Structural Properties of Disintegrated Plant Matter (BioE80 Spr2015)
May 24, 2015 • 10:16 PM UTC
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yifanlu
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As explorers, we asked the two-pronged question, “Does ground plant matter preserve the structure of intact plant matter, and are different types of ground plant matter distinguishable from each other?” In order to answer these questions, we collected two samples of three categories of plant matter: leaves, flower petals, and seeds.
For the first two categories, we observed intact versions of the sample and ground versions of the samples; we ground the samples with the heels of our shoes. We were curious as to whether grinding the plant matter would expose, hide, or otherwise modify the appearance of its constituent structures when viewed with the Foldscope. The petals, leaves, and seeds (collected from the fruit of a tree) were local fauna that were planted in the Huang Engineering Quad. We were not able to observe intact seeds, since they were too large to fit on a slide.
Leaves: Intact vs. Ground
For the first two categories, we observed intact versions of the sample and ground versions of the samples; we ground the samples with the heels of our shoes. We were curious as to whether grinding the plant matter would expose, hide, or otherwise modify the appearance of its constituent structures when viewed with the Foldscope. The petals, leaves, and seeds (collected from the fruit of a tree) were local fauna that were planted in the Huang Engineering Quad. We were not able to observe intact seeds, since they were too large to fit on a slide.
Leaves: Intact vs. Ground
The lefthand-side picture is an intact sample of the leaf and the righthand-side picture is the same sample, after it had been ground. The chromatic organization of the intact sample consisted of homogenous clusters; the same shades of color existed in the ground sample, but they colors themselves were not siloed into single-color clusters. The ground sample also exposed its cells to us when viewed with a microscope, whereas the intact sample did not.
Petals : Intact vs. Ground
Petals : Intact vs. Ground
Cells were visible in both the intact and ground samples of the flower petal. The color palette was also the same across the two images, and again the organization of colors differs — in the ground petal, color appears in concentrated clumps.
Seeds: Old vs. Young
We collected two seeds — one older seed around which a hard brown shell had grown, and one younger seed that was soft and colored a light green. We ground the seeds with a stone and viewed the ground samples with our Foldscope.
Seeds: Old vs. Young
We collected two seeds — one older seed around which a hard brown shell had grown, and one younger seed that was soft and colored a light green. We ground the seeds with a stone and viewed the ground samples with our Foldscope.
In the older cell, we can see bits of the ground shell, and we see a heterogenous color palette. The younger cell has a more homogenous palette and is slightly greener. It’s not clear whether we can see individual cells in either picture.
Concluding Thoughts
Grinding plant matter seems to preserve structure insofar as the color palette remains the same. Since our categories of plant matter had distinct colors, we could easily distinguish between different types of ground matter; an interesting open question is whether one could distinguish between different types of ground plant matter if the categories had more similar color palettes.
Authors: Akshay Agrawal, Yifan Lu
Concluding Thoughts
Grinding plant matter seems to preserve structure insofar as the color palette remains the same. Since our categories of plant matter had distinct colors, we could easily distinguish between different types of ground matter; an interesting open question is whether one could distinguish between different types of ground plant matter if the categories had more similar color palettes.
Authors: Akshay Agrawal, Yifan Lu
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