TEENS Leaf Stomata Project 

Materials:

 

Lab:

• Leaves of choice

• Clear nail polish

• Clear tape

• Microscope Slides

• Microscope

• Tablet or smartphone

• Data sheet

 

Field:

 

• Tree measuring tape

• Data recording device such as a tablet or smartphone

• Plastic Bags

• Marker

• EpiCollect App  

• Tree Identification Book

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Methods/Procedures:

Field Procedure:

1. Venture out to your study site.

2. Pick a tree that would best suit your investigation.

3. Open up the “Epicollect+ Beta” app on your tablet.

4. Document your location in epicollect as well as the field number.

5. Record other variables such as temperature, data, and time in EpiCollect and on the paper recording form.

6. Take a photo of the tree and leaf in Epicollect.

7. Take the tree circumference with the tree tape measure and record it into EpiCollect and on the paper recording form.

8. Sample three leaves from the tree and place it into the plastic bags.

9. Record the field number on the plastic bag using a sharpie.

 

Lab Procedure:

 

1. Gather your pack of leaves.

2. Coat the undersides of the leaves with and even coat of nail polish and wait for the nail polish to dry.

3. When the polish is dry, individually set a piece of tape on top of the dried polish.

4. Carefully remove the polish. The nail polish that has been removed should be slightly translucent but the leaf structure should be visible.

5. Place the tape onto a glass slide. Be careful not to get fingerprints on the slide.

6. Label each slide with its field number and an “A”, “B”, or “C” label following it.

7. View your slide under the microscope at all three levels of magnification paying close attention to stomatal clarity and amount. Focus in on a good area.

8. Focus your leaf at 400x magnification and take a photo with your tablet of the magnified area.

9. Count the number of stomata in the photo and record your findings

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This was the Epicollect project we used:

http://plus.epicollect.net/air_quality2016