Why not Hyalella?

Amph1
Amph1

There are many science lesson plans using Artemia, but why not use freshwater amphipods such as Hyalella species?  They have amazing reproductive capabilities, are easy to culture, and are easily accessible.  They also have a longer lifespan. Lesson plans using brine shrimp are easy to adapt and use as Hyalella experiments.  Instead of altering salinity to see if eggs hatch, use variables such as substrate, food, pH, water source (tap, ground, river, pond), oxygen content, etc.  The population seems to grow quickly, so quantifying a growth curve would be a nice long term lesson.  They are very relevant in the world of ecology and water quality, because they are used in EPA protocols to determine the toxicity of sediments. Running sediment tests would be another great lesson.  If you are interested in culturing Hyalella, email me and I will give you all of the information that I have.  I have a wealth of lessons and articles on PDF.  Most are not availible online, or I would hyperlink them. There is one powerpoint availible online that I can hyperlink...

Hyalella Cu sediment test

 

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Kendall's Mousetrap Racecar

01-Mousetrap1
Here is a video of our 1st place mousetrap race car (Kiona-Benton Middle School).  This was a great science project addressing leverage, torque, resistance, speed and distance.  I played the role of active parent in this scenario, and I learned a great deal about how this project should be set up The  project set-up was as follows...Cars will be built to race for distance...If the student car is able to move forward under it's own power, then it is good for one full letter grade up of extra credit.  The cars will be tested and graded previous to the race-off...The race-off will determine the best designs.  I liked the set-up with the exception of grading the cars previous to the race.  If I end up conducting this in the classroom I will have the condition that all cars must race to receive a grade.  I think this will promote a better work ethic on the car designs, as some of the students built cars with the goal in mind of just moving forward for the credit.  I would still give credit for moving forward, just not as much as for making distance milestones. An example would be 15 points for moving forward, 25 points for going 12ft, 50 points for going 25 ft, 75 points for going 37.5 ft, and 100 points for going over 50 ft (just an example).  Are there any science teachers out there that do this project?  I would be interested in hearing your insights.
Post a comment Tags: mouse, car, race, mousetrap, trap, racecar

Perennial Grasses as Fuel.

Recently, I learned of an exciting new trend in alternative fuels that utilizes perennial grasses as a fuel source.  The grass can be made into pellets, turned into natural gas, or converted to ethanol.

Here are some of the benefits cited....

- Grass biofuel pellets emit up to 90% less greenhouse gasses than conventional energy sources such as oil, coal and natural gas.

- Reduces soil erosion because the land never has to be tilled.

- Increases cover for bird species.

- The need for agricultural chemicals to grow switchgrass is low to non-existent.

- It has been calculated that it takes 4.5 times more energy to produce an equivalent amount of ethanol from corn than it does from switchgrass.
- Switchgrass produced biomass equivalent to 320 gallons of ethanol per acre.... More than 60 percent more than the average yield for an equivalent area of corn after factoring in fossil fuel use for fertilizers and pesticides.

Here are some interesting Links about switchgrass as an energy source...

http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0107-switchgrass.html

http://bioenergy.ornl.gov/papers/misc/switchgrass-profile.html

http://www.grassbioenergy.org/intro/intro.asp

http://www.cias.wisc.edu/archives/2001/01/01/switchgrass_production_for_biomass/index.php

Post a comment Tags: fuel, energy, gas, ethanol, biofuel