Plankton Observations

Monday, we looked at awesome plankton under the microscopes! I found a cool flowery plankton, but we couldn't find it again for the picture, so here are some other organisms:

When you look at the zig-zag formation above, you are looking at algae. It is a micro phytoplankton that uses a flat, zig-zag pattern to prevent itself from sinking too quickly. I think the strand running behind it is also a micro phytoplankton because it has chloroplast (green).

The round organism is a micro holoplankton. I know it is a zooplankton because it has organs and a cell membrane (making it round). The green strand beside it is a micro phytoplankton. It is a more spread out, elongated shape so it doesn't sink and it has square shapes due to its cell wall.

The zooplankton above is a macro holoplankton; we could see it moving without using the microscope. It has very noticeable organs that we could see moving under the microscope. He was moving a lot, at least until Mrs. Richardson killed him in the name of science!

This was the most interesting plankton. This is sand from a Japanese beach! The zooplankton in this picture are forams. They are macro-sized holoplankton that died and covered the beach.

Photos courtesy of Mrs. Richardson