Objectives

In this lesson, students will:

• consider what lies under Pride II as she sails to Asia
• identify and describe phytoplankton and zooplankton
• use World Wide Web sites to gather information
• draw and label sketches of plankton
• describe aquatic food webs and chains that begin with plankton
• compare plankton in the Chesapeake Bay to that in the oceans
• describe the effects of excess nutrients on phytoplankton
• use and apply the knowledge acquired to create a fictional plankton description or "wanted" poster

Optionally, students will:

• construct a plankton net
• participate in gathering and identifying plankton from a local body of water
• conduct an experiment to create an algae "bloom"

Appropriate Grade Levels: 5 - 8

MSPP Outcomes:

Concepts of Science

• Students will demonstrate their acquisition and integration of major concepts and unifying themes from the life, physical , and earth/space sciences.

  Grade 5: Life Science:

  • Individuals and groups of organisms interact with each other and the environment.
  The organisms and groups of organisms that are best suited to an environment survive and reproduce.
  Grade 8: Life Science:
  • Humans have a major impact on the living and non-living environment.

• Students will demonstrate positive attitudes toward science and its relevance to the individual.

  Grade 5:

  • Demonstrate an interest in science outside of the classroom
  • Persist with assigned tasks.
  Grade 8:
  • Demonstrate a belief in the usefulness of science in understanding the world.

• Students will demonstrate the ability to employ the language, instruments, methods and materials of science for collecting, organizing, interpreting, and communicating information.

  Grade 5:

  • Use developmentally appropriate instruments and materials to demonstrate: communicate findings in several forms: describing, telling, drawing pictures
  Grade 8:
  • Draw valid conclusions

Materials Needed:

For the lesson, each individual student or group of students will need:

Parts 1 - 4

• pencils
• Internet access
• colored pencils and/or markers
• copies of Bay and Ocean Brainstorm Worksheet
• copies of The Tiny World of Plankton: Info. Organizer
• copies of My Favorite Plankton
• copies of GULP! Worksheet
• copies of That Bloomin' Algae! Worksheet
• copies of Plankton Play Off!

**Please note: Parts Five and Six contain optional activities and experiments that will require specific materials.

Part 5 (optional)

• 4 1-liter beakers (jars or bottles can be substituted)
• a small amount (a few tablespoons) of commercial lawn fertilizer
• a bucket of water from a local pond, stream, river, or the Bay
• a scale to measure the fertilizer
• a copy of page 10 from Bay in a Beaker
• optional material: Elodea (a freshwater SAV plant available from tropical fish stores)

Part 6 (optional)

• old pair of nylons
• wire hanger
• wire cutters
• pliers
• small glass jar
• needle and thread
• string
• magnifying glass

Teacher Background Information:

We begin this lesson with the body of water that Pride II began its journey in - the Chesapeake Bay. We chose to introduce your students to life under the water's surface by examining the tiniest life forms - plankton. Your students will be introduced to phytoplankton (plants) and zooplankton (animals). The best way for you to prepare for this lesson is to access the World Wide Web sites in the lesson and see what your students will be exploring. Students who become intrigued with life in the Chesapeake Bay, and subsequently the oceans of the world, may enjoy expanding into a more in-depth study of marine ecosystems. There are many exciting resources for such a study, and our hope is that you and your students will be left with a desire to plunge into the ocean even more!

Teaching tips and options for this lesson:

It would be best if your students had a basic working knowledge of what an estuary is and some familiarity with marine ecosystems. Your students should be able to describe the process of photosynthesis, as well. If time allows, you and your students could discuss what prior knowledge of the Chesapeake Bay and oceans they have. Perhaps Bay and ocean posters, or other art work, displayed in the classroom could spark your students' curiosity about life under the surface of the water. If time allows, you could share poetry or songs about the Bay or the ocean. Perhaps you could set the stage for this lesson by playing a "mood", or background, CD of ocean sounds.

The following sections are available to students. You may decide which sections that you would like for your students to use. Parts Four, Five, and Six lend themselves to becoming supplementary activities, independent project work, or extra credit assignments. Part Seven would be any easy section to assign as independent work or homework.

• Introduction: Students will be brainstorming a list of Bay and sea creatures. You could create an entire list for your class on chart paper by compiling the individual or partner lists. This large chart could be posted in the classroom. It would be even more interesting to post pictures of the creatures next to their names.

• Part 1- The Tiny World of Plankton: Students will be designing a graphic organizer to record information that they will gather from various World Wide Web sites included in this part of the lesson. Encourage your students to design an organizer that works for them, and remember that the design can be fun, creative, and colorful, too. If you think that they will have difficulty designing a graphic organizer, or if your time is limited, supply the students will a blank graphic organizer that they are familiar with, or that you and the class design. They will be collecting basic information about plankton - where they live, what they need to survive, etc., but you might want them to be more specific at this stage of this lesson.

