Novel Lab Writeup-1

8/9/2019 Novel Lab Writeup-1

1/14

Everything is Delectable toDecomposers!

MATERIALS

Compost bin (home made 3-4 weeks in advance from 2 rubbermaidcontainers- 1.5 x 1.25 with 1 cm holes drilled in top and bottom, red

worms-Eisenia foetida, 5-6 of shredded up newspaper, adequate

amount of brown and green organic material- stuff from yard and food

scraps)- $40.00

Tablespoon scoop- $1.95

5 petri dishes 5 dissecting microscopes Prepared earthworm display- $8.95 Button mushrooms (grown from culture kit)- $27.95 Bacillus prepared slide (x5)- $18.75 5 compound microscopes Sunchips bag (100% compostable)- $2.98 Display signs (x 4) Screen mesh 6 x 6 squares- $35.99 Elmers glue- $3.00 Blender- $14.95 Wax paper- $5.97 Paper (students will get out of recycling bin) Wildflower seed blend- $7.95 Gloves Sharpie markers

($168.44 total for new items)


2/14

LEARNING OUTCOMES

Identify types of saprotrophs Describe why decomposers are important to the environment Describe the process and importance of composting Identify items that can and cannot be composted Make a 100% compostable product

INTRODUCTION

Saprotrophs are organisms that eat dead plant and animal material and

the waste of other organisms. They are very important to ecosystems because

they provide essential nutrients to plants through the breakdown of organic

matter. Without decomposers, plants would not have access to vital nutrients

and dead matter and waste would pile up. In fact, if decomposers did not

exist, within a month the earth would be covered in a layer of dead flies

almost twenty feet deep! Saprotrophs live everywhere and come in many

shapes and sizes. Saprotrophs are categorized into two groups: scavengers and

decomposers.

Scavengers are animals that actively look for dead plants and animals

and break this material into small pieces. Flies, cockroaches, wasps, andearthworms are all scavengers; however, earthworms only break down plant

material (they cannot decompose animal protein). Earthworms aerate soil and

allow air, water and nutrients to reach deep into the soil. They digest and

release castings from the soil they eat containing dead organic material.

Castings contain many nutrients that plants can assimilate.

Decomposers are organisms that finish the job of scavengers by

completely breaking down dead matter into chemical nutrients that can be

assimilated by other living plants and animals. A vast majority of decomposers

are microscopic organisms, or microbes. Bacteria are very efficient

decomposers and can be found in every environment on earth, providing their

recycling services to ecosystems and reducing build up of decaying material.

Bacteria are extremely numerous; it is impossible to estimate the number of


3/14

different species on earth. We do know that there are many different roles

they can fill in an ecosystem as decomposers. Fungi (singular: fungus) are

simple organisms that cannot be classified as plants because they do not have

chlorophyll and cannot make their own food. They are also not considered

animals because they are incapable of ingesting food. Fungi come in the forms

of molds, mildews, yeasts, and mushrooms. Mushrooms are commonly seen

growing on or around dead organic material; as they grow, they break down

dead plant and animal material and return molecular nutrients to the soil.

During this process, mushrooms also release CO2 into the atmosphere, which is

then used in the photosynthesis process of other plants.

Recently, the practice of do-it-yourself composting has become popular.

Composting is the process of gathering dead plant and animal materials and

letting them decompose aerobically into a rich black soil (called compostsoil).

The compost soil acts as a fertilizer for low quality soils, adding nutrients and

holding moisture where it is added. There are many things that can go into a

home made composting bin including fruits and vegetables, paper products and

packaging, cardboard, egg shells, tea bags and coffee grounds, leaves and grass

clippings and any other plant products. Not all food products can be

composted; items to avoid are meat and dairy products, oily foods, and grains(these cause odors to form). Items that go into a compost bin should be added

as small scraps or cut or torn into small (less than 1) pieces before being

added. This shortens the process of decomposition and makes food more

available for small decomposers!

RELATION TO OTHER LABS

This lab relates to Lichen and the Environment (Lab 7) by discussing

fungi in a way that reiterates that fungi uptake nutrients and water from their

environments. It also builds on the Building Green lab (Lab 4) by elaborating

on the concept of composting. We will be using the recycle bins for paper to

make the compostable product, which will be located by students (they should

know where to find one based on the Building Green lab). We will also be using


4/14

both the dissecting and compound microscopes, which reinforces the

Environmental Microscopy lab (Lab 5). Important terms for this lab are bolded.

