Grace Alwan

<figure class="wp-block-image">
 <img alt="IMG_6762" class="wp-image-124496 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="124496" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 7","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1549481973","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.14285714285714","title":"","orientation":"6"}' data-image-title="IMG_6762" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_124495/IMG_6762.jpg"/>
 <figcaption>
 Slide of leaf prepared with water.
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</figure>

 These photos were taken of a leaf I found outside of my dorm on February 6th. To look at the leaf with the Foldscope, I actually prepared two different slides, one with water and one without. I took sections of the leaf from the bottom-most portion, since I figured these cells would be the youngest. The photo above is the leaf prepared with water, which provided a much clearer picture than the leaf prepared without water, shown below.

<figure class="wp-block-image">
 <img alt="IMG_6756" class="wp-image-124497 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="124497" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 7","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1549481168","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.25","title":"","orientation":"6"}' data-image-title="IMG_6756" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_124495/IMG_6756.jpg"/>
 <figcaption>
 Slide of leaf prepared without water.
 </figcaption>
</figure>

 The slide prepared with water allows us to see the plant cells in much more detail, but in both pictures, you can see that there appears to be groups of cells bunched together that are distinctly separate from the other bunches of cells. My first instinct would be to say that these are fibers, but this is odd considering that this is a top-to-bottom view of the leaf. I am no expert in leaf anatomy, but it would be interesting to know why the cells in this leaf are organized in bunches.

<figure class="wp-block-image">
 <img alt="IMG_6767" class="wp-image-124498 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="124498" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 7","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1549482062","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"100","shutter_speed":"0.25","title":"","orientation":"6"}' data-image-title="IMG_6767" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_124495/IMG_6767.jpg"/>
 <figcaption>
 Slide of leaf prepared with water, with a water droplet visible.
 </figcaption>
</figure>

Bio60_2019 &#8211; Green Leaf

<figure class="wp-block-image is-resized">
 <img alt="IMG_6914" class="wp-image-129469 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="129469" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 7","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1550750321","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"40","shutter_speed":"0.05","title":"","orientation":"6"}' data-image-title="IMG_6914" height="807" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_129467/IMG_6914.jpg" width="606"/>
 <figcaption>
 Blueberry skin under the Foldscope.
 </figcaption>
</figure>

 Since I looked at plants for my last Foldscope post, I decided to look at the skin of various fruits for my second post. I took a strawberry, blueberries, and honeydew from my dining hall, but I am focusing on the blueberries because they had the most clear and interesting results.


 To prepare the slide, I used tweezers to remove the skin from a blueberry, being careful not to get any of the fleshy fruit with it. I placed each piece of skin on the slide without overlap. I did not add any water because the skin was already moist. Then, I looked through my Foldscope at the highest magnification.


 The image is not as clear as I would like, so I would probably be able to see more if I could look with a higher magnification level. However, you are still able to see patches of different coloration and some groups of what seem to be individual cells. I didn’t expect to see such a mix of colors, especially not the bright pink!


 I am also attaching a picture I took of the strawberry skin below. It is much less clear than the blueberry picture and you cannot see much cell-definition, but there are still some interesting color patterns. I used the same technique as the blueberry to prepare my slides, but it was much more difficult to avoid the fleshy fruit with the strawberry. This could be a reason why the picture is so unclear.

<figure class="wp-block-image">
 <img alt="IMG_6906" class="wp-image-129471 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="129471" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 7","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1550750215","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"25","shutter_speed":"0.0083333333333333","title":"","orientation":"6"}' data-image-title="IMG_6906" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_129467/IMG_6906-1.jpg"/>
 <figcaption>
 Strawberry skin under the Foldscope.
 </figcaption>
</figure>

Grace Alwan

Earth

Posts

Bio60_2019 – Green Leaf

Bio60_2019 – Blueberry Skin

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Type of Sample

Foldscope Lens Magnification