Ben has been doing more work with the microscope in his biology labs recently. He hasn't exactly been thrilled by comparing hair follicles in various wet mount solutions, or by cross sections of a carrot, but there was one slide that really got his attention last week; life in a drop of water.
We collected some standing water from a bucket lid outdoors, a bit of frozen pond water, and some from a third source as well. Ben prepared a well slide for each water source.
In the standing water we found... nothing.
Defrosted pond ice? Nada, nichts, null.
But the third source was filled with tiny, fast-moving paramecium!! Completely fascinating!
Wondering what that life-filled 3rd source was?
A drop of water from a flower vase in our living room!
Here they are zipping around at scanning power:
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| Paramecium in vase water- 3.5x |
They moved around so quickly though, that it was hard to get a good look at one close up. That is, until Ben made a slide with a drop of glycerol (glycerin) added to it. This made them immobile, so we could get a better look. And yes, I did feel just a little bad about doing that. I kinda became attached to the little guys. All in the name of science though! Click on these photos to really see some fun detail!
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| Paramecium in vase water with glycerol- 3.5x |
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| Paramecium in vase water with glycerol-40x |
Just look at those single-celled beauties!
Hmmmm. Makes me wonder what other microscopic life is secretly hanging out in my home...
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