PBLLab sampling &

Techniques

Nancy DowJill Hansen

Tammy Stundon

Summer 2013Gulf Coast State College Panhandle Area Educational Consortium

5230 West Highway 98 753 West Boulevard

Panama City, Florida 32401 Chipley, Florida 32428

850-769-1551 877-873-7232

www.gulfcoast.edu

Biology Partnership

(A Teacher Quality Grant)

Pre-testQ and A board

How do I sample living organisms?

What is the impact of human on the environment?

Florida Next Generation Sunshine State Standards

 SC.912.L.17.8* Recognize the consequences of the losses of biodiversity due to catastrophic events, climate changes, human activity, and the introduction of invasive, non-native species. (HIGH)

•SC.912.L.17.13* Discuss the need for adequate monitoring of environmental parameters when making policy decisions. (HIGH)

•SC.912.L.17.20* Predict the impact of individuals on environmental systems and examine how human lifestyles affect sustainability. (HIGH)

•SC.912.L.17.2* Explain the general distribution of life in aquatic systems as a function of chemistry, geography, light, depth, salinity, and temperature. (HIGH)

Food chain- follows the connection between one producer and a single chain of consumers within an ecosystem. Links organisms by their feeding relationshipsFood web- emphasizes complicated feeding relationships and energy flow in an ecosystem.

Aquatic Ecosystems

• Aquatic ecosystems are defined by their salinity, chemistry, geography, depth, flow, light conditions, and water temperature.

• The two main types of aquatic ecosystems are marine ecosystems and freshwater ecosystems

• Each ecosystem has its own properties and organisms.

Estuaries and Coastal Wetlands Are Highly Productive

• Important ecological and economic services– Coastal aquatic systems maintain water quality

by filtering• Toxic pollutants

• Excess plant nutrients

• Sediments

– Absorb other pollutants – Provide food, timber, fuel wood, and habitats– Reduce storm damage and coast erosion

Coastal Zone

• The coastal zone makes up less than 10% of the world’s ocean but contains 90% of all marine species.

• Warm, nutrient rich, shallow water

• Extends from high tide mark to edge of the continental shelf

• High productivity because of ample sunlight and plant nutrients flowing from the land

Coastal Ecosystems • Estuaries- where the river meets the sea.

– Temperature and salinity levels vary greatly • daily rhythms of the tides

• seasonal variations in the flow of freshwater

• Coastal wetlands lands covered with water all or part of the year– River mouths, inlets, bays, sounds, mangroves and saltwater

marshes

• Mangrove Swamps trees that can tolerate salt – Extensive roots that stabilize the substrate

– Provides a nursery grounds for many invertebrates and fish

Light Absorption in the Ocean

What are you talking about?

Observation skills Communication!

Biodiversity • What is Biodiversity?

– The variety of life– the number, or abundance of different species living

within a particular region.

Why is Biodiversity important?

• Everything that lives in an ecosystem is part of the web of life, including humans. Each species of vegetation and each creature has a place on the earth and plays a vital role in the circle of life. Plant, animal, and insect species interact and depend upon one another for what each offers, such as food, shelter, oxygen, and soil enrichment. 

• Maintaining a wide diversity of species in each ecosystem is necessary to preserve the web of life that sustains all living things.

• "It is reckless to suppose that biodiversity can be diminished indefinitely without threatening humanity itself." 

– Famed Harvard University biologist Edward O. Wilson

"father of biodiversity"

Ecosystem Nature Walk

Appreciation Through Experience

"Man, however much he may like to pretend, is part of nature."-- Rachel Carson, Silent Spring

Data Collection & Sampling Techniques

• In research, statisticians use data in many different ways.

• Data can be used to describe situations.

• Data can be collected in a variety of ways, BUT if the sample data is not collected in an appropriate way, the data may be so completely useless that no amount of statistical torturing can salvage them.

Basic Methods of Sampling

1. Systematic Sampling– Select a random starting point and then select every kth

subject in the population

– Simple to use so it is used often

Basic Methods of Sampling2. Convenience Sampling

Use subjects that are easily accessible

Examples: Using family members or students in

a classroomMall shoppersCommon survey type science fair

projects

Basic Methods of Sampling

3. Stratified SamplingDivide the population into at least two different groups

with common characteristic(s), then draw SOME subjects from each group (group is called strata or stratum)

Results in a more representative sample

Basic Methods of Sampling

4. Cluster SamplingDivide the population into

groups (called clusters), randomly select some of the groups, and then collect data from ALL members of the selected groups

Used extensively by government and private research organizations

Examples:Exit Polls

Basic Methods of Sampling5. Random Sampling

(Transect or Quadrat Sampling in the field)-Selected by using chance or at random

-Each individual subject (human or otherwise) has an equal chance of being selected

Transects!