• Part 2- My Favorite Plankton: Students will be sketching plankton that they view at the various Web sites. It might be helpful to supply them with unlined white paper for their sketches. If you are concerned with time limitations, specify a time allowance for this part of the lesson. Another possibility is to have on hands copies of print outs of the photos and pictures from this part of the lesson, and have the students only sketch selected plankton. This could also become a homework assignment if printouts are available.

• Part 3- GULP!: Students will be concentrating on aquatic food chains and webs in this part of the lesson. You might be able to locate posters of other food chains to post in the classroom. Be sure to post the food chains and webs that your students create in this part of the lesson. Encourage students to use colored pencils or markers to enhance their drawings.

• Part 4- That Bloomin' Algae!: Students will be delving into the world of phytoplankton in this part of the lesson. Follow your students progress through this part of the lesson carefully, and help out if they have difficulty with the concept of nutrients. If you can have on hand several newspaper articles from last summer that talk about pfiesteria, students might recall what they heard on news reports. This could spark an entire discussion about how to discern fact from opinion in the printed word!

• Part 5- An Amazing Algae Experiment: This part of the lesson is optional, and involves setting up conditions to create a tiny algae "bloom" in the classroom. The entire class could create this "bloom" together in the classroom. This experiment also lends itself to becoming an extra credit homework, or after school, assignment. This experiment was taken from Chesapeake Bay Watershed Activity Guide, which contains other great classroom activities to teach students about the Chesapeake Bay. The activities center around science and geography skills. Copies of the guide book and accompanying watershed maps are available from: US Fish and Wildlife Service, Annapolis, MD.

• Part 6 - A Submerged Aquatic Scavenger Hunt!: Students will be briefly introduced to one of Leslie Bridgett's jobs on board Pride II - gathering plankton. At the end of this part of the lessons students can access a Web site that gives them instructions for building a homemade plankton net. Obviously, this part of the lesson is optional. This would be a wonderful opportunity for you to have the class build individual plankton nets, and then actually go try them out at a local stream. You might want to build the plankton nets this winter, but wait until spring to try them out! This activity needs adequate adult supervision and plenty of advance planning.

• Part 7 - Plankton Play Off!: This is the culminating activity for the lesson and can be completed independently since access to the Internet is not necessary. Students are presented with two options for showing off how much they now know about plankton. It is strongly suggested that students be given the opportunity to select which option they would like to complete. If your students have an interest in doing both options, great! This part of the lesson could be completed as homework.

How will you know if your students have done a good job?

At the conclusion of the lesson is a self-assessment tool to aid students in reflecting on the quality of their work. You could use the same questions to develop a rubric, or other system, to evaluate and rate your students' performance.

Possible Extensions:

• Obtain pond, stream, river, or Bay water and use microscopes to identify plankton. Chart and graph the results of various water samples.
• Create a "field guide" to aid in identifying plankton from water samples.
• Ask your students to create a Bay or ocean food chain using 15 different characters. They may need to use the Web sites in the lesson to gather the information. Students can use other resources to help them with this task. This food chain should include drawings, labels, and clearly show the how the characters are linked. This activity would work well with a partner.
• Create a classroom mural that reflects food chains or webs in the Bay, the ocean, or both.
• Create a "photo" album of plankton, using sketches or printouts.
• Research toxic plankton and prepare a presentation for other students.
• Follow the upcoming Maryland State Legislative session for developments in the fight against pfiesteria in the Chesapeake Bay.
• Do an issue investigation of nutrient pollution in the Bay, the oceans, or both.
• Research what actions can be taken to help the Bay and our oceans to be "healthy" places for plankton and all of the other marine creatures.

Additional Resources for Teachers

• Another great resource for this type of activity is the Education Department of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. They offer many fantastic field trip experiences for students, from streamside, to creeks, to rivers, to the Bay. Most day trips are available at no charge to Maryland students (transportation to and from the field trip not included). These popular field trips book far in advance, but sometimes there are last minute openings. Contact Kristin Urban, Education Coordinator at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, at 1-800-445-5572 for additional information.

• Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Education Department offers two interdisciplinary supplementary middle school modules designed to introduce students to the choices and challenges involved in resolving Chesapeake Bay issues. Chesapeake Choices and Challenges curriculum was developed in conjunction with MSDE to model MSPAP-style teaching techniques, utilize cooperative learning strategies, promote critical thinking skills, and lead to meaningful student service learning experiences. Contact Debbie Julian, Maryland Curriculum Facilitator, at 1-800-445-5572 for additional information.

• If you plan to continue your study by conducting an issue investigation, or just want your students to keep abreast of developments on the Bay, try The Chesapeake Bay Program Homepage. You can tap into a wealth of Bay resources and link to the sites of many Bay Program partners.

• Encarta Online offers supplementary lesson plans for teachers. Browse through their section for teachers.

• The Smithsonian Ocean Planet project explores the diversity of human connections to the ocean. This traveling exhibit contains a variety of educational materials of lessons and marine science activities

• JASON Project utilizes advanced curricular and technological approaches to excite and engage students and educators in science and technology as it is happening. The ninth JASON Project expedition focuses on life within the structure of several ocean environment.