Observation 2

For my second observation I noticed a lot of things that weren't visible during the first observation. This may because of the quality of the microscopes used or because of the help from Dr. McFarland. Either way, what I saw was fascinating. 

One of the first organism I saw was the Litonotus. On the 10x objective it took up nearly the whole width of the scope. It was quite fascinating to see it move. The movements were so quick and fluid. I was mind blown. 

I also saw an Anisonema. The Anisonema was a very basic circular blob. It had very short quick movements.

I then saw a Navicula. Navicula, it turns out, is the organism I saw during our first observation. I like to think of it as the canoe-shaped organism. It's movements are very slight and graceful.

And finally I witness a Urocentrum. The Urocentrum was very hard to capture an image of because it was moving so quickly. It looked almost like a little orb just bouncing around the microaquarium. 

Will post pictures this week. 

Setting up my MicroAquarium

I started my term project by obtaining an MicroAquarium which was just a small glass box, essentially, that was about two millimeters thick, about 5 or 6 centimeters wide, and around 3 or 4 centimeters tall.

The first addition to the aquarium was from Holston River along John Sevier Highway. I started by getting a solid layer of mud from the bottom and then tried to fill the aquarium close to the top with water.

I then added some Amblestegium varium, which is a moss.

We then took a look under the microscope. I carefully mounted the aquarium onto my microscope and looked for moving organisms. What I found was pretty remarkable. This one creature I saw under 10x zoom(or 100 times zoom). The creature looked strikingly like a canoe. It's movements were odd, sort of, quick shifts in one direction. It was located near the moss and was quite fascinating.

Hopefully larger creatures develop going forward.