MicroAquarium

On Tuesday, October 11 in botany lab we started putting together our MicroAquarium projects. To do this we were supplied with small, glass slide containers, a glass lid, and glass stand. We started by labeling our aquariums with color coded stickers that indicate what section, time, and person your container belongs to. After this, we were ready to pick a water source that we wanted to observe. The idea behind this is that we will be able to place a water sample into our aquariums with some dirt and other natural factors, and be able to observe the small organisms living inside it through a microscope. To be able to choose what water source we wanted, Dr. McFarland gave us a run down of the water sources he obtained samples from around the area, and told us to get some from the bottom dirt level, middle level, and top level of the samples. I chose the sample from the water pool below spring at Lynnhurst Cemetery off of Adair Drive. I chose this because the body of water was unique and interests me, and is also very close to my home out in Fountain City. We followed Dr. McFarland's instructions in obtaining our samples and filled our aquariums up almost to the top. After this, we went back to our lab stations and placed two small samples of different plant species down in our aquarium slide. The two plants were as follows. Amblestegium sp. Moss. Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure N36 01.168 W83 42.832. Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant. A carnivous 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. This meant we were all but done making our samples, so we carefully placed them on the microscopes and viewed them up close. I unfortunately did not find any moving micro organisms that day, but will be monitoring them over the next few weeks to see what comes out and grows in my aquarium. For the time being, I enjoyed looking at the plants I had placed in there on a microscopic level. Lastly, we put our lids on our projects, and took them to their holding containers to grow and exist for our future viewings.