What's Living in Your Backyard?

Do you ever wonder what really causes that furry green stuff to grow in a body of water and sit at its surface? Did you ever think that something could be living in that green stuff, more commonly referred to as algae? Microorganisms – defined as tiny one-celled organisms, viruses, fungi, and bacteria – live in buckets of water that have been sitting out too long and places like ponds. For fun, collect some water from your local pond (about 3 cm. deep) and look at it under the microscope. See how many different things you and your family can see! For this experiment and more that you can do at home, visit the American Society for Microbiology’s education page.