SCIENCE
Experiment # 1: Brine Shrimp
Brine shrimp are a type of zoo plankton that float in water and often become food for bigger sea creatures such as humpback whales. Each student was given a certain amount of cysts (cases that hold brine shrimp eggs) and a jar of water to watch these brine shrimp hatch and grow. They were all given the opportunity to choose the amount of salinity (salt in the water) they wanted to put in their jar to mimic the ocean's water. Below are photos of students full grown brine shrimp, 6 weeks after students added the cysts to jars of water and placed them in the sun.
Experiment #2: Microbes
Microbes are tiny living creatures too small to see without a microscope and are everywhere including water. Microbes include bacteria, viruses, fungi and algae. The students were asked to choose some objects in the classroom they wanted to swab for bacteria. This included a staff member’s phone, a students hand, the classroom door, the classroom television and more. The students then took these swabs and rubbed them on petri dishes full of agar. Agar gives us the ability to see these microbes with our naked eyes. Here are two examples from the student's experiment:
