Week one was amazing!!!! Living organisms in there.

 On Friday October 26th I had the opportunity to spend three amazing hours from 11-1 EST in room 202 of the Hesler Biology Building on the University of Tennessee campus observing my Micro Aquarium. During this time I was able to view my active aquarium under a microscope and was also able to take images of some of the organisms. To say the least once I put the aquarium under the microscope and began to see the movement I was shocked.  It may be my ignorance but I never knew that such a wide array of living things in such a small place was possible! This was truly a great discovery. I began by searching the bottom on the Micro Aquarium and to my surprise almost immediately spotted a living organism that looked like something out of a science fiction movie. Right then I asked for the assistance of Ken McFarland to help me identify this organism, to what he described as a Cyclops. (Image One) This was confirmed in a book that was located in the room that exampled this time of creature. (Pennak) I have attached an image of this incredible creature. Some more of the organisms that I viewed, all that were identified by Mr. McFarland, were the following; a flatworm, an annelid worm, and even an aeolosoma hemprichi. The latest mentioned, the aeolosoma hemprich, was verified by figure 9 on page 299 of the book titled, Fresh-water Invertebrates of the United States; Protozoa to Mollusca, 3rd Edition. I have also attached an image of this organism, truly breathtaking! (Image Two)When leaving the room I did add more water to the aquarium as some had evaporated and wanted to make sure that the creatures had enough room to live and roam. Next week when I check back I hope to locate and identify many more organisms and add more photos for everyone’s enjoyment, great stuff!

Image One

Image Two

Pennak, R. W. 1989. Fresh-water Invertebrates of the United States; Protozoa to Mollusca, 3rd Edition. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc.

Updated First Blog

This past Wednesday I sent up a MicroAquarium in or to do a study regarding a collection of microorganisms.  To set up the study I selected a water source and added two separate plants to the water. The water I selected was extracted by our instructor from Dean’s Woods-Spring Creek. Spring Creek is located in Knoxville Tennessee off Woodson Drive and runs through Dean’s Woods Road frontage at N35 55.274 W083 56.888 at 848ft. The creek is partially shaded and is from the Tennessee River shed and fissidens fontanus moss is present in the stream. I collected the water in three separate areas taking 1/3 of the needed water from each. The three areas were the bottom which included some sediment, the middle, and the very top of the water source.  After this I added two separate plants to the aquarium. The first plant that I added was from a Natural spring at Carters Mill Park located at the coordinates N36 01.168 W83 42.832 . This name of this plant is amblestegium and is a type of moss. The second plant added was a flowering plant that came from the south shore of Spain Lake located at N35o55 12.35” W088W020’ IN Sparta, TN. It is now growing in the greenhouse outside of the Hesler Biology Building. The name of this second plant is ulticularia gibba. After adding both of these plants and water I placed the MicroAquarium on its side to view the organisms inside it. I observe the individual plants but did not see anything that was moving, going forward I look forward to see the organisms evolve.  The information that I included regarding the plants and watersource can be found at the floowing link; http://botany1112012.blogspot.com/

DAY 1 MicroAquarium

MicroAquarium Day 1

This past Wednesday I sent up a MicroAquarium in or to do a study regarding a collection of microorganisms.  To set up the study I selected a water source and added two separate plants to the water. The water I selected was extracted by our instructor from Dean’s Woods-Spring Creek. Spring Creek is located in Knoxville Tennessee off Woodson Drive and runs through Dean’s Woods Road frontage at N35 55.274 W083 56.888 at 848ft. The creek is partially shaded and is from the Tennessee River shed and fissidens fontanus moss is present in the stream. I collected the water in three separate areas taking 1/3 of the needed water from each. The three areas were the bottom which included some sediment, the middle, and the very top of the water source.  After this I added two separate plants to the aquarium. The first plant that I added was from a Natural spring at Carters Mill Park located at the coordinates N36 01.168 W83 42.832 . This name of this plant is amblestegium and is a type of moss. The second plant added was a flowering plant that came from the south shore of Spain Lake located at N35o55 12.35” W088W020’ IN Sparta, TN. It is now growing in the greenhouse outside of the Hesler Biology Building. The name of this second plant is ulticularia gibba. After adding both of these plants and water I placed the MicroAquarium on its side to view the organisms inside it. I observe the individual plants but did not see anything that was moving, going forward I look forward to see the organisms evolve.