Berlese Funnel

We used 2-liter bottle and cut off the top, which will become the funnel section. We poured 20-25 mL of ethanol into the bottom part of the bottle and we placed the funnel section on top. We placed the wire mesh in the neck of the funnel so no soil will get into the ethanol. We put the bottle in a warm and quiet place under the heating lamps. The heating lamp should help drive the organisms to the bottom of the funnel.

The bottle with the funnel with the wire mesh in the neck tapped to the bottle. It's ready to identify organisms

The bottle under the heated lamp

A close up of the bottle under the lamp.

 In our petri dish, we didn't have any organisms. Therefore, we were unable to identify any.

No organisms in our petri dish

Looking to see if there are any organisms in our petri dish.

If we did have organisms they would make the soil healthier. Soil is a mixture of broken rocks and minerals, living organisms and decaying organic matter (humus). The materials that these organisms use to survive form the soil ecosystem. They maintain fertility, structure, drainage and aeration of soil. They also break down plant and animal tissues, by doing this they releases stored nutrients and convert them into forms usable by plants. From the people I talked to in the class they couldn't find any organisms. This might show that Illinois at least Lake Zurich soil isn't very fertile.