1. A blood smear is used to diagnose malaria. In patients withmalaria, the protozoa can be found near and inside red blood cells.Explain why a microscope capable of high magnification and highresolution would be needed to diagnose malaria.

Structures inside a cell including protozoa are very small andcannot be seen with low magnification.

Malaria symptoms are non-specific and microscopy is the onlyway to discriminate between several diseases.

A microscope is needed to count the red blood cells present ina sample.

A compound microscope with high magnification and highresolution is used to get a clear, three-dimensional view of theprotozoa and the shape of the red blood cells.

2. Histopathology is the use of microscopes to view tissues todiagnose and track the progression of diseases. Why are thin slicesof tissue ideal for this procedure?

Thin slices are used so that pathologists can clearly seeindividual cells for their assessment. Too many layers of cellsmakes it difficult to focus and hard to see what changes haveoccurred in the tissues.

Thick sections would waste a lot of material and would requirelarger patient samples.

Thin slices are easier to prepare.

Thin slices are used because thicker tissue slices are moredifficult to stain, and it is harder to see cellular details.