Week 1: Set up and first observations
Phil Bagsby
Botany 111
The water source that I chose to use for the MicroAquarium from the sample "water source 1." This sample came from the Tommy Schumpert Pond at the Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge located on Kelly Lane in Knox County, Tennessee. This water source is subject to partial shade exposer and sheet runoff around a sink hole. Its coordinates are N35 57.256 W83 41.503 at an elevation of 947 feet.
Setting up the MicroAquarium:
To begin we obtained the tank, stand holder, and lid of the MicroAquarium. We then used a color coding system consisting of stickers that represents our section, table, and individual aquariums. Next we used a pipet to to collect water from the bottom, middle, and surface of the water sample that we chose to use for our experiment. We then placed the aquarium in the stand and added two plants that were provided for us. The first plant was Amblestegium varium (Hedwig) Lindberg. Moss. This was collected from a natural spring at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road in Knox Co. TN. This plant was exposed to partial shade. (N36 01.168 W83 42.832.) The second plant we placed into the aquarium was Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant. The original material was collected from the south shore of Spain Lake on Camp Bella Air Rd. in White Co. Tennessee. The original sample was then grown in water tanks outside of the Hesler greenhouse.
In my first observations under the compound microscope I was able to see the cells of the two plants that we had placed in our aquarium as well as several moving living organisms. I have yet to find out exactly what the moving organism were; however, some appeared to flies, or "fly like organisms," while others resembled tadpoles or sperm cells. Each of the organisms had one thing in common; they all appeared to "run" from the light of the microscope while trying to follow their movements.
