
EXPERIMENT 10
Gateway to the Microcosm
27
“Fishing in the dark”
with your biological
collecting station
YOU WILL NEED
› 4 slides, cover slips
›
2 corks (from wine bottles), pocket knife, string,
1 plastic bag filled with rocks or sand, 1 piece
of polystyrene foam, 1 permanent marker for
marking your slides
HERE’S HOW
1. Have an adult help you
bore a hole
through
the length of each cork and thread the string
through the holes. Secure the string with a
knot at the top and a knot below.
2. In the top cork, make
two horizontal slits
for
the slides and make
two vertical slits
in the
bottom cork, and clamp the slides in the
corks.
3. Tie a piece of
polystyrene foam
to the top end
of the string to serve as a float, and tie the
sand-filled bag
to the bottom end to serve as
an anchor or sinker.
4.
Mark the slides
with a symbol or H1/H2
(horizontal) and V1/V2 (vertical), and take
the collecting station to a pond.
5. After about
a week or two,
bring your pond
specimen collection station home in a bucket
of pond water. Before you look at your “prey”
under the microscope, wipe one side of each
slide clean with a cloth.
6. The other side of the slide should not be
soaking wet when you view it under the
microscope.
Let it dry a little
before viewing.
Put one or more
cover slips
on the slide,
position it on the microscope stage, and begin
your observations.
Note: When constructing the
collecting station, particularly when
boring the holes for the string and
making the slits for the slides, it is
absolutely essential to have an adult
help you.