A slide show explaining how we know that fruits and veggies are made of cells.

1. Are Fruits and Vegetables
Made of Cells?
A report by Tamera Anthony, Shaylyn Fetterman,
Jenna Knox, and Angellica Sterling

2. Are Fruits and Vegetables
Made of Cells?
Fruits and vegetables are indeed made
of cells. Through research and our own tests
we have come to this conclusion.

3. The Evidence
How did we come to this answer? In school, we
are all taught from a very early age that cells are
the building blocks of life. Every living thing is made
of the microscopic things. With this question it was
just a matter of taking what we are told and testing
it.

4. The Evidence
To gain knowledge on cells, we first collected
images of cheek and onion cells. These are common
tests that have been proven by many people to truly
show cells, not just little things that look like them.

5. The Evidence
Pictured here is a group of
cheek cells collected from one
of our group members. With a
toothpick, we lightly scraped
the inside of her cheek to
collect a small amount of cells. The end was rubbed on a
slide and dyed with one drop of Methylene Blue dye.
Then, a slide cover was placed on top and both were
inserted into our microscope. We looked at the slide under
400x magnification (the high-power objective on our
class’s microscopes). The cells were manually sized under
the low-power objective-100x magnification-and found to
be approximately 60 microns. We then attached the
provided Motic camera and took pictures.

6. The Evidence
When the pictures were
taken all of our members
looked for the cytoplasm,
nucleus, and cell membrane.
We labeled them, as you can see in the picture. Looking at
these cells aided us in our decision because it gave us an
idea of what we would find in other cells. It also showed
us how they might look.

7. The Evidence
On the left is a picture of
the structured cells found in
an onion. Labeled are the
nucleus, cytoplasm, and cell
wall.
To get this picture, we broke a small ring of an onion
and pulled off a small sheet of tissues. This was placed on
a glass slide and dyed with two drops of iodine. A slide
cover was put on and the completed slide was placed on
our microscope’s stage. Using the Motic camera, we took a
picture of the onion cells on the highest objective and
determined size manually. An onion cell is approximately
200 microns.

8. The Evidence
Our group looked for the
same things in the onion cell
that we had in the cheek cells.
Using a few online pictures as
reference, we labeled them as you can see in the
attached photo. As we looked, we noticed that the cells
were shaped differently and all had a very uniform shape
to them. These cells provided a different example of cells
for reference when looking at other fruit and vegetables
as we answered our question.

9. Evidence Break Down
 Cheek Cell
 Shape- irregular, nearly
circular
 Size- 60 microns
 Onion Cell
 Shape- fairly uniform,
rectangular
 Size- 200 microns

10. Evidence Break Down
 Compare
 Both cells have a visible
nucleus and cytoplasm.
 They are found in living
things.
 Contrast
 Cheek cells have only a cell
membrane while onion cells
have a cell wall.
 Animal cells are circular
and non-uniform, plant
cells are rectangular and
very close to uniform.

11. The Evidence
Pictured here is a magnified
layer of a banana peel. As you
can see, there are cells. This
proves that at least bananas
have cells.
To get this our group had to peel apart a banana peel
and take the thinnest part, which turned out to be the
very outer layer-the yellow part you see in a store. This
thin piece got placed on a slide, dyed with a drop of
Methylene blue, and had a clear slide cover placed on top.
When looked at through a microscope on high power, we
saw that it had a rectangular shaped cells like the onion.
The cell was sized manually and found to be about 57
microns.

12. The Evidence
On the left is a picture
of a thin layer of celery. You
can see the thick cell wall that
is found in the banana and
onion cells.
To get a thin piece of celery, a stalk was broken and
one of the outer layers was taken and put on a slide. One
drop of Methylene blue dye and a slide cover later, the
sample was ready to go under the microscope. The
nucleus, cytoplasm, and cell walls were clearly visible
under the high and low objectives. The cells, when
manually sized, where nearly 47 microns.

13. Evidence Break Down

14. Evidence Break Down
 The Banana cell
 Shape- mostly rectangular
 Size- 57 microns
 The Celery Cell
 Shape- mostly rectangular
 Size- 47 microns
 Cheek Cell
 Shape- irregular, nearly
circular
 Size- 60 microns
 Onion Cell
 Shape- rectangular
 Size- 200 microns

15. Evidence Break Down
 Compare
 The onion, banana, and celery cells all have cell walls.
 All four have a nucleus and cytoplasm.
 Contrast
 The cheek cells differs in appearance from the other three.
 Three have cell walls, but the cheek cells does not.

16. Conclusion
After viewing all the evidence and background
information, it can be said that fruits and vegetables
are made of cells. If they were not made of cells, why
would all four contain small particles that contained
similar structures? The cells may differ slightly in
appearance, but on the whole-excluding the cheek cell-
they closely resemble each other. Our group has
confidence that if the same tests were to be run on any
other plant you would find the same similarities. In
regards to the cheek cells, it differs because it comes
from an animal and not a plant. All living things are
made of cells, and since plants are living, they contain
cells, too.