Initial Publication Date: October 11, 2006

FROM PLANKTONNET TO INTERNET



Workshop, Loyola University, location, 19th October, 2006

Faculty David J Patterson, MBL, Woods Hole, Mass 02543 dpatterson@mbl.edu
Jim Wee, Loyola University wee@loyno.edu

Educationalist
Sarah Bordenstein, BEPO, MBL, Woods Hole, Mass 02543, srbordenstein@mbl.edu

Science Advisor
Linda Amaral-Zettler, MBL, Woods Hole, Mass, 02543, amaral@mbl.edu

A one day workshop that will provide training in handling of benthic and water column samples with algae and protozoa, microscopy, imaging of microscopic materials, manipulation of images using Photoshop ???, depositing images within an on-line repository, and the assembly of a curriculum standards compliant on-line webquest using the resources.

We will conduct three or four exercises:

1. MICROSCOPY, WORKING WITH NATURAL SAMPLES FROM LAKE PONTCHARTRAIN.
We will have access to some nice microscopes. We will collect digital images that will be worked up for submission into the micro*scope web site. Samples will be taken from the water or from the sediments in the Lake. Details on how we do this are given in the Protistiary web site (references are at the end of the document).

2. IMAGE MANIPULATION USING PHOTOSHOP (OR SIMILAR).
The basic editing steps are: o Orient and position the subject so that it is in the center of the frame and the anterior (preferably) or dorsal is pointing to the top of the picture o Adjust levels o Deal with any cleaning up o Save o For any images that need to go to micro*scope, these instructions will have to be applied. If you have the software, practice with images borrowed from the internet, or with your own.

3. ADDING CONTENT TO MICRO*SCOPE.
We will establish a guide to micro*scope within Microbial Life. It is being prepared now, and should be available through: Topics of Interest > special collections. We will be asking for critical input as to how to write this in a way that it will appeal to teachers and to students. If you are attending the workshop, you should visit micro*scope and register with a request to be able to be a contributor. During the workshop, we will create one or more 'collections' for your images, and then assign images to the web site. These images will be called upon the subsequent exercise(s).

4. EDUCATIONAL EXERCISES
We hope to complete one or two exercises similar to the Microbial Life. These are pedagogically sound exercises that seek to develop skills and knowledge appropriate to federal and state curriculum standards.

First exercise.. One of our colleagues, Linda Amaral-Zettler, working as part of the Centers of Oceans and Human Health, has been using molecular techniques to assess on the release of potential pathogens following Katrina. We will obtain interim results from her, and will use these as a basis of a web-quest—that will establish if pathogens or other problematic protists are being encountered, and to assess the appropriate course of action. Sarah will complete part of the exercise, but we hope that workshop delegates will continue working on the exercise with Sarah after the workshop is over, and use it to finalize an exercise that is custom designed for local needs.

Sarah will provide us with guidance about appropriate software for building webquests.

Some of the major infectious protists include Plasmodium that causes malaria, Trypanosomes that cause Sleeping sickness, Naegleria, that can infect the brain, Acanthamoebathat can infect the eyes and brain, Giardia and Entamoeba that will cause diarrhea, etc. Other protists, such as the dinoflagellates Prorocentrum lima and Alexandrium fundeyense, can produce toxins that cause various problems for humans and animals.

Second exercise. Create a classification scheme for the organisms found in Lake Ponchartrain (or in any other collection within the micro*scope environment). This will be used to provide insights into principles of biodiversity, phylogeny, and classification.

REFERENCES