Hydrobiology workshops for the Partner School at the Faculty of Biology

25 06 2026

Students from class II B of the Narcyza Żmichowska High School, accompanied by their form teacher, Magdalena Żołek, visited the Faculty of Biology at the University of Warsaw to take part in classes devoted to organisms living in aquatic environments. The classes were led by Marcin Łukasz Żebrowski, MSc, from the Department of Hydrobiology at the Faculty of Biology UW, a doctoral student at the Doctoral School of Exact and Natural Sciences at the University of Warsaw.

The classes consisted of two parts, fieldwork and laboratory work. During the first part, the students visited Pole Mokotowskie, where they learned how hydrobiological samples are collected and searched for organisms living in the pond. They also had the opportunity to put on waders, enter the pond and collect samples using specialist hydrobiological equipment. This allowed them to see what field research and the first stages of assessing the biodiversity of aquatic environments look like in practice.

The collected material was then taken to the laboratory of the Department of Hydrobiology, where the students used microscopes and identification keys to identify animals found in the pond. The observed invertebrates included water fleas, dragonfly and mayfly larvae, aquatic beetles, leeches and various species of snails.

During the classes, the students learned about the characteristics of different groups of invertebrates, the ecological relationships between pond organisms and their roles in the food web. They also explored special adaptations that enable organisms to live in aquatic environments, including different ways of breathing, moving, obtaining food and protecting themselves from predators.

The meeting concluded with a video lecture summarising the most important information about the biology and ecology of aquatic organisms. The classes allowed the students to combine field observations with laboratory work and discover what hydrobiological research looks like in practice.

Thank you for visiting us. We hope that the meeting will inspire the students to pursue biological studies at our Faculty.

Photo: Marcin Żebrowski