HELP! Growing Volvox Algae experiment

[MKat]

I'm growing Volvox algae for a science fair project and had a few questions as to how.
Do I need to grow it in fertilizer or soil?
How would I monitor it?
Is there an outline of a project, some guidelines, I could follow?
Please help!

[MelissaB]

Hi,

Volvox is a freshwater alga, which means that you will do best by 'growing' it in a tank of water. You can take a small sample of pond water, and put it in a tank full of non-chlorinated water (tap water has chlorine to kill things like Volvox).

What do you need Volvox for? It will be very difficult to separate from the rest of the pond flora and fauna.

[sarahlaugtug]

Hello MKat,
Great questions, it sounds like you are somewhat familiar with science projects, so far. That will help you out for sure!
I was curious as to how you became interested in working with Volvox? What are you hoping to find out?

First, I would check out the Science buddies science fair project guide for suggestions on projects to suit your interest:
1. http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-f ... gister.php
2. http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-f ... llprojects

Here are some project examples of working with algae:
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-f ... p054.shtml
http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-f ... background

Here are some resources about Volvox. By the way, I have studied them under the microscope and they look so cool.
http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/ind ... olvox.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algaculture
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/volvox-facts.html

By the way, you asked how to monitor it. You will need petri dishes and a pipette (put pond water into petri dish) to look at them under a microscope. Use a compound/light microscope (use the dark field--they will light up against the dark background) if possible to see them. You should be able to get a microscope at your school. But it depends on what you are doing, you might not need a scope.

Let me know how things go and what project you decide on.