User:Erik Maradiaga/Notebook/Biology 210 at AU

Lab Entry 2 1/27/15: Identifying Protists in our Hay Infusion Jar

Purpose: The purpose of this experiment was to identify protists that may be living in different niches in the Hay Infusion Jar. Some protists may be living in the surface of the water, and there might be some protists that may be living in the bottom of the jar where soil is present. The reason why my lab members and I did this experiment was in order to familiarize ourself how to use the Dichotomous key so that we would be able to classify protists that are present in our transect. Once again, there was no need for a hypothesis for this first experiment since we were viewing sections of our transect under a microscope.

Material and Methods: In order to view the protists under a microscope, we had to prepared the Hay Infusion Jar. We took 10 to 12 grams of ground vegetation into a plastic jar filled with 500 mLs of deer park water. We then added .1 gram of dried milk and shook the jar for 10 seconds. We removed the lid and let it sat in the classroom for seven days. After the Hay Infusion was prepared, we used the microscope and the Dichotomous key to identify protists in our jar. We took two slides and added a drop of sample from two different niches, the surface of the water and the bottom of the jar containing soil, into the slides by using a transfer pipette. We then added protoslo in order to slow the protists to be able to see them. From there, we viewed the slides under the microscope and identified protists by their size, shape, and method of motility.These factors allowed us to identified a certain type of protist in the different niches in our jar.

Data and Observations:

                        Figure 1: Microscopic View          Figure 2: Aerial View of Hay Infusion Jar     Figure 3: Diagram of Colpidium and Chlamydomones

From Figure 2, it can be seen that there was green shoots in the surface of the water. As my lab members and I got very close to the Hay Infusion Jar, we notice that there was a terrible smell. The water of the jar was mostly black with soil present in the bottom, and there was green algae in the surface of the water. However, we notice that the jar had the same volume of the water from last week which we assume that the water did not completely evaporated. We prepared slides from samples of the surface of the water without including the algae and from the bottom of the jar with soil present. My lab members and I notice that there were more organisms in the slide containing soil compared to the slide from the surface of the water. The organisms may differ close to versus away from the plant/soil matter because the organisms may need soil in order to be able to survive compared to the organism that is able to live in the surface of the water without the presence of soil. These organisms that live in the soil may need soil in order for food. In figure 3, we see the identification of the Colpidium and Chlamydomones protists. The Colpidium protist was taken from the bottom of the hay infusion. Under the microscope, it measurement was 50 micrometers and it had cilia in order for it to move. The protist does not photosynthesize as well. On the sample from the surface of the hay infusion, we found the protist Chlamydomones and Colpidium as well. Under the microscope, the Chlamydomones were around 5 micrometers. It was more circular and it was motile because of its flagella. It does not photosynthesize as well. The Colpidium was 60 micrometers, and it has the same functions as to the one we saw from the sample of the bottom of the hay infusion.

Conclusion and Future Directions: The protists that we identified that were living in our hay infusion jar was fascinating. My lab members and I was able to identify at least two protists that were living in different niches. However, we found that the protist Colpidium was living in both niches. We can assume that the protist may live when soil is present and when it is not present. For future directions, I may want to try to find protists that were close to the green algae on the surface of the water. There might be different protists in that particular niche and this would allow us to identified more protists in our transect.

• Erik Maradiaga 11:19, 30 January 2015 (EST):Erik Maradiaga ( Forgot to sign my entry yesterday)

1.27.15 Excellent first entry. Well organized and thorough. Just missing description of Hay Infusion set up. SK

1/19/2015 Observing our Transect at AU

Purpose: The purpose of this experiment was to introduce ourselves to our niche that we will be observing. In every ecosystems there are millions of living microorganisms that may be living in the soil, a certain type of plant, or anywhere else in the niche. The second part of this experiment was to see how evolution took place in the Volvocine Line. The reason why we are doing these two experiments is to introduce ourselves to the many different types of protist and to introduce ourselves with the concept of evolution. There was no need for a hypothesis in this first experiment.

Material and Methods: When we observed our transect, my lab members and I were describing our location and topography. Second, we had to draw an aerial-view diagram of the transect and be specific in the observations we see. Along with this step, we had to indicate in the diagram north, south, east and west. Last, we had to list the abiotic and biotic components of our transect and indicate their position in the transect. For the second experiment we were doing, we had to use a microscope to view the Chlamydomonas, Gonium, and Volvex. We prepared a slide by using a pipet and dropped each organisms to our slide. We repeated this step for all three organisms. Second, we observed the numbers of cells present, colony size, specialization of cells, mechanisms of motility, isogamous or oogamous, and we drew a picture of the specimen.

Data and Observations:

In the first diagram, it is a picture of our transect. It is located in front of Kogod School of Business. My lab members and I notice that there was a drain close to the niche, so we assume that there was water present in the niche. The area is a pentagonal shape with all sorts of living and non-living things present. For example, we saw that cattails were present in the niche, and there was also red cardinal flowers. likewise, there were rocks present in the niche. When my lab members and I listed the biotic components we saw in our niche, we listed that there was cattails, grass, red cardinal flowers, bushes, and the living organisms in the soil. For the abiotic components, we listed that there was snow, soil, rock, a drain, and a Dunkin Donut cup present in the transect. The second image is a picture of the results when we saw the 3 living organisms under the microscope. When we observed the Chlamydomonas under the microscope, we notice that it is a simple cell with a flagella in order for it to move. As we continue to see the Gonium and Volvex under the microscope, my lab partner and I notice that the level of complexity increased. For example, the Gonuim now has a range of 4-32 cells present which is different from the Chlamydomonas. Also, the Volvex is different from the other two cells because it has specialized cells that help it to reproduce and in order to do the process photosynthesis.

Conclusion and Future Directions: Since in this lab experiment there was no hypothesis, the data does not refute or support the hypothesis. We took a sample of soil from the transect in order to make a hay infusion jar for next week experiment so that we can conclude what type of protist are there in our transect. For future directions, I may want to take a sample of soil from the middle of the transect instead from the side close to the cement because I think that more protists are living near the cattails. There may be protists that have a relationship with the cattails or the red cardinal flowers that is present in the middle of the transect.

• Erik Maradiaga 13:37, 25 January 2015 (EST):EM