Question

Suppose someone brings you a specimen that they claim is a living organism. Explain how you could use a microscope to help determine whether the specimen is a living or nonliving thing?

Answer 1

When the tissue is shown beneath the microscope, you will notice cells such as the nucleus and the mitochondria.
If it has any of those, you can easily prove it is a living organism. 

Answer 2

If the specimen has a nucleus it can be shown that it is a living organism.. non living organisms have a nucleoid region - no nucleus. Also if the specimen contains other organelles that living organisms have, such as chloroplasts or a Golgi apparatus, then you can show that it has living factors and is a living organism. Hope it helps!