Hi,

*Inspect the slide using just your eyes and a good light source to first determine the shape of the prepared section. Occasionally, a specific section has a characteristic shape and is much easier to identify. e.g on the cross section of tracheal cartilage an annular preparation can be seen.

*there are always major and minor structures on the preparation that might not always be visible with a single lens or magnification e.g in the ileum Peyer’s patches are large and characteristic, whereas the other cells are smaller and not so defined.

*the slide is always bigger than the lens so in order to view all the structures it must be moved around e.g a blood slide contains many different cells and they are not always evenly distributed.

*name the ones that you are sure of e.g red, discoid-shaped cells, in close proximity = Red Blood Cells

*Determine the staining, sectioning and preparation process of the slide e.g eosin or silver nitrate staining, in longitudinal or cross section, frozen and sliced etc.

*Once you have collected all the necessary information, try to piece the evidence together and through a process of elimination, identify the slide.

*Never jump to any conclusions, even if you are sure which micro preparation you have. Review all of the content at your disposal and only then, identify your slide.

Hope this helps.