Tissues under the microscope – plant and animal histology slide box

What it shows

A tissue is a group of similar cells that work together. This slide box holds 20 stained sections and smears drawn to scale: plant meristematic, simple and complex permanent and protective tissues, and the four animal tissue types, epithelial, connective, muscular and nervous. Each slide shows the features used to recognise it, such as thickened corners in collenchyma, sieve plates in phloem, goblet cells and microvilli in the gut lining, intercalated discs in heart muscle and Haversian systems in bone. The cards say where the tissue is found and how its structure suits its function. Cells are drawn from typical sizes, not photographs.

How to use

Open Slide box and tap a slide, or choose it in Slide. Start with ×4, focus with Coarse focus and then Fine focus, and move to ×10 and ×40. Choose Label and a name to place it on the image, or Measure to drag the ruler and press Record. In Quiz, the names are hidden: choose the tissue and its group and press Check.

Parameters you can change

• Screen Slide box, Microscope
• Slide Meristem (root tip), Parenchyma, Collenchyma, Sclerenchyma, Xylem (L.S.), Phloem (L.S.), Epidermis (leaf peel), Squamous epithelium, Cuboidal epithelium, Columnar epithelium, Ciliated epithelium, Areolar tissue, Adipose tissue, Hyaline cartilage, Compact bone, Blood smear, Striated muscle, Smooth muscle, Cardiac muscle, Neurons
• Mode Study, Quiz
• Objective ×4, ×10, ×40

Questions to explore

1. Which features let you tell skeletal, smooth and cardiac muscle apart?
2. How does the shape of the cells in the small intestine help digested food to be absorbed?
3. Why are red blood cells smaller than the field of view at ×400 yet still easy to measure?