Material Detail

A course unit on biofilms and biodiversity that shows the student how to calculate biodiversity and lets them practice on sample data sets. From their introduction: "In this course, you will learn how to evaluate some biofilm cultures grown on plexiglass discs that were suspended vertically in the Baltimore Inner Harbor water. Afterwards, you will conduct your own experiment (see Course Requirements). In the Inner Harbor experiment, the discs were suspended so we could monitor water quality and biodiversity in three regions of the Inner Harbor - shallow water (0-1m), middle level depth (2-3m) and deep water (3-4m). The biofilm discs were checked by groups of teachers and students twice per week for colonization and species diversity. The project demonstrates how water quality, depth, and biodiversity are linked by finding answers to these questions:

• What tiny creatures lurk in Inner Harbor water? What relationship do these organisms have with the water quality in the Inner Harbor region? How does depth of the water effect the species diversity? How can we design an experiment to answer these questions? How will data be collected?

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