User:Maria Esposito/Notebook/Biology 210 at AU

Biological Life at AU: Observations of a Transect-January 14, 2015

• Purpose:

At AU, I am observing transect 3 (Tall brushes) to understand and identify the organisms that inhabit that area and the abiotic and biotic factors that affect that niche. My hypothesis is that the transect will be more abundant with protists than bacteria. I think my Hay Infusion culture will contain evolutionary organisms in it’s soil. We cannot tell which is more abundant, therefore, observations with a microscope need to be made.

• Materials and Methods:

-Slides of Chlamydomonas, Gonium, and Volvox

-Scientific Microscope

-Sample of my transect

-Protoslo

-50 mL conical tube

-0.1 gm of dried milk

-Plastic Jar

-500 mLs of deerpark water

-Graduated cylinder

1.First,I observed the slides of Chlamydomonas, Gonium, and Volvox.

2.Then, I recorded the number of cells, the colony size, the specialization of cells, the mechanisms of motility, and whether the specimen was isogamous or oogamous for each specimen.

3. I drew pictures of how each of the specimen looked under the microscope,

4. I observed and drew a picture of the area of my transect and recorded what my transect contained.

5. I used a 50 mL conical tube to take a soil/vegetation sample of my transect.

6. Back in the lab, my group and I measured 500 mLs of deerpark water with a graduated cylinder. And placed it in the plastic jar.

7. Then, my group and I placed 12 grams of the transect sample and 0.1 gm of dried milk in the plastic jar.

8. We mixed the contents of our Hay Infusion Culture for 10 seconds and removed the lid of the jar.

• Data and Observations:

Description of Transect:

Abiotic: snow, dirt, water, metal post, concrete Biotic: leaves, bushes Location: inbetween Bender Arena and the Amphitheater Topography: near steep area, is not on a hill

Table of the Volume Line Members:

Picture:File:Https://twitter.com/me3126a/status/55993330195614924.jpg This table allowed us to view and compare the observations among the organisms.

Tall Brushes Transect:

Picture:File:Https://twitter.com/me3126a/status/559933498383818752 This is my transect (tall brushes) from an aerial view and is labeled with what it consists of.

• Conclusions and Future Directions:

This data from transect supports that there is living organisms in my Hay Infusion culture. However, I am unsure about what specific organisms. Next time, I want to put more vegetation in my transect soil sample.

M.E.