By flushing water through collected lichens, water bears could be concentrated under a microscope. Once carefully dried, the tardegrades were flight-ready, having gone from a 19th century graveyard to an ultramodern spacecraft. Because the water bears were easy to see under a classroom microscope, other classes became interested. Tardegrades can be found on lichen. First grade students examine water bears under a microscope and draw their observations.
Students scrape lichen from brick wall to take back to the classroom.
This is a water bear under a classroom microscope. Students count the claws on the feet as a part of their observations. A student extracts concentrated tardegrades in order to prepare a slide. Water bears are re-hydrated and placed in funnels in order to concentrate them. This is a typical view of a water bear through a classroom microscope.