Lesson 5a – Ocean Acidification Experimentation
Course: Life Science, Integrated Science, STEM, BioChem, Marine Science
Unit: Ocean Acidification, Ecology, Biogeochemical Cycling
See the NGSS buttons in the righthand panel of this page for an overview of the standards addressed in this lesson. Also, please see the documents on the Standards Addressed page for all NGSS, WA State (Science, Math and Literacy), and NOAA Ocean Literacy Education Standards connections. In particular, for this lesson, due to the variety of experiments completed within classrooms, students will learn and do a variety of activities. Because each student will complete different labs in this lesson, each student will not complete all of the listed standards. However, ideally, they will complete 1-2 sets of performance expectations. To give you a broad, big-picture overview, in addition to the aligned objectives linked above, for this lesson, here is an overview of:
- The ocean is an intricate network of abiotic (nonliving) and biotic (living) factors. Research helps us understand and predict changes in this system as well as any reverberating effects.
- Implement a scientific investigation using appropriate technology, multiple measures, proper controls, systematic data collection and safe approaches.
The purpose of this lesson is to allow students to complete research on the topic of ocean acidification and to work toward answering their interest group's experimental question. Prior to beginning this lesson, students should have handed in their experimental plan. This should have included a detailed list of materials and equipment. Many of these items you will need to gather, some will be available in the general lab setting that students will have an opportunity to gather. We have prepared a list of commonly used materials for your convenience. Please read this entire lesson plan, including attached documents, before beginning this lesson. Rather than put all information into this main page, we have included detailed, content specific information in the linked documents. We recommend students complete their designed experiments. However, throughout the text and attachments below, you will notice possible lab protocols and procedures that have been provided as a reference to you. You can also have students follow these procedures as you see fit. These open source primary papers and information may be useful to you as you familiarize yourself with marine science and specifically diatoms: These e-Lectures are also specifically helpful. They were presented in 2016 and can be downloaded here or accessed from the freely available public, online Wiley library, which can be found at: http://aslopubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)2164-0254/ Day Prior to Lab Experimentation: We recommend having students gather the supplies they are able to retrieve (beakers, etc.) and placing them in a bin, to be used on the actual day of experimentation. You should gather any other supplies as needed and place at the front of the room for students to retrieve. Remind students that this is collaborative research and they should be respectful of the materials they share. They should have their lab notebooks completely ready to begin experimentation. Having a flow chart in their lab book of their exact procedure will help them make the most of their time in the lab. Generally, all students completed their first day of experimentation in 45 minutes when they were well prepared. Safety: Students should be reminded to ALL use proper safety gear and to take appropriate safety precautions. Though their group's experiment may not be inherently dangerous, with many experiments happening at the same time, accidents may happen. For instance, during field testing a group placed 3 grams of dry ice into marine water in a 70 mL plastic culture flask. They placed the vented top on the flask. After about 10 seconds, the pressure build up caused the side wall of the flask to explode clear across the room. Everyone had safety goggles on and all was fine, but it was a great reminder of the powerful force of gas particles. If needed, you can assign one person in each group to be a safety officer to give reminders to their group members about taking proper precautions and maintaining a safe environment. Before beginning lab work, remind students again of the big picture. While each group has their own question, all questions should lead to the class' main question: What effect does the increasing atmospheric CO2 have on the ocean and its subsystems? Similar to the work happening in laboratories across the world, today they will embark on collaboratively understanding some part of this question. In your class, they are providing evidence and contributing to replicates. This is noteworthy because the formation of theory is based on years of proof. In addition, the building of accurate models, which are needed to make future predictions, result from a large amount and multiple varieties of data. As they complete this as a class, not only are they working on unanswered questions, but they are also developing an understanding of systems science, systems thinking, and improving their skills of inquiry, problem-solving, and critical thinking. This lesson is a terrific opportunity for students to practice and develop these important "big skills." When they get to a rough spot in their experiment, encourage them to engineer and problem-solve together to make it work. Remind students to ask themselves, "How will I know that I know? How will I compare the beginning with the end while being certain how I got there?" Remind them to write everything down, even if it seems unimportant and to have fun. Managing 8+ Different Experiments in One Classroom: Some students will have experiments that take a large percentage of class time each day. For instance, for people growing diatoms, counting and recording cells and possibly readjusting CO2 levels will take the majority of class time. However, for someone who is measuring the percent change in mass of coral or shells will be in and out of the lab much more quickly. Because of this, and to continue modeling current research, we have incorporated an online research and data component in this module. Please see Lesson 5b for more details. Please see above for bulleted list of resources highlighted in blue. Based on student experience and background, provide assistance through arranging groups and assigning experimental protocols as needed. To help students better understand pigments, such as those produced by diatoms and other photosynthesizers, try this lab submitted by Mike Walker of Olympic High School in Bremerton, WA - Why are plants green? The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute's Primary Productivity Lab Activity is a useful one that nicely demonstrates the chemical factors needed for phytoplankton growth. Many teachers and scientists participated in the creation of these lessons and content. Please view the list of credits for this work.Instructional Activities
At least two 50-min periods, though the number of class periods can extend to seven days depending on the goals and scope of the experiments
ADVANCED PREP
Background Information
Lab Techniques
Diatom Labs
Shell Dissolution Labs
General Chemistry Labs Surrounding Biological Questions
LESSON SEQUENCE:
STUDENT EXPERIMENTATION