The Beginner’s Guide to Microscopic Life in a Pond
One of my favorite Homeschool Microscope Lessons is collecting pond water and looking for microscopic life in the sample. The Beginner’s Guide to Life in a Pond will help you to understand and identify the critters you collect from the pond.
Disclaimer: I was given a Home 1000x LED Microscope and digital microscope camera from Home Science Tools and I was compensated for my time in writing this post. I purchased the Microscopic Life Kit from Home Science Tools. This post contains affiliate links. Thanks for your support!
In most biology curriculum,
the beginning of the year is a time to learn about biological building blocks
including cells.
Students learn the difference between prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.
By now students are probably familiar with cells
and how they work.
We can take learning a step further and observe
unicellular organisms-
even before we learn how to classify them later on in the year.
Today’s lesson is an introduction to the microorganisms found in a pond.
Whatever the time of year, we can always find specimens with prepared slides.
Classifying Microscopic Pond Life
For discussion’s sake though, let’s talk a little about classification.
Microorganisms that we can find in a pond can be classified into different groups.
All of them are adapted to life in a pond
and other freshwater locations,
and they even gather at waste water treatment plants.
Some of these organisms are difficult to classify
and not everyone agrees completely on a standard.
But, there are a few things we know.
For example:
- Unicellular– so they are made up of just one cell
- Eukaryotic– so their cell nucleus is enclosed in a membrane and that puts them in the Domain of Eukaryotes
- Protista– most of these animals belong to the Protista Kingdom of classification. This is where the term Protist comes from even though some of the organisms you find may not fit this category.
- Heterotrophic– many of these organisms do not make their own food, so they feed off of other microorganisms
- Mobile– Protists are often categorized by how they move around. Some are ciliates meaning they move around by beating many small cilia which are like hairs. Others are flagellates so they move with one tail like hair or a pair of them.
Some of these organisms do have chloroplasts and have the ability to make food.
Algae is in this category and things get tricky when we try to classify this group of organisms.
Below you will find a free field guide to Protists.
Keep it handy as you explore your sample.
Materials Needed to Study Microorganisms in a Pond
In our last post, we talked about how to get your own pond sample to find microorganisms.
You can also use prepared slides.
Prepared slides make it easy to explore.
They make it easy to say YES to science.
Plus, they allow you to identify organisms
before you head out to the field to collect your own.
Many of the pictures in today’s post are from the slide set found in the Microscopic Life Kit from Home Science Tools.
- Microscope Slides– for placing the specimen under the microscope
- Microscope– one that you can observe over 100x. At least 400x is probably best to see the Protists large enough for identification.
- Digital Microscope Camera– if you want to record video of your microorganisms in action
- Microscope Life Kit– totally optional, but this has many of the needed supplies right inside plus materials for more exploration.
Using Prepared Sides to Observe Protists
The steps to using prepared slides are pretty easy.
- Set up your microscope- with the camera if you have one
- Obtain the prepared slide- and make sure there are no finger prints (you can remove them with lens paper if you find some)
- Find your specimens under low power- start with low power to find them on the slide and begin to see what you have
- Switch to high power- to have a closer look
- Observe under the highest power- remember that your field of vision will decrease so not as much of the sample will be seen at this magnification
- Use the field guide below- to check off which ones you could find. You can even make your own drawings there.
Field Guide to Microscopic Pond Organisms
As part of our study of microscopic pond life, I created a field guide to common Protists.
Download and print the field guide.
Use it while you explore the microscope slides under your microscope.
These organisms range in size from 5 μm – 600 or more μm.
Microns (μm) are approximately 1/1000 of a millimeter (mm).
- Discuss with your students units in the metric system- beyond what they have learned. This can include Microns and even Nanometers.
- Determine what you can see with your microscope- so that you can be on the lookout for what you can expect to find during your investigation.
- Consider the size of these creatures- what is something you can see that begins to get close to comparing their size?
More Posts on Using a Microscope
The Beginner’s Guide to Using a Microscope– This post contains a video tutorial on using light microscopes with found objects. You’ll learn how to make a dry mount slide with detailed directions on successfully using your microscope.
Observing Onion Cells– Step by step instructions on preparing your onion sample, including staining the specimen and then observing it under the micrscope.
3 Easy Steps to Observing Pond Life under a Microscope– How to collect and prepare a wet mount slide of pond water in order to see microscopic organisms. This post includes a live video of a Paramecium we observed in our sample.
Free Microscope Observations Lab Printable
Any time is a good time to see what you can find in a pond water sample.
Prepared slides make it quick and easy
to make important observations.
Take the time to apply knowledge on cells
and unicellular, microscopic organisms.
Be a science yes mom!
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