List of Life Observed

• Cyclops
• Cyanobacteria
• Colonial Algae
• Green Algae
• Rotifer
• Euglenoids
• Ostracod
• Nematode
• Amoebas
• Anisonema
• Diatoms
• Gastrotrich
• Heliozoan
• Blue-Green Algae
  

Helpful Sources Used During Research

Patterson, D.J. Free Living Freshwater Protozoa. New York: UNSW Press, 1996. 54. Print.

Morgan, Mike. "Cyclops." Microscopy UK. 1996. UK, Web. 22 Nov 2009. .

Aaronin, . "Seed Shrimp." Everything2. 18 6 2003. Web. 22 Nov 2009. .

"gastrotrich." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 22 Nov. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/226793/gastrotrich>.

"heliozoan." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2009. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 22 Nov. 2009 <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/260097/heliozoan>.

Last and Final Observation

I was surprised to see the lack of moving organisms in my aquarium on this final day of research. I looked for around ten minutes and found absolutely nothing except for one organism. Of course once again it was my friend the cyclops who has been with me from the beginning. I decided to give up on my search for the larger moving organisms and moved on to look for other things. What I did find a lot of was cyanobacteria. Everywhere I looked there was cyanobacteria and other various types of bacteria. Along with the cyanobacteria were other small green celled organisms called colonial algae, which is just a type of algae. I did find a few organisms later on in my research. The first one was a rotifer which is a minute multicellular organism of the phylum Rotifera, that has a wheellike ring of cilia at the end of it. The other types were Euglenoids. These are just small green or colorless flagellate organisms.
The project has finally come to an end. I must say I enjoyed researching what really is in pond water. This makes me think of all of the types of things that are in the water when I am swimming in the lake or the ocean. I learned a lot of new and interesting things about the microsopic world and can only hope to learn more.

Fourth Observation

At my first glance of my microaquarium I was very pleased to see how busy it had become. Not necessarily with large organisms moving everywhere, but with smaller life forms. The most occurring life forms in the micro aquarium was cyanobacteria and other types of bacteria. They were covering the entirety of the aquarium anywhere you looked. Green Algae was also a highly occuring life form. It too was speckled throughout the entirety of the aquarium. I also spotted a lot of euglenoids, which are a type of flagellate commonly found in freshwater. While observing one of these euglenoids I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I moved around with my microscope until i saw an old friend. It was the Cyclops I had been observing during one of my first observations. I was surprised to see that he was still very much alive. I also ran across another previous old friend in my aquarium. It is an Ostracod also known as a Seed Shrimp. He was doing what he was usually up to when I see him. Eating throughout the plant area in my Utricularian Plant(Plant B). While observing this I noticed little sacs coming off of the stems of the plant. I was explained to that these sacs use their flagellate like tendrils to feel when prey is close, so that they can open their valve to suck whatever may be in these tendrils. Once an organism is in there it cannot get back out, which means it will die and be digested by the plant and various other organisms that feed on the sac. Another organism I saw was a rotifer which is an aquatic multicellular organism that has a ciliated wheel-like organ for feeding and movement. The last organism I was able to notice was a nematode. A nematode is an unsegmented worm with an elongated rounded body pointed at both ends. They are mostly not harmful but some are parasitic.

Third Observation

At the end of my previous research time I had added a piece of food to my micro aquarium. I was pleased to see that there was much more action in my aquarium. The first thing i noticed was many spots of yellow-brown algae placed all throughout the aquarium. There were also many floating blob-like figures. I learned that these organisms were Amoebas, which are single-celled protozoans that constantly change shape. While looking at the various Amoebas I found an organism swimming around with flagella on the front and back of it. I researched and found out that it was a flagellate known as Anisonema, which is a free living freshwater Protozoan that has 2 prominent flagella with one beating normally while the other drags behind. Surrounding the area that this organism was swimming in were many pill shaped structures. They were littered all over the aquarium, so i decided to see what these things were. I found out they were diatoms which are part of a major group of eukaryotic algae. They are one of the most common types of phytoplankton and live in colonies which explained why they were placed in groups throughout my project. The next organism I found was a very interesting looking subject with what looked like horns on the front. It was a Gastrotrich which is any of the microscopic, multicellular animals of the class or phylum Gastrotricha, of fresh or salt waters, characterized by bands of cilia and by a protruding feeding apparatus at the mouth. Right next to it I saw a heliozoan; a protozoan of the order Heliozoa that has a spherical body and radiating pseudopods. I did not see any larger living organisms on this research day, but was able to see the skeletons of some of the previous seed shrimp. It was overall an interesting day of research and hope to discover more on my next day of research.

Second Observation

I found many new types of organisms in my second observation. I saw types of protozoa and crustacea which were seed shrimp and a cyclops. A seed shrimp is a tiny marine and freshwater crustacean that has a shrimplike body enclosed in a hinged bivalve shell. I had three of these seed shrimp, two of which were dead. What was interesting to see was that the dead sea shrimp had shed their shells which were sitting right next to their corpse. A cyclops is a crustacean with a single red eye that has two front short legs. The cyclops is one of the easiest organisms to find while researching pond specimens and can sometimes even be seen with the human eye. I had also identified halteria which is a common ciliate. I found traces of pond scum and blue-green algae throughout the entirety of my aquarium as well. I also found small clans of cyanobacteria located throughout the aquarium.
Next I found out the names of the two plants located in my aquarium. I have Plant A on the left and Plant B on the right. Plant A is Amblystegium varium Moss collected from a Natural spring at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. with partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/11/2009. Plant B is Utricularia vulgaris which is a carnivous plant 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 at The University of Tennessee. Knox Co. Knoxville TN. After making these identifications I took pictures of the organisms I found. On my way out of the lab I added 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%.) to the aquarium. I am excited to see what comes out of the food pellet installation.

First Observation

I decided to choose water source number three for my micro aquarium project which was from Carter Mill Park at spring source, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. Tennessee Partial shade exposure N36 01.168 W83 42.832 940 ft 10/11/2009. After filling the Aquarium with water and having created a layer of sediment at the bottom I added plant A on the left and Plant B on the right. After setting up this microaquarium I put it under the microscope. I scanned around the water near both plant sources to see if i could find any organisms. At first I could only see very small tear-drop like single celled organisms. These were either a clear-like color or a green color and would most likely be cyanobacteria. Along with these I was also able to find a very large organism living in the aquarium. The organism was believed to be a water mite. The water mite was in the process of feeding when I found it. I was able to see it eating and watch the food cycle through its body and digest, which was very interesting.