You will need many materials for the protist lab. Most of them will be given to you via an overnight package shipment or when you visit the lab. It is essential that you get to these organisms right away, so that they do not all die before you try to see them. That is why we are overnighting them to you, but recommending that you come into school to pick them up.

The Overnight Package (or picked up one)

For the protist portion of this lab, you will be receiving a package in the mail-- it is being sent overnight mail. The package contains the protists, plus a couple of animals for the next lab. As soon as you receive your package, take out the contents and loosen all the caps so that the organisms have air! Here is what is in the package:

To keep at room temperature: all but two of the centrifuge tubes (the small plastic pop-cap, cone-shaped, colored containers)

	Stentor coeruleus-- a ciliated protozoan
	Amoeba proteus-- an amoeboid protozoan
	Spirogyra-- a filamentous green algae
	Volvox-- a colonial green algae
	Callithamnion-- a red algae
	diatomaceous earth-- golden-brown algae (not alive)

To refrigerate: the larger, screw-cap container and the bright green and yellow centrifuge tubes (do NOT freeze!):

	Ulva (a multicellular green algae)
	kelp (a multicellular brown algae in the screw-cap container)
	Hydra-- an animal for *the next lab* (not easily visible without your microscope)
	Planaria-- an animal for *the next lab* (a harmless flatworm)

All of the room temperature protists (except for the diatomaceous earth, which is dead) should be immediately opened and allowed to receive air. That means, take off the waxy wrapping we put on to prevent leakage of the centrifuge tubes and pop open the caps. You don't want the water inside to all evaporate, so you don't have to leave the caps all the way open all the time. But you want to give the organisms some air. If they start to evaporate, just add some "spring" water. You should also loosen the cap on the screw-cap jar containing the large algae.

Supplies to have on hand

You will need your slides and coverslips and pipettes for the protist lab. Just be sure that you rinse out the pipettes or use clean ones for each solution. Also, be sure to have some spring water available if you need it. You may also want to have your methylene blue solution available just in case you can't see the Amoebas and want to stain them to see them better.

The Overnight Package (or picked up one)

Supplies to have on hand

Last changed: January 21, 2007