To effectively use science knowledge in professional and personal life, it is important to acquire not only factual knowledge but also deeper understanding and skills related to acquiring and evaluating scientific information, tools and procedures. It is necessary to address these needs in science education and adapt it adequately with respect to the needs of the students. International strategic decisions emphasise the development of science literacy in school education. The methods and procedures of science are an integral part of it. Sufficient development of scientific skills is important for implementing these methods and procedures. The basic skills are data obtaining and recording. A typical way of obtaining data in biology is by scientific observation. Consequently, the ability to correctly interpret and record observed structures is crucial for further reasoning and making conclusions. Observing cells with a microscope is a typical method of biology as well as school education. The aim of the research was, therefore, to find out what is the skill of students to solve this task and what are the typical problems students have in drawing cells based on observations. Laboratory work was conducted with 95 Czech lower secondary school students. A qualitative analysis of student cell drawings was carried out. Two main groups of problems have been identified: problems in the focus of observational attention and drawing problems. Students often fail to reflect the correct shape and size proportions of organic forms in their drawings (e.g., depicting cells as tetrahedrons or perfect circles). Students also tended to focus on irrelevant objects (such as air bubbles), cover the entire field of view without concentrating on the target object, and include extraneous elements or personal interpretations, resulting in inaccuracies. Drawing mistakes included disjointed lines and overlapping, attempts to convey spatiality (e.g., inappropriate shading and colouring), and sketching rather than recording observations. Our findings indicate that students frequently struggle with specifically targeting their observations and accurately drawing what they observe, highlighting the need for enhanced instruction during scientific observation and drawing microscopic observation.

Keywords: Scientific skills, scientific observation, biological drawing, STEM, biology education.