Woodrow Wilson Environmental Science Institute - Rutgers 1998

Project:        Phytoplankton & Ultraviolet Light  Mentors:      Dr. Oscar Schofield and Dr. Yu Alice Gao   Participants: Madelyn Asperas (NY), Andre Clayman (NC), Zoraida Colon (NY), Valerie Baker (CA), Alex Bodha (NY), Shelly Crow (TX), David Duane (MA), and Dianne Mollica (VA).

Listed below are classroom activities of our phytoplankton research.  The labs and demonstrations listed below can be modified for students grades 7-12, and can be simplified so that cheap and easily accessible materials are used.  These activities have been tested in the classroom and laboratory.  If you do add any of these activities to your curriculum, please offer feedback by sending an e-mail message to our research team.  Your input is invaluable.

Click on the activity you wish to learn more about.
 
 
 

Lab Activities

• Testing the Effectiveness of Sunscreens
• Making a Simple Fluorometer ("Happy Meter") to Measure Plant Fluorescence
• Pigments and Chromatography Lab

• Testing the Factors that Effect the Growth of Plankton
• Making a Simple Plankton Net
• Measuring Chlorophyll a Concentration Using a Spectrophotometer
• Conducting Cell Counts
• Measuring Thermal Heat Transfer (specific heat)

• Glossary of Related Terms
• Engaging Questions and Web References

 

Woodrow Wilson Leadership Program in Environmental Science  lpt@www.woodrow.org