Week #5 Observations

This week I saw a Water Mite in my MicroAquarium. Water Mites look like fat little spiders. They have a flat, round body with four hairy pairs of legs for swimming. Water Mites eat plants, decaying organisms, and humus. Water Mites swim in slow flowing and shallow water among plants. They live in all freshwater environments, but are more abundant in species and number in slow-moving waters.

"Water Mite." Buglopedia. Web. 15 Nov 2009. http://www.bugsurvey.nsw.gov.au/html/popups/bpedia_05_sens_wa-mi.html

Week #4 Observations

This week I found new interseting organisms in my MicroAquarium...
The first new protozoa that I found was called a Lecane. Its appearance resembles that of a crab and it uses a flagella for movement.
The next new protozoa that I found in my MicroAquarium was an Amoeba. All of the organisms organelles and cytoplasm are enclosed in a cell membrane. An Amoeba obtains its food through phagocytosis.

Sources

"Lecane." Lecane Rotifer. Web. 8 Nov 2009. http://www.microscopyu.com/staticgallery/dxm1200/lecanerotifer.html

"Amoeba." Amoeba Proteus. Web. 8 Nov 2009. http://www.oberlin.k12.oh.us/talent/isp/reports2002/amoebaproteus/parts.htm

Week #3 Observations

Nothing new happened in my MicroAquarium this week. The only changes that I could see was that the populations of Cyanobacteria, Trachyosoma, Vorticella, and Euploes exploded.

Week #2 Observations

This week I saw many interesting things in my MicroAquarium....
One of the first things that I saw a protozoa with cilia on both of its ends. I was later able to identify it as a Trachyosoma with the help of Free-living Freshwater Protozoa: A Color Guide by D.J. Patterson. Figure #265. I was able to take a picture of what my Trachyosoma looked like. It is the first picture on the left. Another protozoa that I saw in my MicroAquarium looked like an upside-down bell. On the top it was covered by swirling cilia. On the bottom it had two long fibers. Using the same resource, I discovered that the protozoa was a Vorticella and that the cilia on the top were used to suck in water to get food. Figure #233. I was able to take a picture of this also and it is the picture on the right. I was also able to find Euplotes in my MicroAquarium. I was able to identify it with the help of Dr. McFarland. I took a picture of this as well and it is the picture on the bottom. Along with all these interesting protozoa there was many blue-green algae and other Cyanobacteria. I can't wait till I get to observe my MicroAquarium again.



Sources:

Patterson, D.J. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Color Guide. Washington D.C.: Manson Publishing, 1995. Print.

Week #1 Observations

For the first week of the Biology 111 Term Project we set up our MicroAquarium. I set mine up by first putting the correct color dots on the glass tank so my MicroAquarium could be identified. Then using a pipet, I extracted water from one of the containers on the lab bench. The water I used was from site number 10, which is a water pool in Lynnhurst Cemetery off of Adair Drive. Knox Co. I extracted water from the bottom of the container until the MicroAquarium was 1/3 full. The next 1/3 was taken from the middle layer of the container. The last 1/3 was taken from the surface. I used some plants and moss to decorate the MicroAquarium. Plant A is Amblystegium varium (Hedw.) Lindb. Moss from at natural spring at Carters Mill Park. Plant B is Utricularia vulgaris L., which is a flowering, carnivous plant from south shore of Spain Lake in White Co. Tenn.
Using a microscope I observed the contents of my MicroAquarium. At first, I could not see any movement, but finally I saw a large organism, that was later identified as a water mite, moving around the bottom of my MicroAquarium. I could not anything other than that moving in my MicroAquarium. I am sure that I will see a lot more interseting things in my next observation.