Second Posting Day

     October 22, 2014

      Alright then. Today- rather, tonight- I went to the lab for the first time to the lab where our projects are being kept. It took somewhere around two hours, but I did end up with results. As usual, the water source is as follows: Water pool below spring. Fountain City Park west of Broadway at Hotel Ave. Knox Co. Knoxville TN. Full shade exposure Spring Feed Pond N36 02.253 W83 55.986 990 ft 10/12/2014. I haven't, as of yet, added extra water to my Micro Aquarium. That will hopefully occur next week. 
           There were quite a bit of carcasses in my Micro Aquarium of many and varied organisms. To think, in only a week... So many organisms lived and died. It's a bit surreal. Even so, I saw a fair few organisms moving in the Micro Aquarium, and I managed to nab a few images. What follows is a list of the organisms I managed to photograph and a bit of information on them. Just a notice, I'll probably be updating this at some point before the actual deadline with some information from the Web.

1. This one is an Urocentrum. This little guy likes to spin around, making it look like a toy top. Ken McFarland helped me identify this one, who we found in Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide by D.J. Patterson on page 184. I've seen at least three of these organisms, but I'm not quite sure if I'm counting correctly due to the fact these guys move FAST. 

2. Litonotous Cygnus was found inside my Micro Aquarium as well. This skinny fellow was identified in the same book as the Urocentrum, Free Living Freshwater Protozoa: A Colour Guide by D.J. Patterson. However, this one was on page 132. It moved very swiftly and fluidly, and was difficult to snap a clear photo of. I spotted two L. Cygnus, at least. 

3. This one looked like something out of my nightmares. The organism wasn't positively identified, but Mr. McFarland theorizes that it could be a Philodina Rotifier, in some early stage or constricted by the environment of the Micro Aquarium. It actually looks somewhat similar to the aforementioned organism, but it did not once reveal the rotating sections that characterize a Rotifier during observation. I'll be interested to attempt finding this one again... If I can get over the fact that this organism looks like a tiny dinosaur. This guy moved around fairly actively, seemingly moving by himself. This is the only one that I spotted. 

4. This is an actual Philodena Rotifier, more specifically a Philodena sp. Above are shown when the "rotifers" are out, and when they are retracted as a comparison of the two. This was the only one of it's type (confirmed, at least) that I spotted. It was identified by Mr. McFarland. The "rotifers" moved a bit like a helicopter blade might when flattened, but the actual organism didn't do much moving. 

 5. I was honestly focusing on another organism when Mr. McFarland took a look through the camera screen and spotted this. Apparently, it's a type of algae. It was found in the Handbook of Algae on page 283, written by Herman Silva Frost. I'm glad I got a plant in there, as this class is technically supposed to be about them... I wonder if more will grow in my Micro Aquarium by next week. That would be intriguing, as this was the only one I spotted specifically. 

Anyways... That was about the extent of my first visit to Lab Room 507. I'm hoping to find different organisms as well as changes to the ones currently next week. So far, though, this is shaping up to be a very intriguing experiment. 

First Day of Project

First Day of The Project
Tuesday October 14, 2014

By: Ravenna Nightgale

         Alright, today we made our micro aquarium. It was pretty intriguing to make, after we'd gotten done with the mandatory test over last section's materials and the activity for the main part of Lab Class. I'll go over the basics of how the Micro Aquarium was made today, as well as some notes on where the water came from and that kind of thing. Also, there were at least two organisms Mr. MacFarland and I spotted already in my Micro Aquarium.

1. We got the Micro Aquarium itself, the base to hold it up, the lid to the Micro Aquarium and sticky to seal the water in. 
2. We then stuck stickers on the Micro Aquarium itself so we could keep straight whose Aquarium was whose. At least, that was the idea. The pattern was stickers for your section, your table number, and your respective usual seat. My code is green-yellow-red, respectively. 
3. We were also asked to initial at least two of the stickers as further precaution. 
4. The students in class divided up to get water from the various sources and dripped it into the Micro Aquariums, along with some of the dirt that had come along with the water. 
5. After you had gotten both mud and dirt from one of the 12 sources, you would find which two water-weeds you wanted to use in the Aquarium to oxygenate the water (we had to be careful not to obscure the glass, and still get enough to work properly) 
6.  When you finished using the dissection tweezers to put the weed into the Micro Aquarium, you would stick the lid back onto the top using the BlueStick sticky substance given to you earlier. 
7. Turn it into the box that would take it up to the Lab we would visit to see it again. 

          I chose water from Source 12, water from a pool below a spring in Fountain City Park with the accompanying soil.  Here's the information from the last page on where exactly that is.

Water pool below spring. Fountain City Park west of Broadway at Hotel Ave. Knox Co. Knoxville TN. Full shade exposure Spring Feed Pond N36 02.253 W83 55.986 990 ft 10/12/2014

       Of course, I added it to my experiment on the 14th of October. Now for the information on the plants used in the Micro Aquarium. I added both of these.

Amblestegium varium (Hedwig) Lindberg. Moss.
Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/12/2014

Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant. A
carnivorous plant. Original material from south shore of Spain Lake (N 35o55 12.35" W088o20' 47.00), Camp Bella Air Rd. East of Sparta Tn. in White Co. and grown in water tanks outside of greenhouse at Hesler Biology Building. The University of Tennessee. Knox Co. Knoxville TN.
10/12/2014

         Since this is the first day these things were put together, there wasn't much to be observed in my Micro Aquarium. Mr. MacFarland did spot a seed shrimp, and I spotted what might be a nimitoad. Mr. MacFarland identified both of them. I also didn't get any images, as we haven't gotten onto the microscopes that can do that kind of thing yet.  It was really intriguing watching the seed shrimp burrowing into the soil, though... I'd never seen something like it before.