Eggs Sperm and Mussels November 22, 2006
Posted by Brian in : Uncategorized , trackback
Pomatoceros triqueter on a mussel shell
Female Pomatoceros approx 1.5cm long
Our chemistry student Peter Robertson took a S2 Science class on Monday. The class are doing reproduction so Peter came up with an idea to show the class eggs and sperm from a tube worm that lives on rocks and shellfish called Pomatoceros Triqueter.
The idea was to separate the male and females worms, gather the respective eggs and sperm then mix them to see fertilization take place. No male worms proved viable but most of the class managed to see the eggs of the female under the microscope.
I assisted Peter with the preparation of the mussels, took the pictures above and had hoped to use the flexicam linked to a microscope to let the whole class get a look at the eggs.
It proved difficult to display them on classroom screen but in true scientific tradition I learnt from what happened and will adapt my technique for the next time.
I tried to find pictures of pomatocerus triqueter eggs on the internet but have so far been unsuccessful.If anyone finds any then could they please let me know.
If there are none to be found then I will attempt to take pictures the next time the lesson is done and get a first for Musselburgh Grammar School science department.
You can see more pictures of Peters lesson by clicking on his picture below. 
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I’ll be interested to see how people find your blog now with a headline like that. This looks like the kind of “Horrible History” type science I would have loved at school. The digital images you’ve pulled off might be one way to display to the class. I don’t know if there’s a way to set up a video camera to the microscope to get the live film on the wall?
This looks very interesting Brian. I did something similar at Uni, but I only have the drawings. I have just bought a new digital camera and I am planning to try and link it up to the microscope.
I did a fish dissection earlier this year using the latest microscopes with the projector and a power point on a separate screen (lunch time session). We are currently hoping to dissect a pregnant tope some time soon. I will keep you posted.
Tess