. The
new equatorial metaphase plate is rotated by 90 degrees when compared to meiosis I, perpendicular to the previous
plate. And they are aligned at the spindle equator again.
Anaphase II,
In which the remaining centromeric cohesin is cleaved allowing the sister chromatids to segregate. The sister
chromatids by convention are now called sister chromosomes as they move toward opposing poles.
Telophase II,
Which is similar to telophase I, and is marked by decondensation and lengthening of the chromosomes and the
disassembly of the spindle. Nuclear envelopes reform and cleavage or cell plate formation eventually produces a total
of four daughter cells, each with a haploid set of chromosomes. Meiosis is now complete and ends up with four new
daughter cells.
Shrimp is used to refer to some decapod crustaceans, although the exact animals covered can vary. Used broadly, it
may cover any of the groups with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most
commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata.
External anatomy of shrimp
The function of the antennular flagella has not been fully established, but are traditionally regarded as
being chemosensory. Their location at the inhalent end of the respiratory tube also suggests this function.
Shrimp have 5 pairs of pereopods. The first 3 pairs are used for feeding: the small chelae at the end of the
pereopods are well adapted for probing the substratum and catching and holding small animals found there.
The last 2 pairs of pereopods function as walking legs, but often are assisted by the pleopods so that the
movement is a gliding motion rather than a walk.
Shrimp have 5 pairs of pleopods. The endopods of first two pleopods are always sexually dimorphic, being
modified in the male into the petasma and appendix masculine. The other pleopods are similar in size and
structure. The pleopods beat rhythmically to give forward swimming, during which the pereopods are folded
up underneath the body
Abdominal segments alarmed a penaeid will characteristically give a number of rapid, powerful flexures
of the abdomen, driving the prawn swiftly backwards, often with sufficient force to drive it out of the water
in the shallows. When the abdomen is fully flexed, the sharp carina on the dorsal abdomen becomes the
leading edge, the abdominal appendages are covered by the tail fan and the thoracic appendages are folded
under the body.
The uropods are the paired appendages of abdominal somite 6. Together with the terminal telson they
form a tail fan, used for backward escape propulsion ("backward flip")
Telson is used as a paddle in the escape reaction, whereby an alarmed animal rapidly flexes its tail, causing
it to dart backwards.
Antenna to sense for something.
Carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups
Rostrum is the forward extension of the carapace in front of the eyes. It is generally a rigid structure, but
can be connected by a hinged joint, as seen in Leptostraca.
Internal anatomy of shrimp
Testis- testis is the male reproductive gland in all animals, including humans. It is homologous to the
female ovary. Are to produce both sperm and androgens, primarily testosterone.
Oviduct- passageway from the ovaries to the outside of the body.
Heart- heart is a muscular organ in most animals, which pumps blood through the blood vessels of
the circulatory system.
Stomach- stomach is a muscular, hollow organ in the gastrointestinal tract of humans and many other
animals, including several invertebrates. The stomach has a dilated structure and functions as a
vital digestive organ
Bladder- bladder is a hollow muscular organ in humans and some other animals that collects and
stores urine from the kidneys before disposal by urination.
Anus- anus is an opening at the opposite end of an animal's digestive tract from the mouth. Its
function is to control the expulsion of feces, unwanted semi-solid matter produced during digestion
Intestine- where the digested food pass thru
Brain- brain is an organ that serves as the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and
most invertebrate animal.
How to dissect a srimp:
To dissect a shrimp you need the proper tools and materials: a scalpel, some tweezers, a pair of dissection
scissors, pins/toothpicks, a dissection pan, hand lenses/magnifying glass, gloves, and paper towels. The
shrimp itself can be purchased from a local bait shop, seafood market, or a laboratory science company.
Identify the dorsal (back) side of the shrimp. The dorsal side has darker shading than the ventral (front)
side. Place your shrimp on the dissection plate. Identify the following external parts of the shrimp.
Then you need to face it on its ventral part of the body then dissect it using a scalpel to see inside its body
or the internal organs of it.
While dissecting the body you need to pull the hard part of its head the carapace to see what is inside of it.
After you dissect the internal part then you need to identify the internal body parts of it.
Once you have finished dissecting your shrimp, place all of the dissected organs back into the cavity of the
shrimp and dispose it. Carefully clean the tools and wipe down your work surface with a cleaning solution.
Wash your hands after finishing the clean-up.