Run and Tumble

Tonight we had an open lab; we could come in, practice anything we wanted, and ask questions about the upcoming test.  I decided to get more work on the microscopes.

I crushed them, saw them driven before me, and heard the lamentation of their, uh, women.

I’m still not a master, but I had a much easier time and feel comfortable enough to not worry about them hindering me during a lab practical.

I determined my two biggest issues, aside from nerves.  I wasn’t selecting large enough clumps of interesting stuff; the scopes aren’t perfectly parcentered and I would end up magnifying the void.   I also had to develop a feel for just how thin the depth of field is at 1000x and how that affects fine adjustment –  there’s really no clues you’re almost in focus; either the specimen shows or doesn’t.

In addition to the fixed slides at the lab, I brought in some scrapings from the compost pile.  I had the most luck with water droplets off some seaweed.  Saw a few blobs with nuclei, something with chlorophyll, and maybe a Stentor. None of the expected fungi, oh well.

Not many people showed, but the prof was happy to help those that did.  It was a more relaxed atmosphere and lots of fun talking ensued.