Principle
A microscopic water analysis predominately reveals unicellular organisms. But occasionally you can also see groups of algae that resemble a mulberry. They consist of a number of single algae which are held together by mucilage. Such an assemblage is referred to as a colony. The volvox alga constitutes an especially large colony. This sphere (lat. volvere: to roll) is made of
several thousand cells which are surrounded by a mucilage sphere and interconnected by plasma threads. All of these cells are identical. They possess two flagellae and one chloroplast for photosynthesis. Information is exchanged through the plasma threads, for example, so that locomotion is achievable by a synchronous beat of the flagellae. Volvox also possesses several
reproductive cells which develop into daughter spheres extending into the interior.

Benefits

• Experiment is part of a complete solution set with a total of 50 experiments for all microscopy applications
• With student worksheet, appropriate for all class levels
• With detailed instructor information, incl. sample microscopy image
• Optimized for tight schedules, i.e. minimum preparation time required
• Microscopy solution set specifically designed to include all required accessories
• Content available with matching multimedia files

Tasks
Find out how many daughter spheres one parental colony contains.

Learning objectives

• Volvox
• Colony
• Cells
• Flagellae
• Chloroplast
• Photosynthesis