Types of Experiments

Observational StudiesThe researcher merely observes what is happening

or what has happened in the past and tries to draw conclusions based on these observations

No interaction with subjects, usuallyNo modifications on subjects Occur in natural settings, usuallyCan be expensive and time consumingExample:

Surveys---telephone, mailed questionnaire, personal interview

Types of Experiments

• Experimental Studies– The researcher manipulates one of the variables and

tries to determine how the manipulation influences other variables

– Interaction with subject occurs, usually– Modifications on subject occurs– May occur in unnatural settings (labs or classrooms)– Example:

• Clinical trials of new medications ,treatments, etc.

Uses of Statistics

• Describe data

• Compare two or more data sets

• Determine if a relationship exists between variables

• Test hypothesis (educated statement)

• Make estimates about population characteristics

• Predict past or future behavior of data

• Watch for misuse of statistics

Misuses of StatisticsAnalyze the two graphs….

Misuses of Statistics

• Survey Questions Loaded Questions---unintentional wording to elicit a desired response– Order of Questions– Nonresponse (Refusal)—subject refuses to answer

questions– Self-Interest ---Sponsor of the survey could enjoy

monetary gains from the results

M&M Sampling

What is pollution?

•Pollution is the introduction of a contaminant into the environment.

•It is created mostly by human actions, but can also be a result of natural disasters.

•Pollution has a detrimental effect on any living organism in an environment, making it virtually impossible to sustain life.

What are the different types of pollution?

• The three main types of pollution are:– Land– Air – Water

“Who Dirtied the Water?”

Chorus:

•Would you want to swim in this bay?

•Would you eat fish caught in this water?

•Would you like to go boating on this bay?

Sustainability • The key concept for our future:

• Limiting human impact on the

natural world so that our

civilization can continue to exist

• Using resources without destroying or depleting them, while providing for a human need

Conservation and Sustainable Practices

• Refuse – Don’t Use

• Reduce – Don’t waste

• Reuse – Using a resource over and over in the same form

• Recycle– Collecting and reprocessing a resource into new

products

Sources of Water Pollution

• Surface vs Groundwater– Surface water is the water we see in streams, rivers,

wetlands, and lakes across the country. Every square mile of ground drains into one of these bodies of water. The area drained is known as a watershed. As smaller creeks and rivers feed into larger ones, the size of the watershed increases.

– This feeds into the groundwater (stored in aquifers).

• Point Source Pollution– Comes from a single source

• Factories, sewage treatment plants, etc

• Nonpoint Source Pollution – Comes from a wide variety of

sources• Surface water runoff (oil,

fertilizers, lawn chemicals)

Sources of Water Pollution

Oil Spills

• Oil Spills– Accidental spills only

account for about 1/3 of oil pollution resulting from shipping.

– 60% comes from routine shipping operations

How Pollutants move through the ecosystem

• There are two basic terms we are discussing here.  – Bioaccumulation refers to how pollutants enter

a food chain; : increase in concentration of a pollutant from the environment to the first organism in a food chain

– Biomagnification refers to the tendency of pollutants to concentrate as they move from one trophic level to the next.

– We are concerned about these phenomena because together they mean that even small concentrations of chemicals in the environment can find their way into organisms in high enough dosages to cause problems.  In order for biomagnification to occur, the pollutant must be:

• long-lived

• mobile

• soluble in fats

• biologically active

Bioaccumulation Lab

• Oxygen is measured in its dissolved form as dissolved oxygen (DO). If more oxygen is consumed than is produced, dissolved oxygen levels decline and some sensitive animals may move away, weaken, or die.

• Important measure of water quality

Dissolved Oxygen

Dissolved Oxygen

• Critical for the sustainability of an ecosystem– Insufficient oxygen (hypoxia) can be caused by

the decomposition of organic matter and/or nutrient pollution

Dissolved Oxygen

Lab Report

Formal Lab Report

1.Title Page

2.Purpose

3.Introduction

4.Material

5.Methods

6.Data/Results

7.Analysis

8.Conclusion

9.Further Studies

Strongly AgreeAgree

?Disagree

Strongly Disagree

Food for Thought

How to understand large values!Human Population Video

Tragedy of the Commons

• The tragedy of the commons is the depletion of a shared resource  by individuals, acting independently and rationally according to each one's self-interest, despite their understanding that depleting the common resource is contrary to the group's long-term best interests.

Hardin’s Example

Biodiversity Index

Resources

• Fostering outdoor observation skills by U.S. Fish & Wildlife

• QUADRAT & TRANSECT ACTIVITIES

Follow up

•Q & A

•Post Test

Our notes

• Tammy – test – done and questions are in the notes on the ppt. With SEVERAL as general themes or as content for the PBL, we really need to make conscience efforts to talk about the content of the questions throughout the week. Almost review the questions each day and focus on one or two each of us will throw in some how.

• Lorax – quick video as an intro????