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Astrobiology Forum

Mysteries of Microbes: Fascinating Fieldwork

Featuring: Lorraine Olendzenski

September 14 - November 15, 2001

[ Lori/NASAChatHost - 17 - 06:14:23 ]
Welcome to the chatroom for the Mysteries of Microbes - Fascinating Fieldwork Forum. This room has been set up so students can ask questions and share their insights with NASA expert Lorraine Olendzenski and each other. The forum will start September 14 and run through November 15. This forum is part of a series including three webcasts -- September 18, September 25 and November 16, 2001 -- allowing students to learn more about and participate in a project involving fieldwork investigation. To learn more about this event, go to -- http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/astrobiology/events/fieldwork/

[ PLEASE_NOTE - 18 - 06:15:32 ]
This is a moderated chatroom, so nothing goes online in the main room until it passes through the moderator. The moderator will check the room several times each day, during the length of the forum, to add questions and comments.

[ Lori/NASAChatHost - 19 - 06:16:06 ]
The forum has started and you may go ahead and place questions in the chatroom now to be answered. Please don't post test messages or repeats -- though you may not see your question, it is in the chatroom. Again, PLEASE do not repeat your questions. Enjoy the investigation and the forum :-)

[ Lori/NASAChatHost - 20 - 06:16:33 ]
If you haven't downloaded the instructions for the Winogradsky Column, you can find them here: http://quest.nasa.gov/projects/astrobiology/fieldwork/ed.html#fieldwork. There are also lots of other cool links off this page.

[ Lori/NASAChatHost - 21 - 06:28:45 ]
To print up a cool full-color career card for Dr. Tori Hoehler, go to http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/projects/astrobiology/fieldwork/careercards/torih_cc.html. Tori was the NASA expert featured in the first webcast. You can find one for Dr. David Des Marais at http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/projects/astrobiology/fieldwork/careercards/CC_desmaraisd.pdf. David joined us for the second webcast.

[ Lori/NASAChatHost - 22 - 06:30:17 ]
Lorraine is ready to answer any questions you may have about the Winogradsky Column. Welcome Lorraine!!

[ Lorraine - 24 - 06:35:30 ]
RE: [Anna] Hi my friend and I are doing a science project using the Winogradsky Column.
Hi Anna, How is the project going? Any questions? Where did you get your sample mud from for setting up the column? It may take several weeks to see results.

[ Lorraine - 29 - 10:09:18 ]
RE: [SharonAnna] Dear Ms. Lori, We are conducting a science fair project on the Winogradsky Column and need a way to measure the growth amounts in the Column, our teacher suggested a spectrophmeter. Would this work?? Please respond ASAP!! thank you!!
Dear Sharon and Anna, It depends how you want to use the spectrophotometer. What were you planning to do? You cannot simply put your column in there and use it to measure bacterial density, since light must shine through your sample for the spec to work. You could remove some bacteria, suspend them in sea water and measure them in the spec that way, but you could not really compare that with other samples over time in a way that would tell you quantitatively how the bacteria are increasing. If you only want to measure the area of the bacteria that you see on the surface of each tube and compare that, you can do that by tracing the patch of colored bacteria onto some transparent paper, and then cutting out the tracing on the paper and weighing it. Be sure to use the same type of paper for each trace, and you can compare the weights as a measure of the relative areas of each type of colored bacteria. Would that work for your purposes?

[ Lorraine - 30 - 10:12:00 ]
RE: [Lori/NASAChatHost] Here is a question that was not answered during the last webcast, because we ran out of time. It's from Jon and he wants to know what eats the microbial mats?
Jon, Mats are good food and a number of organisms will eat them. People have studied predation on mats by worms (they tear up the mats and so are called bioturbators). Snails and other mollusks will also eat them. One reason we don't have a lot of mats or stromatolites today, as compared to early earth, is that animals evolved that eat the mats and also encroach on their habitat. You can see a massive decline of stromatolites in the fossil record, around the time that animals are thought to have evolved.

