Micro Lab Week 2: Exercise 2 — The Protista

Posted on September 5th, 2008 in Uncategorized by drstocksblog

Exercise 2 — The Protista:  Algae and Protozoa

Don’t forget:  You should have your lab coat/apron/scrubs and your lab supplies this week.

yanoReview the lecture material on algae and protozoa AND read the introduction in your lab book.

You’ve already seen some algae and some protozoa.  This week you’ll be looking at the following:

Algae:

 

  • Fresh Samples (make wet mounts)
    • Closterium a green alga that looks a bit like a cigar.
  • Prepared Slides of
    • Diatoms — note the ornamentation on their cell walls which are made of silicates. [These are slides from my Master's degree thesis.]
    • Volvox – a colonial green alga which is basically a ball of flagellated cells.

Protozoa:

 

  • Fresh Samples (make wet mounts) [100x to 400x]
    • Amoeba – these need to be fished out of the jar using a pipet and disecting microscope.
    • Paramecium – these are speedy buggers; you might want to place a small drop of “Proto-Slo” on the slide first to slow them down.
    • Vorticella – these look like wine goblets.

Prepared Slides

  • Paramecium – no they don’t come in colors; they were stained this way. 100x or 400x
  • Trichomonas vaginalis  400x
  • Trypanosoma – make sure you label the parasites (trypaonosomes) and the blood cells in your drawing.   You might need to go to 1000x to see  these well.

    Cyanobacteria

     

    • Be sure to read about Cyanobacteria in your lab and your textbooks.  
      • We have fresh Oscillatoria (wet mount 400x) 
      • Also prepared slides of Oscillatoria.

     

    By the end of the week of lecture and lab you should be able to answer all of the questions at the end of Exercise 2 in your lab book.  You should already have finished the questions at the end of Exercise 1!

     

     

    Welcome to Microbiology Laboratory for Fall 2008

    Posted on August 27th, 2008 in Microbiology lab by drstocksblog

    What is this?

    This site is my laboratory briefing blog.  Each week I update the blog to give you a “heads-up” on what is coming up in lab for the next week.

    What should you do?

    • Each week, before coming to lab, you should go to this site and read the briefing.  Sometimes it is a good idea to print it out and put it in your lab note book.
    • This isn’t a substitute for reading the exercise we are doing that week.  But we do use living organisms and sometimes modifications must be made to the lab manual.
    • Also I often post things that you should pay particular attention to, or should be sure to look at before lab.

    This week:  Laboratory Orientation and Safety and Exercise 1 — Microscopy

    • We’re going to start right out using the most useful tool for microbiology and that is the microscope.  The more practice you have, the better you will do.
    • You should have your
      • Laboratory Manual
      • Laboratory kit with slides,  lens paper etc.
      • This week it is sort of OK if you don’t, but starting next week we EXPECT you to have these and a lab coat, apron, or scrubs to wear to lab.
    • Review Exercise 1 before coming to lab.

    VIEW the Cartoon “How to use the microscope” which is available in the lab course in Vancko Hall.

    This week you are going to look at living material including wet mount preparations of:

    • Fresh sample of green algae.  [I am going to collect this late Sunday or early Monday; I think it is probably Spirogyra but will not know until I examine it microscopically.]
    • Fresh sample of diatoms (golden algae).
    • “Hay Infusion” — you should make a hanging drop preparation of this.

    For the return lab you should be sure to look at the

    • Hay infusion if you didn’t get to it during the first lab.
    • And the prepared blood slide.  Look at this and draw it at all three magnifications including 1000x.