levo
Log inStart

Cells and Microscopy

Blood smears, staining and microscope drawings

  • 3 things to know
  • Components 01, 02 and 03

Overview

Recall questions on preparing and drying a blood smear safely, differential staining with Leishman's stain, recognising erythrocytes, neutrophils, lymphocytes, monocytes and platelets in a stained smear, and the conventions for biological drawings, plan drawings and high-power drawings.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

Your recallNot started
Key term

Why does Leishman's stain colour different parts of a blood cell differently?

Key term

Why is a blood smear allowed to air dry before it is stained?

Key term

State two safety precautions taken when preparing blood smears in a school laboratory.

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Describe how a blood smear is prepared on a slide.

    Model answer

    A small drop of blood is placed near one end of a clean slide, a second slide is held against it at about 30 to 45 degrees and drawn back into the drop so the blood spreads along the edge, then pushed steadily forward to leave a thin even film that is allowed to air dry.

  2. 2

    Why must a blood smear be a thin film?

    Model answer

    So that the cells lie in a single layer and can be seen and identified individually instead of overlapping one another.

  3. 3

    Why is a blood smear allowed to air dry before it is stained?

    Model answer

    Drying makes the cells adhere to the slide so that they are not washed off during staining and rinsing.

  4. 4

    State two safety precautions taken when preparing blood smears in a school laboratory.

    Model answer

    Only supplied, screened mammalian blood is used rather than the students' own blood, and gloves are worn with all slides and glassware disinfected and disposed of as clinical waste.

  5. 5

    What is meant by differential staining?

    Model answer

    It is the use of a stain, or a mixture of stains, that colours different cell types or different cell components differently so that they can be told apart.

  6. 6

    Which stain is used to identify leucocytes in a blood smear?

    Model answer

    Leishman's stain.

See the rest and revise

Other ways to work this

The same content, four other ways.

What is inside Levo

Six ways to work the same material.

1Closed book
2Open book
3Closed book

The 3-step method, run for you

Answer cold, learn it, then prove it stuck. Levo tracks the jump between your first attempt and your last.

The Developing Cell: Cell Division and Cell Differentiation
The Developing Individual: Meiosis, Growth and Development
The Development of Species: Evolution and Classification
Cells and Microscopy

Cram a whole paper in one sitting

Sort every topic into what you know and what you do not, then drill only the weak ones.

measles and .
tuberculosismalariacholera

Blank Blitz makes facts automatic

Rapid timed gap-fills on the terms and numbers you need to recall without thinking.

ABrain tissue is metabolically expensive.
BA high-quality diet is needed to sustain it.
CThe large head makes birth difficult.

Build It gets the exam shape right

Assemble a full-mark answer from its marking points, in the order an examiner wants them.

Core body temperature is normally about 37 °C.
TrueFalse

Test It catches misconceptions

Spot the fault in a statement. The traps are the mistakes students actually make.

721941163128510

Brain Breaks between sessions

Short focus games to reset attention, so the next set lands better than the last.

Every question in Cells and Microscopy, on a schedule.

Attempt a question from memory, write the correct version, then attempt it again. Levo records the jump between your first attempt and your last, and brings each question back on the day you are due to forget it.

Start revising, £5 a monthSee how the method works

Or £46 a year, about £3.83 a month. Cancel anytime.