Integrated Science 2

OBSERVING PROTISTS CULTURED FROM DIFFERENT MEDIA

“TRUTH, EXCELLENCE, SERVICE”
Ch-19
TROCINO, Job D. ___ November 2018
_______
I. INTRODUCTION
Protists are single-celled organisms thus, making them hard to observe. It is also quite
difficult to get a medium with a dense amount of protists. However, hay infusion takes care
of this problem. A hay infusion experiment is a great way to produce microbes at any time of
the year. Through hay infusion, a significant amount of bacteria was produced in the jars,
which functioned as the medium of growth. Thus, the bacteria can be examined in denser
amounts which made it easier for the students to observe the former’s numbers and diversity.
Examining these protists are significant because they are cells which are the building blocks
of life. There are many types of protists that can be found in the hay infusion experiment
which shows that cells are diverse and that there are an abundant number of cells. The
objectives of the experiment were to get an estimate number of protists in the different
mediums and examine if the different mediums can have an effect on the diversity of the
bacteria. The hypothesis for the experiment was that Jar C which was the jar with only pond
water and no grass would have the least number of organisms and that Jar B which had milk,
grass, and pond water would have the most number of organisms.
II. METHODOLOGY
To make the hay infusion, 3 jars, pond water, dry grass, plastic, dropper, and milk are
needed. To observe the protists however, glass slides, cover slips, and a microscope is needed.
The two jars have to be filled with pond water. Then, the grass have to be put into the jars
with water. Two or three drops of milk was inputted to one of the jars with grass. Each jar
was labeled to avoid confusion. After one week, the third jar was filled with pond water. Using
a dropper, a few drops was taken from each of the jars and are placed into different glass
slides. After the glass slides were covered, they were placed under the microscope. Using the
LPO which has a magnification of x10, the glass slides were observed. After another week,
more samples were taken from the jars with grass. They were placed under the microscope
using the glass slides and observed.
III. DATA AND RESULTS
The experiment’s results were recorded and is shown in the table below.
 Week 1
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
Jar Without Milk 50 20 10
Jar With Milk 200 30 50
Jar Without Grass 20 5 10
Week 2
Trial 1 Trial 2 Trial 3
Jar Without Milk 150 100 200
Jar With Milk 200 50 250

The Jar with the Milk had the most protists in according to the results gathered while
the Jar without Grass had the least.
IV. ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION
The experiment was done with almost no error and as expected by that, the results
followed the hypothesis of the experiment. A dense amount of protists was also produced
which proved that the hay infusion works. The most amount of bacteria and also had the
most diverse types was produced by the jar with the milk because the milk gave extra
nutrients to bacteria who cannot survive without the nutrients found in milk. The least
amount of bacteria was produced by the jar with only pond water simply because the grass
provided shelter and was the food of the protists who survived in the other media.
Cymbella, Spirostomum, and Ameoba were some of the few organisms were identified in the
different media but most of these were found in the jar with milk. Using pond water was
also significant because the source of the protists came from there. The bacteria was
already living in the pond water and just continue to reproduce in the different media
provided. The number of protists were estimated but was found and also the diversity of
them. All of these are significant because it shows that cells need food and some of them
can only reproduce and grow in certain conditions. One error that happened during the
observation part of the experiment was that during the second trial on the second week, the
sample was taken from a jar with maggots. The maggots’ presence led to the decrease of
the number of protists for an unknown reason. One plausible cause was that the maggots
ate some of the protists or ate the grass as well which led to the decrease of food for the
protists. Avoiding this problem can lead to an even better result in the experiment.
V. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The experiment explained and showed the significance of every missing nutrient that
might have a significant effect in the growth of things like protists. The number of protists
were listed in the results and the diversity was explained. Making multiple jars with the
same content is one recommendation. Not getting samples with maggots would also be
encouraged to get better results.