Leaf Stomata

Location

 

The the type of locations where people can collect data for this project are areas with the presence of trees with leaves. Once we did, our group has been collecting data in certain areas of the Lincoln Park community in Chicago. The location where we have been collecting data are green areas mainly occupied by mature trees, and located near some bodies of water. It is also important to say that the data has been collected during summer.

Materials

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The materials used in this project are divided in Outdoor Materials and Indoor Materials, and they are:

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Outdoor Materials

• Tablet (1)

• Data Sheet (1/Day)

• Familiar Trees of North America East Field Guide (1)

• Illinois Trees & Wildflowers Field Guide (1)

• Plastic Bags (TBD)

• Measuring Tape (1)

• Sensor Push (1)

• Sharpies (1/Person)

• Metal grabber (1)

• Paper Labels (TBD)

• Glass Slides (TBD)

• Clear Nail Polish (1/Person)

• Clear Tape (1/Person)​​

Lab Materials

• Microscope (1/Person)

• Data Sheet (1/Day)

• Measuring Tape (1)

• Tablet(1)

Procedures

 Outdoor Procedure 

1. Go outside and look for: American Elms, Norway Maples, Sugar Maples, or Honey Locust.

2. Start a new field number.

3. Record temperature and humidity in the data sheet.

4. Check the tree species and record it on data sheet

5. Measure the circumference of the tree and record on data sheet.

6. Search for any disease or problem and record on data sheet [if possible take photo(s) of it]

7. Input all data into Epicollect

8. Collect three samples of leaf of different sizes (Small, Medium, Large).

9. Write the field number, date, and tree species with the sharpie in a paper label

10. Put the filled label and the leaves in a bag

11. Apply  a thin layer of nail polish on the back side of the three leaves collected and wait until it dries

12. Apply a strand of tape over the area of dry nail polish on the back of the leaves and remove carefully to get the leaves print.

13. Put the tape with the leaves' print in a microscope slide and label the tape with the correspondent field number and size

14. Repeat same steps above for other trees.

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Lab Procedure

1. Go to the lab and measure the size of the leaves collected by measuring from top to bottom and side to side and multiplying both numbers to get an estimate of the size.

2. Place the microscope slide in the microscope

3. Observe three different areas per piece of tape at x40 magnification and count the number of stomata in them

4. Add up the number of stomata of the three different areas and divide it by three in order to obtain the average stomata in each leaf.

5. Record the results on data sheet

6. Input results in Epicollect

7. Repeat the same steps for next field number.

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