Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Day 5

Observations:
      Day five observations took place on November eleventh at one p.m. till two p.m.. When I first started looking at my Micro Aquarium, I noticed there were not as many organisms swimming around as there has been the passed few weeks. I figured that it was because most of the food they were eating has ran out by now. The first new organism I observed was a Litonotus Cygnus. This organism is large and looks like it has a long neck which is its ingestion region. It has two Macronuclei that are in the centre of each cell body and a contractile vacuole that is near its posterior region (Patterson pg.133). Next I found an organism called an Actinophrys (Patterson pg.133). It has a very interesting structure, it has a round center with long and thin spike looking structures which are called Axopodia coming out of the center all over. These act as their arms to move around and to capture its food (Patterson pg.133) I also saw a lot of the same organisms from past weeks.


Citations:
Patterson, D.J. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa. Manson, 1998. Print.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Day 4

Observation:
         Day four of observations took place on November third. One of the first things I observed was an organism called an Paramecium Bursaria (Rainis Pg.107). It was a bright green color that I think came from it's vacuoles in it's body and looked like it had little hairs coming out all over it's body that you can see in a picture of it bellow. The next thing I found in my Micro Aquarium was an organism called a Tachysoma (Patterson Pg.125). This organism has dorsal brisles all over it's body that you can also see in a picture bellow. One of the last things I saw was a type of Rotifera called a Philodina Rotifera. This kind of Rotifer has two ciliated wheel organs it uses to capture it's food (Rainis Pg.188). It likes quiet water found around soils or sands I also saw alot of the same Rotiferas that I have seen in the past few weeks.

                                         Paramecium Bursaria

                                          Tachysoma


Citation:
Rainis, Kenneth G., and Bruce J. Russell. Guide to Microlife. New York: Groliers, 1996.
    Print.

Patterson, D.J. Free-Living Freshwater Protozoa. Manson, 1998. Print.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Day 3

Food Added:
     A Betta food Pellet was added on Friday the twenty second. Information about the food pellet follows, "Atison's Betta Food" made by Ocean Nutrition, Aqua Pet Americas, 3528 West 500 South, Salt Lake City, UT 84104. Ingredients: Fish meal, wheat flower, soy meal, krill meal, minerals, vitamins and preservatives. Analysis: Crude Protein 36%; Crude fat 4.5%; Crude Fiber 3.5%; Moisture 8% and Ash 15%.

Observations:
      Third day of observations were made on the 27th of October. One of the first thing I noticed was that there was a lot more organism then there was before the food pellet was added. The next thing I noticed was a really cool looking organism that looked a lot like a worm. I found out that this organism is called an Acolosoma Annelid. This organism is usually under 25mm long and has internal fat droplets that are different colors like red or green. They are usually found in mud and debris in ponds (Rainis pg.229). This organism looks like it has little hairs all over its body. It is also a lot bigger then the other organisms that i have see so far. After that I mostly saw alot of the same organism that I saw last week like Lecane Rotifera.

Citation:
Rainis, Kenneth G., and Bruce J. Russell. Guide to Microlife. New York: Groliers, 1996.
    Print.

Friday, October 22, 2010

Day 2

Observations:
     Day two of term project Friday the twenty second, observation time from one p.m. to two p.m. I went and found my micro aquarium and placed it under the microscope. I started looking in the micro aquarium and the first organism i observed was a clear looking organism that was shaped a lot like a  tadpole. I found the organism in an identification book. It was classified as an Lecane Rotifer, this kind Rotifer is common in sands 7 to 10 cm from a shoreline (Rainis pg.193). Next I observed another Rotifer that is classified as an Trichotria Rotifer, I saw it swimming around plant B. It seemed to be eating material out of the water around the plant. This organism is also usally found near shorelines in quiet water. It has a shelled body with large facets and two spines at the base of the foot. Also has two dorsal spines on the first joint of the foot (Rainis pg.191) The last organism that i found was a Notommata Rotifer. It looked alot like the Lecane Rotifer but was much longer and skinner. This organism also like quiet water (Rainis pg.194) It was very interesting to see and identify all these different kinds of Rotifers. 10/22/10

Pictures:
                                 This a picture of the Lecane Rotifera i observed (Rainis pg.193).
                                 This is a picture of a Notommata Rotifer I observed (Rainis pg 194).
                                 This is a picture of the Trichotria Rotifer I observed (Rainis pg.191)

Citation:
Rainis, Kenneth G., and Bruce J. Russell. Guide to Microlife. New York: Groliers, 1996.
    Print.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Day 1

During the first day, the instructor gave me my Micro Aquarium and told us we could pick out the water source  we wanted to put in our aquarium. I chose water source 8 which is Water from the Tennessee River. The water sample was taken from the location at boat ramp across from Knoxville sewer plant. Neyland Dr. Knox Co. Knoxville TN. Full sun exposure. The Tennessee River comes from French Broad and Holston Rivers water Sheds N35 56.722 W83 55.587 813 ft. The sample was taken on 10/10/2010 (http://botany1112010.blogspot.com/). After I chose my water source I was instructed to put first a layer of dirt and water from the bottom, then to add water from the middle and top layers. Next I was told to Put two different kinds of plant in the aquarium. The first plant was Fontinalis 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. The sample was taken on 10/10/2010. I placed it on the left of the aquarium. The second plant was 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 (http://botany1112010.blogspot.com/). I placed this plant on the right side of my aquarium.

Observations:
While I looked through the microscope with the 10X objective on. I saw many different shaped organisms mostly small and almost clear to were you could see right through them. The were moving very quickly all around in different directions. I also saw little Heart shaped organisms that were clustered around the second plant, they seemed to be sucking in water or something. I also was another organism that my instructor called a Rodifer that was near the heart shaped organism and also seemed to be sucking in water and digesting materials in the water. 10/13/2010

Citation:
McFarland, Ken. "Botany 111 2010." Web log post. Www.blogspot.com. 4 Oct. 2010.
            Web. 13 Oct. 2010. <http://botany1112010.blogspot.com/>.