User:Madison Prieto/Notebook/Biology 210 at AU

January 15, 2016 Exercise 1: Examining Biological Life at AU

Purpose The purpose of this week's lab experiment was to examine and compare different members of the Volvocine Line and to examine the biodiversity on the campus of American University. At the end of the lab, we set up a Hay Infusion with abiotic and biotic compontnets found in our transect.

Materials and Methods Procedure one involved examining members of the Volvocine Line: Chlamydomonas, Gonium, and Volvox. We recorded the colony size, number of cells, specialization of these cells, and whether the cell was isogamous or oogamous under the microscope. Procedure two involved going to our transect and recording everything we observed. We also took samples of our transect and brought the samples back to the laboratory. Procedure three involved making a Hay Infusion. To do this, we placed 10-12 grams of our sample into a jar with 500 mLs of deerpark water, added 0.1 gram of dried milk, and mixed the jar for 10 seconds.

Data and Observations Transect Four included many different biotic and abiotic factors. The abiotic factors included rocks, water, soil and benches. The biotic factors included trees, bushes, flowers, fishes, and many organisms. This transect was interesting to survey and collect from. There is so much plant life and animal life, although we were only able to view the organisms under the microscope. A majority of the plant life was wilted and brown due to the cold weather.

Sketch of Transect Four:

Images of Transect Four:

Conclusion Transect four had many abiotic and biotic components to it. Further experiments will show the different types of organisms that live in transect four at American University.

M.P.