Elise Liu

<figure class="wp-block-image">
 <img alt="Pond water" class="wp-image-141206 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="141206" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 7","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1554752417","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"40","shutter_speed":"0.041666666666667","title":"","orientation":"6"}' data-image-title="Pond water" data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_141205/Pond-water.jpg"/>
</figure>

 This is the picture of a sample of water from Baxter Pond. When looking at the water droplet without any tools, it appears that there is nothing in the water. However, while using the foldscope, I was able to see small objects or round organisms floating in the sample. Several of these round objects are shown in this image.


 The sample of water from Baxter Pond was collected by the TA prior to our recitation session (Monday 7-8pm), and we were each able to put a drop of this sample onto a microscope slide. After securing it with a cover slip and tape, we used our foldscopes to magnify the contents of the slide. I ran into some issues with focusing the image, since my camera would shake near the magnets, and its quality is not very good in the first place. I found that holding it up against a bright light and taking a picture from an angle would improve the quality of the picture.


 It took a long time to pan to an interesting spot on the slide and take a relatively clear picture. I did not have much time during recitation to learn more about whatever was photographed, so I have some questions and potential approaches to answering them.

<ol>
 <li>
 What type of organism is it? –&gt; To solve this problem, I would try ways to focus the camera more, allowing me to get a clearer picture of the round objects I found in the water, which are potentially some sort of bacteria or microorganism. With a clearer image, I would be able to identify features of interest, such as the contents of the body and whether it has flagella to help it move around, etc. I would also look into the types of microorganisms that are commonly found in water like the water in Baxter Pond and compare their characteristics to help me determine what it is.
 </li>
 <li>
 How many organisms are in the scope of the image? –&gt; I could find out what the average size of the organisms are, and use the magnification of my foldscope to give an approximate size of the area covered by my image. Then, I could do a simple calculation to find about how many organisms are present in that picture.
 </li>
 <li>
 </li>
</ol>

 Overall, it was an interesting recitation session and a good way to practice using the foldscopes. It was a bit more difficult because we used a water sample instead of a dry sample; it was sometimes hard to tell if something was actually important or if it was a bubble/tape/dust. Hopefully this image is of something of interest.


 #caltechbi1

Baxter Pond water sample

<figure class="wp-block-image">
 <img alt="image2" class="wp-image-149700 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="149700" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"1.8","credit":"","camera":"iPhone 8","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1557531254","copyright":"","focal_length":"3.99","iso":"250","shutter_speed":"0.25","title":"","orientation":"6"}' data-image-title="image2" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_149699/image2.jpeg"/>
 <figcaption>
 Pollen from an orange hibiscus flower near Page House.
 </figcaption>
</figure>

 This is an image of pollen from an orange flower. The sample was collected at 3:00 PM on May 10, 2019 (Friday). It was obtained from a large patch of flowers located outside the south-house facing entrance of Page House on Caltech’s campus.
 


 Many of the shrubs were blooming, producing large orange flowers with clear clusters of pollen in the center. I found one flower had opened completely, which made it easy to locate the stamens. A cluster of anthers that seemed most densely-covered with pollen was selected and carefully detached from the plant.
 


 An image of the location where the sample was obtained is attached below.

<figure class="wp-block-image">
 <img alt="IMG_7852" class="wp-image-149703 gcloudimg" data-attachment-id="149703" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta='{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}' data-image-title="IMG_7852" src="https://storage.googleapis.com/microcosmosdelta.appspot.com/images/transfer_149699/IMG_7852.jpg"/>
 <figcaption>
 Flowering shrubs outside of Page House entrance.
 </figcaption>
</figure>

 In the next part of this post, I will be determining the species of plant that the pollen sample came from. Its most distinctive characteristics are the five brightly-colored orange petals. They are arranged around a darker orange-red center. There is also a stamen that has several clusters of pollen on it. By searching up the characteristics of this flower and comparing to pictures found on the internet, I was able to conclude that it is an orange hibiscus flower (rosa-sinensis).


 #caltechbi1

Elise Liu

Earth

Posts

Baxter Pond water sample

Foldscope Pollen Sample

Locations

Statistics

Type of Sample

Foldscope Lens Magnification