The MicroAquarium

Tuesday we started our Term Projects, which would be to build, and observe, a MicroAquarium. A MicroAquarium (MA) is build from two pieces of glass the same thickness as a microscope slide, roughly 3.5" wide and maybe 2.5" tall glued together, but with a gap between them about the same size as the glass' thickness. We then selected a water sample from the provided containers (or we could have brought in our own, but I chose to pick from the ones readily available). My water is from a spring in Carter Mill Park at these coordinates: N36 01.168 W83 42.832 940 ft. We took water from the bottom (mostly soil), the middle of the water, and the surface. This was to mimic what the real environment would be like in nature. We then place small amounts of moss and fern into the water to provide a carbon source for the micro-organisms. The MA sits in a glass base, and has a lid to prevent evaporation. The size and thickness of the MA allows it to be viewed under a microscope, and the surface tension of the water prevents any from leaking out the top of the MA.

Once under the microscope, I noticed a few organisms using the 10x objective of my microscope. I saw a one-celled organism with a slight green color near the fern plant. It seemed to move in a spiraling, twisting motion, and was the only one of its kind living that I saw. It was a circular shape, but the shape wasn't rigid, and changed as the organism moved. I also saw many one-celled organisms in the dirt of my MA that had that generic shape seen in textbooks, kind of like a pill capsule. These organisms did have a more rigid body structure, or at least I never saw one change shape while I was observing it. I couldn't really discern a color, as these were much smaller than the other organism, even with the 10x objective lens. They moved much quicker than the other organism, but didn't seem to stray too far from the dirt.

I look forward to seeing how these organisms develop and if any other organisms appear in my MA. 

Sorry for the blurriness!

Until next week,

SC