2003 Volume 43 Issue 3 Pages 108-116
The construction and function of the bodies of higher organisms are studied in connection with the cell mainly in high school biology. However, it is difficult to make students understand that the bodies consist of many differentiated cells, which organize various tissues and organs. The scanning electron microscope (SEM) has been used to show not only the spatial relationships of cells forming tissues and organs, but also the existence of cell organelles in each cell. The application of either SEM or SEM micrographs to high school biology may be expected to be effective in showing that the cells are constituents of the body. The present investigation was carried out to examine whether the three-dimensional intracellular fine structure of leaf cells in Camellia japonica L. var. japonica, a typical teaching material, was observable, using a conventional SEM. Though the distribution of cell organelles was indistinguishable in most palisade tissue cells, the profiles of chloroplasts, each with thylakoid membranes, and nuclei were observed within the parietal cytoplasm of most spongy tissue cells. A possible application of SEM or SEM micrographs to the classes of hierh school biology will be proposed.
