ontents of the Berlese Funnel were very few. We found one flea in our leaf litter.
The Berlese Funnel experiment did not produce many results for our group. Only one organism was found, which was a flea. We were unable to create a food web as a result of only finding one invertebrate in our transect. Although our transect was unable to provide a variety of invertebrates to observe, it was helpful to look at other groups' results to get a better idea of what types of organisms live in various settings. This lab was also useful in demonstrating the similarities and differences in various invertebrates.
Objectives 1. Learn the stages of embryonic development 2. Compare embryonic development in different organisms 3. Set up an experiment to study how environmental conditions affect embryonic development
The first objective is covered in the introduction of the lab. The second objective will be addressed through observing and comparing the embryonic development in a starfish, frog and chick. The third objective will be addressed through creating an experiment based on the papers we were assigned that described the factor being used to manipulate embryonic development.
Starfish development 1. Observe stages of starfish embryonic development from slides
Frog development 1. Observe stages of frog development from slides 2. Compare with starfish development
Embryogenesis experiment 1. Set up an embryogenesis experiment with zebrafish 2. Create two petri dishes with zebrafish embryos, one control with water and one affected by quantum dots 3. Observe them over a period of two weeks
We set up our zebrafish experiment with quantum dots. One of the petri dishes was the control, so the zebrafish were put in water. The other petri dish was the treated dish, where zebrafish were put in with 0.05 M quantum dots. 20 zebrafish were placed in each dish. Over the course of the first week, the zebrafish grew without food in each dish. The zebrafish in the treated dish seemed to move and grow faster than the zebrafish in the control dish. There were a few dead fish after the first week that were removed from the petri dishes. The water from the control dish and the quantum dot solution were emptied out from the petri dishes and new water and solution were added. 10 fish from each dish were preserved in a solution so that they could be observed in the case that the other fish died by the second week. By the second week, most of the fish had died. Only one fish from the treated dish survived. The preserved fish were observed under a UV light. Neither of the tubes containing controlled and treated fish showed any signs of quantum dot effects. There were some specks of red underneath the UV light, but it was most likely contamination of some sort and not a quantum dot. None of the quantum dots penetrated the fish.
The embryogenesis development stages of various organisms were observed through looking at slides of frog, chick and starfish development. The zebrafish experiment allowed for us to watch the progress of growing fish embryos. Although most fish died and none of the quantum dots appeared in the preserved fish, it was still successful in that one fish managed to survive in the treated dish by the end of the second week.