Ameba Lab - Watch it Move!

Introduction: In this lab you will view the movement of a single celled organism called the ameba. The full scientific name of the organisms is Ameba proteus, and it is a protist that moves by using cytoplasmic extensions to create "false feet" - PSEUDOPODIA. Obtain a slide of a live ameba. You will need to be patient in finding your ameba on the slide; it will look like a gray blob.

When you think you have found the ameba, focus on the blob, if the blob does not move or change shape within a minute, it is probably NOT an ameba.

*Alternative: Search google for videos of ameba.

1. When you have finally found your ameba, you are going to record its movements over a 20-minute period. At about 2-minute intervals sketch the ameba as it appears in your microscope under low power.

2. On one of the pictures above, label the NUCLEUS, CELL MEMBRANE, and PSEUDOPODIA.