• This was the flower that the pollen was retrieved from. It looks like an orange California poppy.
• This is one image of the pollen through the foldscope.
• This is another image of the pollen through the foldscope.

This is a short video showing the pollen through the lens of the foldscope.
The pollen was obtained at 12:45 pm on Wednesday, May 8, 2019. The sample was obtained from an orange flower, possibly a California poppy, located among several other of the same type of flower on Caltech’s campus in between Lloyd House and the Athenaeum. The sample was obtained by taking the head of the flower and shaking the pollen onto a glass slide. Then, a glass cover was taped over the pollen onto the glass slide such that the tape did not cover the pollen through the cover piece and on the glass slide. The images above show a picture of the pollen through the foldscope. The pollen did not move and there were circular shapes scattered across the line of view. Some were clumped fairy close together but on the most part were spread out. The outline of the circles were darker than their interior. One question I had was regarding this: why was the outline of the circles of pollen darker than the interior? I could approach this question by learning more about the makeup of pollen cells, and the part that surrounds the exterior of the cells, and research why it might cause us to see a darker shade on the exterior than the interior. I can also research why it might be this way, as it may be some form of protection or self-preservation of the flower. #caltechbi1.