Today our students trekked out to one of IMSA’s best kept secrets – the “No Pond” (thusly named on an early campus map to keep students away from it!) – where they collected water samples and compared their findings with tap water. They examined the water samples under the microscope and looked for aquatic microorganisms. They compared drawings of the different organisms, discussed why different organisms exist in pond water and tap water, and identified factors that promote their survival. In the afternoon students investigated solutions and turbidity, using Beer’s law to determine how much light is absorbed by a solution or a suspension (the more ‘murky’ a solution, the less light that passes through it).
