help a teacher please - chem ideas

[ladyfsu]

In Florida, we have lots of school tests for grading the school and student knowledge (we call it the FCAT). 11th grade students will soon be taking the science version. This year it won't count towards the individual student, but it will affect the overall school grade. Almost 50% of this test is chemistry, although many students never take chemistry. They often take something called Integrated Science 1, Biology and then move on to either chemistry or marine biology.

I want to strengthen the chemistry part of marine biology. There obviously is a great deal involved, but I want the students to be able to test most everything they do.

Does anyone have any ideas of experiments to try, methods for testing, equiptment needed. This doesn't have to be a 1 day experiment of testing water samples. We can make it a semester-long or even year-long experiment. I need to know best methods for testing ideas.

Some ideas could be setting up controlled conditions in various tanks for testing different types of live rock, including some that we make ourselves, to see what leaches outk over the course of a year, etc. We could test the amount of ammonia spikes of dead snails in tanks with DSB, or bb, and other types of filtering/sump methods and compare the results. I am actually trying to get this set-up and organized for the start of NEXT school year. Any ideas?

Thanks!
Laine

[ladyfsu]

.::bump::.

I'll let it go after this if no one replies.

There are only 340 marine bio students TIMES the next 20 years of my teaching career waiting for all of the wisdom of people here on RC (6,800 kids) ...hmmm...plus then there wouild be another 100 florida schools following this in the next year (680,000) plus probably every state would get interested ...ok I'll stop there 'cause we're talking about millions of students who could make this whole reefing/chemistry/enviromentally sensitive stuff thrive...we'd be teaching every side of science AND making an impact. But that's OK if no one has ideas...I'm not pushy !!

...yes, flaws in the math...just hoping Randy or businesses or college professors see that this whole thing is in its early stages, and we could be educating MILLIONS of kids right now who are going to be consumers building upon this and spending their money building/saving corals and I'm just hoping to stir up some interest in someone out there !!! ...and have some fun at the same time !!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

There are many things you might do, I'm just not sure I have any especially good ideas that you likely are not already considering.


One set of experiments might be looking at what happens when boosting the ph of seawater, seeing magnesium hydroxide immediately precipitate and calcium carbonate precipitate more slowly. How to distinguish them, etc. I discuss that here:

What is that Precipitate in My Reef Aquarium?
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/index.htm

specifically here:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...f/index.php#17

Monitoring the drop of phosphate and nitrate in an aquarium with growing macroalgae (and no fish) could be a good way to learn about nutrients.

The reverse could look at the buildup when feeding fish and not having macroalgae.

[ReefTeacher]

I am a Chemistry teacher in NYC and althought I have never taught marine biology, I have been keeping a saltwater tank in one form or another since the seventies. I think the perfect aspect to this course would be biological cycles and water analysis. The students can learn about the nitrogen cycle, the carbon cycle, the phosphate cycle, all nicely detailed in Martin Moe's book with accessible diagrams. Then you could do a long term experiment by cycling a medium sized tank with just live rock and have the students plot the levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate over time. pH levels can be monitored and you can discuss reversible equilibrium with the free ammonia/ammonium ion exchange. On analysis of the nitrogen cycle introduce redox chemistry to show the different oxidation states of nitrogent along the way. If you want to hook up a skimmer you can introduce the notions of hydrophilicity and its biological uses.

Sorry this is a bit random, but the possibilites are really endless!

[ladyfsu]

...ohhhh I like this

[mesocosm]

Originally posted by ladyfsu
... They often take something called Integrated Science 1, Biology and then move on to either chemistry or marine biology. I want to strengthen the chemistry part of marine biology. ...

If we're talking about a truly "integrated" class, then the possibilities really are endless.

Originally posted by ladyfsu
... but I want the students to be able to test most everything they do. ...

And endless opportunities for data recording, graphing, and journals.

Originally posted by ladyfsu
... Does anyone have any ideas of experiments to try, methods for testing, equiptment needed. ...

In no particular order ...

Electrolysis of Seawater
The Effects of Salinity on the Electrolysis of Water
The Effects of Salinity on the Boiling Point of Water
The Effects of Salinity on the Freezing Point of Water
Qualitative Analysis of Seawater
Evaporation Rates of Seawater
Effect of Salinity on Light Refraction
The Effect of Salinity on Artemia Hatching Percentages
The Effects of Caffiene on Artemia "Heart" Rate
Range of Salinity Tolerance of Chaetomorpha sp. Alga
Range of Salinity Tolerance of Ulva sp. Alga
Range of Salinity Tolerance of Caulerpa sp. Alga
Effect of O2 Concentration on Sporulation of Caulerpa sp. Alga
NH4 Uptake Kinetics of Chaetomorpha sp. Alga
NH4 Uptake Kinetics of Ulva sp. Alga
NH4 Uptake Kinetics of Caulerpa sp. Alga
Effects of "Harvesting" on Growth of Chaetomorpha sp. Alga
Effects of "Harvesting" on Growth of Ulva sp. Alga
Effects of "Harvesting" on Growth of Caulerpa sp. Alga
Heat Tolerance of Chaetomnorpha sp. Alga
Heat Tolerance of Ulva sp. Alga
Heat Tolerance of Caulerpa sp. Alga
Salinity Effect on Attenuation of Light through a Marine Water Column
Minimum LUX Requirements for growth of Chaetomorpha sp. Alga
Minimum LUX Requirements for growth of Ulva sp. Alga
Minimum LUX Requirements for growth of Caulerpa sp. Alga
Precision & Accuracy of Seawater Test Kits vs. Standard Solution
Factors Affecting Foam Fractionation
Efficacy of Various Media in Removing Suspended Particulates
Color Spectrum Perception in Marine Vertebrates
Spectral Fluorescence of Marine Invertebrates
Oxygen Gradients within Marine Sand Beds
Effects of Sand Bed Characteristics on Polychaete Reproduction
Chemical Flux Patterns within Marine Sand Beds
Water Column Chemistry vs. Algal Succession Patterns
Diffusion Patterns in a Marine Water Column
Effect of Turbulence on Particulates in a Marine Water Column
Effect of Turbulence on Advection in Marine Sand Beds
Force vs. Distance Performance Parameters of Submersible Pumps

As has been said ... this is endless.



Here's the link to another website with a siginifcant student project component (restricted access to student forma; read related announcements):
http://www.projectdibs.com/


The project is highlighted in a feature article of this month's Reefkeeping Magazine (http://reefkeeping.com/index.htm).

Hobbyists Advancing the Hobby, Part II: An Introduction to Project DIBS
by Brian Plankis
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/bp/index.php



HTH

[ladyfsu]

Actually I'm starting to work with Brian and DIBS

OK thanks for the info...yes it IS endless. I just need to sit down and make up these labs Some of them I barely know what you are talking about and others I know pretty well. I never touched any of this marine stuff until a year ago, and I'm completed addicted as are my students