Investigating flagellates, plankton and filter feeders - for iPod/iPhone
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How do we enter the strange and fascinating world of small organisms? How do scientists explore their habits, growth, and rather intriguing behaviours? In this album, scientists from Italy, the US and the UK reveal some of the technologies and techniques they use to investigate the behaviour of small aquatic organisms such as flagellates, plankton and filter feeders. In the audio track, Dr David Robinson of The Open University talks about some of the problems and rewards of investigating very small aquatic creatures. This material forms part of The Open University course S204 Biology: uniformity and diversity.
Investigating small aquatic organisms
Professor David Robinson talks about small aquatic organisms, the techniques used to study them and the influences the environment has on them.
Investigating filter feeders
Professor Mimi Köehl demonstrates how somesuspension feeders eat.
Investigating bivalves
Professor Evan Ward demonstrates how bivalves feed, and how they process the food they ingest.
Locating phytoplankton
Dr Gabrielle Kennaway uses a conductivity-temperature-depth (CTD) sampler to test for phytoplankton and its movements with the tide.
Investigating flagellates
Dr Gianfranco Novarino demonstrates how to isolate flagellates from samples and some of their more unusual feeding behaviour.
Investigating plankton
Professor Paul Tett investigates how phytoplankton lives in the sea and gives some examples of how it travels and survives.