Fruits Magnified
Magnifying glasses, stereo or digital microscopes are very easy to use, interesting to play with and equally rewarding. There is a vast range of things people usually look at under a microscope, with leaves, dirt, gemstones, circuit boards and insects being the most common ones. The amount of detail you can get through one of these tools is unimaginable if you have never used a microscope before. However, the trouble of learning how to use a microscope is quickly forgotten once you see something novel in a familiar object. And that is exactly what we will be doing today – we will be looking at the everyday fruit.
A very important lesson was learned in the process of undertaking this activity. Fruits look very, very different under the microscope and some will may ultimately make you see them in a different light from now on.
Here’s a quick peek of two fruits that we observed in our showroom – A kiwi and a strawberry.
Kiwi
White veins stood out when looking at the Kiwifruit under a microscope. White veins could be found through the inside of the kiwi stretching out from the white core. The seeds were also more brown-red in colour when observed under a microscope compared to looking at it without any tools.
Strawberry
Look at the tiny white fibre-like hairs coming out of the holes in the strawberry. These hairs were found scattered throughout the outside of the strawberry. There were also black stem-like objects found in various seeds of the strawberry.
Now it’s your turn to study some fruit. Get a large variety of strange looking fruit and see how they compare under a microscope.
Studying Fruit under a Microscope
Materials
- Many different types of fruit
- Magnifying glass, stereo microscope or digital microscope
- Thick cardboard paper
- Scissors
Instructions
- Cut a thin slice of each fruit
- Using some tissue paper, dab off the excess juices or liquid.
- Carefully place it onto the thick cardboard paper, careful of not letting any liquid soak through.
- Observe each fruit under the microscope and note any minor details that you observe (eg. changes in texture, colours of the seeds, veins, tiny hair).
Activity
Write down any observations you made while completing this task. What did you expect to see? Was there anything you saw today that you found different from what you imagined?
If you have any questions about what you have learned today, feel free to contact us via support@opticscentral.com.au or simply pop a comment down below. We’d love to hear from you!