Cell Theory

“… I could exceedingly plainly perceive it to be all perforated and porous, much like a Honey-comb, but that the pores of it were not regular… these pores, or cells… were indeed the first microscopical pores I ever saw, and perhaps, that were ever seen…”

This quote is from English Scientist Robert Hooke (shown to the right), who observed a sliced piece of cork under his microscope 1665.. He recorded his observations in what would become Observation XVIII, of the book Micrographia.

Using this description, try to imagine what Hooke saw under his microscope, and sketch what you think his drawings looked like. Once you have completed your sketch, view 1838 – The Cellular Basis of Plant Life from eMediaVASM to learn about the discovery of cells. Around the one minute mark in the video, compare your sketch to the actual sketch completed by Hooke.

You can create your sketch using paper and a pencil or pen, or you can use the Sketchpad web-based application from SKETCH.IO™.