Sometimes; wonder awaits you in seemingly quiet places. Walking up to a 300 year old pond that is fed by a stream under water is one such quiet place. But a lot is happening in this ecosystem that’s right below the surface. A quick drop of water fro here into my foldscope – and you would be convinced what an incredible microscopic rain forest we have right under our feet.

I will write a detailed post soon – but let’s see how many different bacteria and ciliates can you identify in these few videos (comment section below). Look out for the helical cork screw swimmer.

For techniques, I am just using a table lamp as my light source and a standard Foldscope (out of a BCK kit). As I angle the foldscope with respect to the table lamp; I can generate various contrast mechanisms. For more details on this angular illumination – also see my old post at http://microcosmos.foldscope.com/?p=16093

Here is a quick video of the setup itself.

Join us in this wonderful journey of the microscopic world. What will you discover?

Cheers

Manu