How to make biological drawings

and assessment of microscope activities

Assessment
In any evaluation of student work involving microscopy there are four skills that are commonly
assessed. These four skills are:
1. Preparation:
This means getting materials ready for observation under the microscope.
It includes the appropriate use of staining and other techniques (use of equipment,
epidermal tears, making of cross sections, etc).
A variety of biological materials should be prepared for observation including unicellular
organisms.
2. Use of the microscope:
This is the understanding of the parts of the microscope and how to use the instrument.
Students are expected to be able to focus on their specimen so that their image allows cell
structures to be viewed.
3. Biological drawing:
Students must be able to record their observations using labelled biological drawings.
These drawing should follow accepted conventions and where appropriate they should be
annotated (notes as well as labels included).
Drawings must be consistent with the material being observed (correct shape and
proportions) and include organelles consistent with the magnification being used.
4. Interpretation:
Interpretation means understanding and being able to explain what is observed.
It includes explanations (why or how) of the adaptive features of the cells that allow these
cells to carry out their specific functions? This can include grouping of cells into a tissue
and organ (eg a leaf), cell shape and size, and the presence, distribution and numbers of
essential organelles.

Biological drawings the accepted conventions

When making biological drawings, there are a number of rules to follow (accepted conventions).

Materials and the paper:

use unlined paper
always use pencil. HB grade pencils are fine, B grades are darker but smudge more easily
and H grades do not make as dark lines and can be difficult to erase
use a soft clean eraser that does not smudge, avoid erasing if you can
use a ruler only to underline a heading or for label lines, never to draw lines that are part of
the diagram itself
Being prepared:
You should have these items ready for any
assessment:
several sharp HB pencils, they go blunt
quickly so be prepared to change
pencil sharpener
soft eraser, test it before you need it, if
it smudges get another one
plastic ruler (for label lines not the
drawing)
For an assessment it pays to buy new equipment
and have spare pencils.

What details should be included with the drawing?

Stained Human Cheek cells

Always include a descriptive title.
Descriptive means one that describes
what the diagram is about. Titles such as
Cells, My picture or What I saw etc cytoplasm
are not descriptive. Titles such as
Stained onion epidermal cells, Cross-
section of Camellia leaf, or Paramecium
are descriptive.

Titles should be at the top of the

drawing

Scientific names should always be

underlined whether they are part of a
title or not

Always include an indication of size.

This can be: nucleus cell membranes

o an actual indication of cell size Stain: methylene blue

either by direct or indirect
measurement (see exercise on X100 and X400
Indirect measurement under the VDB.
microscope 01-10-2011

o an indication of what magnifications were used when drawing your diagram (see
exercise on Calculating magnification). If you used two magnifications then state
both eg x100 and x400.

Any stains used should be identified in the annotations

Your name (or initials) and the date should be included at the bottom (usually bottom
right hand corner) of the drawing
Features of the drawing itself:

The drawing should be large, generally one drawing per page. Just because the specimen
is small do not make your diagram small.
The drawing should be centrally located on the page
Lines should be distinct, use single lines only, do not sketch
Do not rule lines that are part of the drawing (other than label lines)
Use different pencil pressure to make lines of different thickness and darkness. This
takes practice but is an easily attained skill
Do not shade or colour in any parts of your drawing, if you want to show texture you should
use stippling only
Labels:
o label lines should radiate from the drawing and never cross the centre of the drawing
or each other
o label lines should be ruled
o label lines do not need to be horizontal but the labels should be
o do not write on the label lines
o labels should be printed
Annotations are more detailed than labels. They give information that is not easily
portrayed in the drawing. They may be included next to labels or beneath the drawing itself.
It is not necessary to include annotations in every drawing. Examples of what annotations
include:
o colour of organelles
o an indication of the numbers of a particular organelle
o indication of any movement or cytoplasmic streaming that was observed
o organelles that were expected but not seen or drawn
Avoid unnecessary or repetitive detail
The basic rule is why draw many essentially identical versions of the same thing?
Examples include:
o when drawing onion skin cells (which form a layer of identical cells) or human cheek
cells, why draw a large number of small cells when your drawing could be of one or
two large cells showing much more detail?
o when drawing a cross-section of a stem or leaf it is not necessary to add cell detail to
all cells in each tissue. It is acceptable to draw the outlines of a number of cells but
indicate the internal detail of only a few
Some big DONTs
There are a number of mistakes that students commonly make
Drawings are often too small. It is rare to see diagrams that are too big
Unplanned drawings - visualise the final product and its location on the page before you
begin. This means you will not run out of space to show essential features. You can use
light pencil lines as a guide and rub these out as you complete the details of your drawing
Draw what you see not what you imagine or think should be there
Accuracy is vital especially in relation to cell proportions. This applies to length and width of
cells as well as to the relative thickness of structures such as cell walls and the sizes of
organelles within the cells
Show cells in contact; indicate how cells are oriented with respect to their neighbours

Use two eyes for two different jobs

There is skill that makes drawing so much easier. However like most skills it takes time to master.
If you are right handed these instructions apply, if you are left handed reverse them.
Place the microscope in front of you in a comfortable position
Your drawing paper and instruments will be to the right of the microscope
Look down the microscope and focus using your left eye
Your right eye should be open (do not squint). Your 2 eyes will be looking at 2 different
images. Ignore what you see with your right eye. It helps to know that we see with our
brains so train your brain to concentrate on the image from your left eye only
When you want to draw, do not change the position of your head. Simply change what your
brain is looking at or concentrating on. You should now look at what your right eye is seeing
(the picture you are drawing)
What this means is that we change from looking at the image down the microscope to the image
we have drawn on our paper without moving our heads. We merely change which eye our brain is
looking through.

Learning to draw
Many students who have not previously completed any biological drawings find them difficult to
master. This is complicated by the fact that they are also learning to use the microscope.
Often it helps to concentrate on one skill at a time and to do drawings from photographs. Later in
this resource there are selections of photographs that have been included for this purpose. Once
the drawing skills have been practiced it is easier to concentrate on microscope skills and
completing drawings from specimens being examined under the microscope.