The first day of the MicroAquarium

The first day we set up our MicroAquariums, I was really interested to see how this was going to work.  The steps to setting up the MicroAquarium are as follows. 

1. Get yourself one MicroAquarium with a base and a lid.
2. Color code and initial your MicroAquarium with the appropriate color dots according to the key Dr. McFarland posted on the board.
3. Fill your MicroAquarium with water from one of the sources of your own choosing.
1. Make sure to get a little bit of the dirt from the bottom.
2. Get a little bit of the water just above the surface of the dirt.
3. Get a little bit of water just at the surface of the water. 
4. Include a little piece of each of the plants that Dr. McFarland provided.
5. Place in the appropriate box for your lab section.

The water source that I used to fill my MicroAquarium was the French Broad River, Seven Islands Wildlife Refuge, Kelly Lane , Knox Co. Tennessee. Partial shade exposure French Broad River Water Shed N35 56.742 W83 41.628 841 ft 10/12/2014. 

The two plant specimens we put into our MicroAquarium were:

1. Amblestegium varium (Hedwig) Lindberg. Moss.
   Collection from: Natural spring. at Carters Mill Park, Carter Mill Road, Knox Co. TN. Partial shade exposure. N36 01.168 W83 42.832. 10/12/2014
2. Utricularia gibba L. Flowering plant. A
   carnivorous plant. Original material from south shore of Spain Lake (N 35o55 12.35" W088o20' 47.00), Camp Bella Air Rd. East of Sparta Tn. in White Co. and grown in water tanks outside of greenhouse at Hesler
   Biology Building. The University of Tennessee. Knox Co. Knoxville TN.
   10/12/2014

To observe the MicroAquarium you have to remove the base and the lid and carefully lay it over on its side to rest on the microscope.  The water will not fall out because of surface tension. 

My observations on the first day were a few nematodes that I saw swimming around, Dr. McFarland confirmed this for me.  They were swimming into the dirt at the bottom as if they were trying to hid.  This was the only moving thing I saw the first day, I did notice the cell structure of the plants that I put in the MicroAquarium.  I hope to see more living organisms swimming around in the next few weeks as we observe our MicroAquariums.