Blog Assignment #4: Mystery Pond Water Organisms

Blog Assignment #4: Mystery Pond Water Organisms (group)

by Grace Stringer, Jonathon Hong, Brian Tran, and Horea Oprean 

Figure 1

Figure 2Figure 3

Figure 4

• Describe the organisms that you found in your samples.
• Stentor (Figure 1): It is single celled with a nuclei and can adopt a green color due to algae.
• Euglenid (Figure 2): It is a photosynthetic organisms that can move through its flagellum.
• Dinoflagellate (Figure 3): It appears to be pink due to ink as it probably is hard to find when it’s clear.
• Paramecia (Figure 4): Relatively large, heterotrophic blob-like ciliate that moves, as one would expect, via cilia.

• What organisms are they and what is their function in the pond system (autotroph, heterotroph, predator, food source for other organisms, etc.).
• Stentors are freshwater protists that feeds on smaller organisms in the pond water.
• Euglenoids are photosynthetic protists that feeds on organic detritus.
• Dinoflagellates are Eukaryotic and function as either heterotrophs or autotrophs.
• Ciliates are heterotrophic protists that feed on a variety of other microorganisms, such as bacteria or algae.

• Did you find anything in the pond water that was unexpected?

When I observed the slide containing the Euglenoids, I was quite shocked. The organisms actually moved at a fast pace so it was hard to capture a picture of it.

• Reflection: What did looking at pond water make you realize about the organisms that inhabit that niche?

There's so much more than algae quietly photosynthesizing in a drop of pond water. There's movement, predation, the drama of life. We have a tendency to think of microorganisms as just little passive cells minding their own business, but there's a huge variety of scale in the microverse, and very little business-minding.

• Write at least 3 scientific questions based on your observation.

1. What is the significance of algae as it is present in all pond water environment we’ve observed?
2. Why were some pond organisms’ slide premade meanwhile others were made the time of observation?
3. How long would the microbiome of the sample water drop last until it collapsed?

• Write 1 hypothesis based on the questions above.

The microbiome of the sample would not survive very long because the resources for surviving are scarce in a drop of pond water.

References:

Arrington, Derrick. "Dinoflagellates: Characteristics, Examples & Classification."Study.com.

Study.com, n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2017.

Carboni, Giorgio. "Small Freshwater Organisms." The Freshwater Life. Fun Science Gallery, n.d.

Web. 22 Apr. 2017.

Smith, Mol. "A Virtual Pond Dip." Microscopy-UK Home (Resources for the Microscopy Enthusiast

and Amateur, including Free Bimonthly E-zine, Micscape.). Microscopy UK, n.d. Web. 22

Apr. 2017.