"A world hidden from us": students studied the inhabitants of Ivano-Frankivsk water bodies under a microscope
November 03, 2026, on the second day of the week of in-person learning, at the Faculty of Digital Technologies, Natural Sciences and Mathematics, a laboratory session «The World Hidden from Us» took place. It was conducted by the acting head of the Department of Biology and Teaching Methods, Assoc. Prof. N.V. Zahorodniuk. Students investigated under a microscope water samples and bottom mud from a city lake, a park pond, and an ephemeral water body. They also became acquainted with phytoplankton, zooplankton, phytobenthos, and zoobenthos of freshwater bodies.
Weeks of in-person learning – are not only a time for live communication. For students of natural science majors, this is an opportunity to work with «natural» objects of research. This time, attention was drawn to a city lake in the center of Ivano-Frankivsk, or more precisely, to water and bottom mud samples collected by the instructor.
Views around the lake
In autumn, there are not many small inhabitants in the water of local lakes, but it was still possible to capture them, armed with pipettes, microscope slides, and a microscope. In fact, the purpose of the laboratory work «The World Hidden from Us» was the familiarization with the zoobenthos and zooplankton of the freshwater bodies of Ivano-Frankivs.
Sampling sites for water and bottom mud
The laboratory session became a logical continuation of the lecture by Kateryna Serhiivna Orlova-Hudim, dedicated to the zoomonitoring of water bodies. KSU students had the opportunity to see live single-celled and invertebrate freshwater animals, encountered representatives of diatoms, known from phycology lectures, and updated their skills in preparing temporary microscope slides.
Photo from a microscope. Author: Yuliia Hrad (4th year, 014 Secondary Education, 014.05 Biology and Human Health)