Observed through Foldscope: Pollen Collected from Pictured Flower at Caltech

May 10, 2019 • 2:37 PM UTC

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sfomina

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Figure 1: Pollen sample as observed from a Foldscope through the additional magnification of a phone camera Description of Image: There are rice-shaped yellow oval grains, that are filled with a somewhat translucent cytoplasm. Location and time sample was obtained: Sample was obtained at 6pm on 5/8/19 from a garden on the Caltech campus next to the Broad building from the flower pictured below.

Figure 2: Flower that produced the pollen obtained for the sample Some questions about my image and potential approaches to answering them: I wonder what material makes up the tough outer shell of the pollen grains observed and I wonder how it would react with water. I could approach answer this question starting by preparing a sample of pollen in water, and observing it. I wonder how the pollen will decay with time. I can answer this question by making several follow up observations in the span of days and weeks. I wonder where what about the structure of these pollen grains allows it to attach to the stigma of a plant. I could approach answering this question by also preparing a sample of a stigma from the plant and observing its structure to try to make some inferences. I wonder what can be noticed about the inside of the pollen grains given higher magnification. I could possible answer this question using a higher powered magnification microscope. #caltechbi1

Observed through Foldscope: Pollen Collected from Pictured Flower at Caltech

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