This sample of a stalk of grass was plucked from the lawn in front of Lloyd House at 4:00 on June 1. The sample (and all of the other samples in this post) was placed on a glass slide and covered with a cover slip. The snapshot seems to show individual cells in the stalk of grass and an open stoma in the center of the stalk.

The flower sample in these photos was collected from the sidewalk in front of the Guggenheim Laboratory on June 1 at 3:45. The cells in this flower are much rounder than the grass cells and do not seem to have as distinct a structure as the grass cells. This makes sense; the flower is much softer and less rigid than a blade of grass.

The anther stalks in this picture are from the flower collected in front of the Guggenheim Laboratory. A grain of pollen is present in the bottom left corner of the picture; the grain is shaped like a bath scrubber and is puckered in the middle.

The anther stalk pictured was collected in front of Lloyd House at 5:00 on June 2. This anther stalk is much thicker than the stalk from the Guggenheim flower and seems to have an inner tube running through it.

This hair sample was collected from a Caltech student at 4:15 on June 2. Like the anther from the Lloyd flower, this hair seems to have a tube running through it. The tube might be the medulla, the innermost layer of thick hairs.

These leaf samples were collected at 3:45 on June 3. The serrated leaf sample is from a plant in front of the Guggenheim Laboratory, and the smooth leaf is from the area in front of Lloyd house. It is interesting that plants with serrated leaf edges have higher rates of transpiration; perhaps the rough edges of a serrated leaf create patterns of air that allow for more evaporation.

This tissue sample was collected from a box of facial tissues on June 2 at 4:45. The pictures show that tissues are made up of a number of small fibers woven in different directions. It is interesting to note that tissues have no grain since the fibers making up the tissue are not aligned in a specific direction; this makes it difficult to tear a tissue in half even if it is creased beforehand.