[ Lorraine - 31 - 10:25:49 ]
RE: [Lori/NASAChatHost] Here is a question that was not answered during the last webcast, because we ran out of time. It's from Krisstina, and she wants to know why researchers like Dr. David Des Marais think this particular place (in Baja, Mexico) is important?
Krisstina, We are interested in finding environments on Earth today that are similar to environments on the early Earth. We know there were a lot of microbial mats early in Earth's history so we like to study environments in which they are growing today. This is not easy, because these areas are usually coastal, which is where people want to live! In Baja, the coast is relatively undeveloped. Also, the place where Dr. DesMarais works is a commercial salt works. It is a huge facility, with a series of salt ponds. Each pond has a different salinity (they increase in salinity until salt is precipitating out). So, you have a natural experiment where you can see which groups of organisms are found in which salinity ponds. Also important in field work- the area is accessible by car, is well protected so no one can come in and mess up the experiments and it is in a politically stable, relatively safe area. All things you have to consider when doing field work in other countries. So, basically Guerrero Negro (where Dr. DesMarias works) is a model system, containing communities of organisms thought to have dominated the landscape on Earth for 2-3 billion years.

[ Lori/NASAChatHost - 32 - 11:10:05 ]
NEW!! For more information, an online video is available to help with the construction of your Winogradsky Column.

[ Lori/NASAChatHost - 33 - 14:01:12 ]
NEW!! Lorraine's bio is online -- to learn more about her fascinating background, go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/people/bios/astrobiology/olendzenski.html.

[ Lorraine - 36 - 09:17:47 ]
RE: [MrFortesClass] We watched the demo of how to make the Winogradsky column, and one of my students was wondering what would happen if some air got trapped in the mud?
Most of the organisms we want to encourage to grow in the Winogradsky column do not like oxygen (they die when oxygen is around), so it's best if there is no oxygen. But, depending on how black and smelly the mud you started with is, trapped air bubbles will not be too much of a problem. Other organisms in the mud will use up any oxygen in the trapped air bubbles, leaving a nice anoxic (without oxygen) environment for the anaerobic photosynthesizers to grow in. So, although it's best to knock out any air bubbles with the handle of a long spoon or something while making the column, I wouldn't worry about it too much if there are a few air bubbles in there. It just may take longer for the photosynthesizers to show up. Also, be sure your column is always covered by some water.

[ Lorraine - 37 - 10:35:12 ]
RE: [MrFortesClass] The class was also wondering what would happen to the Winogradsky column if it got too hot?
If the column gets too hot (like if you leave it in a closed car on a sunny day), then most of the organisms will probably die. A very sunny windowsill is also not the best because the organisms don't like direct sun and may get too hot there. Warm temperatures are OK (like a heated room), since many of these organism thrive in the tropics. The best light conditions are indirect sunlight (north, east or west window) or under a 60 Watt light bulb.

[ Lori/NASAChatHost - 38 - 07:59:49 ]
One month has passed since the forum has opened. How are your Winogradsky columns coming? Anything strange? Besides answering questions, this forum is also a place for you to share your discoveries and comments. Lorraine is quite interested in how the columns are turning out. Have a great week :-)

[ Lori/NASAChatHost - 39 - 11:34:20 ]
Hi Everyone! We only have about two weeks left to share your questions, comments and discoveries about the Winogradsky columns. Hope all is well and you are learning a lot from your fieldwork investigation. :-)

[ Lori/NASAChatHost - 41 - 07:25:53 ]
The forum has one week left to share your questions or comments, and will close down November 15. We would love to hear from you about your Winogradsky column fieldwork and how your investigation went :-)

[ Lori/NASAChatHost - 42 - 11:53:09 ]
Thanks for joining us Mr. Fortes Class! Please share your comments with us concerning the forum and the microbes webcasts either through this chatroom or via our online survey. Have a great school year :-)

[ Lori/NASAChatHost - 73 - 11:12:47 ]
To keep up with all the cool events NASA Quest offers, see our Calendar of Events. We hope you join us again soon! Have a great day in cyberspace :-)

 
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