PART A

Students will listen to instructor go over the process used to make the

homemade compost bin on display at the instructor bench and follow alongwith the diagram (figure) of the compost bin in their lab manuals. The

instructor will describe the organisms inside the bin, how they got there

(colonized naturally), and the process of decomposition inside the bin

(visualized in the diagram). There will also be a sign that students can look at

and read regarding making a compost bin at home. Students will then take a

petri dish with a cover and scoop a tablespoon or two of composted material

from the bin. They will take the dish back to their benches and quantify the

total number of organisms found and the total number of different taxa (they

will do their best to guess at this). This will allow students to see the diversity

of decomposers. Students will describe each type of organism they find and

tally the individuals in a table (similar to the tables for part B of Lab 9: Aquatic

Ecology).

Table 1. Sample Table for Part A.

Description of Organism Total Individuals in Sample


5/14

EXAMPLE OF SIGN BY COMPOST BIN AT INSTRUCTOR BENCH


6/14

PART B

Four stations will be set up around the classroom on the side and back

counters. The first station will be a prepared lengthwise dissection of an

earthworm. Students can view the real earthworm dissection and see the parts

in real life. A laptop computer will also be set up beside this station with the

following video set up on it. VIRTUAL WORM TOUR (VIDEO):

http://www.plantwatch.ca/english/wormwatch/virtual_worm/index.html.

This video has a section that goes through a worms digestive system and has

great and easy to follow information (skip intro and click digestive system).

Students will watch the virtual tour of the worms digestive system and

complete the activity on the screen at the end. The same picture can be

printed in the lab manual under this section for students to fill in the blanks of

the worms digestive organs. Questions in the review can include When do

earthworms eat? & Do earthworms use bacteria to help them decompose

organic material? Students can view the different organs of the earthworm

used to process soil and organic matter into castings. Students will also be

encouraged to look at live worms in the compost bin on display on the

instructor bench.

The second station will be a live culture of button mushrooms. Studentscan view the mushrooms growing in their moist decaying matter. There will be

an information card reiterating the information from the introduction to the

lab about fungi, their biology, and their importance to ecosystem health.

There will be questions under this section that can be answered by reading the

info card (What are fungi cells called? & How do fungi reproduce?).

The third station will be prepared Bacillus spp. slides. Students will draw they

bacteria they see in slides. Beside the slides will be an information card about

various bacteria and their environments. There will be questions in the review

for this station that can be answered from reading the info card.

The fourth and final station will be a Sunchips 100% compostable bag.

The information card will discuss how compostable or natural products are

becoming more popular and the process that this bag will go through to


7/14

completely decompose when thrown away. This will be the final station with

questions for the students to answer (What makes this bag compostable? and

How long will it take this bag to completely decompose?).


8/14

EARTHWORMS

There are over 1,800 species of earthworms! Earthworms needmoist environments to survive. If they dry out, they have trouble

burrowing into the soil and they will die.

When worms eat organic material, they also take in soil and tinypebbles. The waste is then excreted in the form of casts. Castsare rich in nutrients like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash. Inaddition to breaking down organic materials and adding nutrientsto the soil, earthworms help loosen the soil so air can circulate;this also helps plants grow.

Earthworms are a crucial component to the composting process.

They live about 4.5 years and can consume up to one third oftheir own body weight every day. Under ideal conditions, theworms will recycle their own weight in wastes every 24 hours!


9/14

BUTTON MUSHROOMS (Agaricus bisporus)

Mushrooms are fungi. All fungi have the following characteristics:eukaryotic, grow by extending filamentous cells (hyphae) or by

budding, obtain nutrients by absorption, have no chlorophyll, andreproduce via spores

The basic cell type of the majority of fungi is the hypha (pluralhyphae), which look like thin tubes. Hyphae are designed forsuccess in many different environments. When many hyphaegrow together in a mass, this forms the basic body of a funguscalled a mycelium. Mushrooms are the reproductive structuresproduced by members of fungi known as the Basidiomycota (orBasidiomycetes). The part of the mushroom we see functions to

produce and release spores for reproduction.

Fungi spend most of the time underground or in decaying wood;these surroundings are not ideal for the dispersal of spores. Afungus needs to make large numbers of spores to increase theprobability that the spores will find new sources of nutrients todecompose. The mushroom serves this purpose well by risingabove the substrate to get its spores into the air. A few fungiare parasites and have cause extensive damage on important

crop species.


10/14

Bacillus spp.

Bacteria are among the smallest forms of life on Earth. In fact,you may have up to 100 million bacteria in your body right now!They range from single spherical cells to straight or curved rod-

shaped cells, to filamentous cells. Bacterial decomposers can befound anywhere there is dead organic matter (dead plants andanimals or their waste). Most decomposer bacteria grow bysimple binary fission resulting in more individuals; filamentousbacteria grow by apical extension.

