Protists of the Pond

Joanne Johnson

You won’t believe what’s underneath the surface….

Collecting the Samples1. First, I grabbed samples from five different locations in the campus pond. I tried to get each sample from about six inches deep, near the silt where the protists were likely to be.

2. Next, I went to the lab and moved my samples to vented containers that had wheat germ seeds in them. This would provide enough air and food for any protists in my sample to grow and divide.

3. I put the samples in the 22 C incubator for about four days so that the protists had plenty of time to grow. When I put them under the microscope yesterday, here’s what I found:

Location 1 at 2:56 pm

10x Magnification Under Compound Microscope

pincers Vacuole or nucleus

10x Magnification Under Compound Microscope

Location 2 at 2:58 pm

Sheldon: 10x Magnification Under Compound Microscope

Location 3 at 3:03 pm

Level 2.5 Magnification Under Dissecting Microscope

Location 4 at 3:05 pm

Level 2.5 Magnification Under Dissecting Microscope

Location 5 at 3:10 pm

Level 2.5 Magnification Under Dissecting Microscope