Observation #1

I made my MicroAquarium on October 15th and used water from the Fountain City Duck Pond which is west of Broadway at Cedar Lane in Knox County. The duck pond has full sun exposure and is spring fed. It is also located at N36 02.087 W83 55.967 963 ft. I also added Amblestegium varium (a moss) and Utricularia gibba (a carnivorous plant) to the MicroAquarium. Amblestegium varium was collected from a natural spring at Carters Mill park on carter Mill Road in Knox County, TN. The moss had partial shade exposure, was located at N36 01.168 W83 42.832 and was collected on 10/12/2014. Utricularia gibba is a flowering and carniverous plant. It is originally from the south shore of Spain Lake (N 35o55 12.35" W088o20' 47.00) on Camp Bella Air Rd. East of Sparta Tn. in White County. It is now grown in water tanks outside of  the greenhouse at Hesler Biology Building at the University of Tennessee in Knox County, Knoxville TN (McFarland, 2014).

My lab is section 004, so the color was blue. My table was 003 so the color was yellow and my seat was yellow. 

The MicroAquarium is comprised of two thick slides held together with glue, a stand, and a lid. The three dots that notated which was mine was placed on the tank and initialed. I then used a pipet and placed water from the Fountain City Duck Pond as described above and filled 1/3 of the tank from water in the bottom of the bowl (which included sludge), 1/3 from the middle (which included the tops of leaves) and 1/3 from the top. A piece of moss and carnivorous plant was also placed in the aquarium and then it was observed (McFarland, 2014).

On my first observation, I saw a small snail that was moving and sucking in many things in its path. I also noticed a flat worm that was moving fast in an S pattern. There was also a nemotode stuck in some pond scum that was trying to escape. On a higher magnitude, I noticed some diatoms and algae. There was also an unknown organism that was comprised of two circles and moved very fast throughout the water.


McFarland, Kenneth [Internet] Botany 111 Fall 2014. [cited 10/27/14]. Available fromhttp://botany1112014.blogspot.com/