In just one spoonful of rich, dark soil there are more bacterialorganisms than there are human beings on the planet earth!


11/14

SUNCHIPS 100% COMPOSTABLE BAG

Frito Lay recently released a chip bag for a brand of chip theyproduce made from 100% plant-based materials. The idea is that

instead of being thrown away in a landfill, consumers can compostthe bag and it will fully biodegrade. However, if the bags arethrown away, they will decompose, leaving less trash in the landfill.They conducted a series of tests to see if the product would work.They showed that under aerobic compost conditions when thetemperature was maintained above 130F, bags broke down inabout 12-16 weeks (common in commercial composting facilities).They also tested the bag in a homemade composter which is notmaintained at those temperatures, much like the one we have inclass. They found that the bag was fully biodegraded in 13 weeks!

Before the SunChips compostable bag could be released to thepublic it had to pass ASTM D6400 industrial composting standards.The test checks for heavy metals, ecotoxicity, and makes sure thatthe product reaches a certain level of biodegradation. SunChipscompostable bag passed and was certified industrial compostableby the Biodegradable Products Institute.


12/14

PART CStudents will be asked to go collect paper from the recycling bins

outside the classroom (white or colored). They will take this paper and shred

it up into small pieces, put it into a blender on the side counter, and add a

small amount of water and glue to the paper (enough to make a pulp when

blended). Each student will take a scoop or two from the blender and put the

pulp onto a pre-cut sheet of wire mesh. They will cover the pulp with a second

sheet of wire mesh and press the pulp into a thin layer (to make a piece of

paper). They will take the top mesh off the pulp and take a pinch of

wildflower seeds from the provided dish. Seeds will be sprinkled onto pulp, the

mesh replaced and pressed into the pulp until the paper is desired thickness

(each students paper will be unique). The papers can then be placed in

between layers of wax paper, the wax paper labeled with a sharpie marker,

and placed at the back of the room to dry (they will be picked up the following

week). The instructor will explain how the paper, if thrown away, will

decompose and release the wildflower seeds that will germinate and grow.

Students will be encouraged to bury their paper and see how long it takes

seeds to grow out of the decomposing paper.

ASSESSMENT

Discussion and questions will be encouraged to get students thinking

about what products that are currently trashed or recycled could in fact be

returned to the soil to help plants grow. Workbook points will be assigned so


13/14

that students work can be checked during the lab to ensure that students

comprehend the important points of the lab. Interest should be able to be

visually assessed by how involved the students are at making the paper and

coming up with products that could be composted.

Possible review or quiz questions could be:

1. How many types of bacteria live in our digestive tracts andhelp our bodies decompose food matter?

2. What is the waste (poop) of earthworms called?3. Why are decomposers important to the environment?4. What are the two types of saprotrophs we discussed in lab?5. Why are earthworms important to the composting process?6. What are the essential elements of a compost bin?7. Are all fungi mushrooms??8. Are all fungi helpful to other plants?9. What is the difference between a scavenger and a decomposer?10. True or False. Decomposition is faster in a hot moist

environment.

WRAP-UPStudents will be expected to unplug and clean microscopes with the

proper equipment as learned from Lab 5. Blender and wire mesh will be rinsed

out in the side sinks and gloves thrown away. All unused paper will go back

into the recycling and soil taken from compost bin will be put back into bin.

The main points of the lab will be reviewed the following week when students

pick up their compostable product and any further questions can be asked atthat time.


14/14

REFERENCEShttp://www.howtocompost.org/info/info_wormfaq.asp

http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~rlenet/Earthworms.html

http://www.carolina.com/category/life+science/microscope+slides/moneran+slides.do?s_cid=ppc_gl_moneranslides&gclid=CMKu7dDplqECFQcQswodbB3mNw

www.org.northwestern.edu

http://mycology.suite101.com/article.cfm/introduction_to_mushrooms#ixzz0lj

RoOyWc

http://mycology.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_fungal_kingdom#ixzz0ljUkNzxP

http://mycology.suite101.com/article.cfm/introduction_to_mushrooms#ixzz0lj

VzQhGr

http://academics.uww.edu/cni/webquest/HallOfFame/decomposers/decompo

ser.htmhttp://www.cityfarmer.org/wormcomp61.html

http://www.sunchips.com/healthier_planet.shtml

http://www.sunchips.com/resources/pdf/SunChips_BehindtheScenes.pdf

Date post:	30-May-2018
Category:	Documents
Upload:	jackie-gyamfi
View:	219 times
Download:	0 times

Novel Lab Writeup-1

Documents