c11: lab APES

  • make sure to follow the verb prompts: example: identify AND explain

  • identify controls and things you can change in an experiment

  • make detailed plans

  • library control: using past information that is given in data to estimate the maximum amount of __ there will be THIS year

soil analysis lab

  • what is happening: soil is tested for physical traits and chemical properties, which provide information about the soil’s condition, suitability for crops, septic fields, etc.

  • chemical factors tested:

    • pH, which will determine what can grow in what acidity

    • nitrogen, phosphorus, and potash (compound that contains a potassium oxide)

  • physical factors:

    • soil type

    • water-holding capacity

    • permeability

    • friability (soil that can be light and worked with hands usually means roots can grow better)

    • percent humus

    • buffering capacity

water analysis lab

  • what is happening: analyzing water to see what it is like chemically and physically

  • measurables:

    • pH

    • DO (dissolved oxygen, fish need 4 ppm and cold-water fish need 5 ppm)

    • turbidity

    • phosphate (important plant nutrient)

    • alkalinity

    • BOD (biological oxygen demand, with high nutrient levels having high BOD)

    • chlorine

    • hardness—measure of salts in water

    • iron

    • nitrates

    • total solids (weight of suspended and dissolved solids)

    • total dissolved solids

    • fecal coliform—new tests for this are performed by adding a water sample to a specialized media and observing color changes, drinking water should show no colonies of growth from the water sample)

air quality labs

  • air quality: assessed using various methods

  • particulates: sticky paper can collect air particulates and examined under microscope

  • ozone: eco badge or iodide gel will change color in the presence of ozone

  • carbon dioxide: sampling carbon dioxide in an air sample

other labs

  • lichen: judges air quality

  • scrubber model: can remove sulfur from burning coal

  • biodiversity of invertebrates: counting insects in an area and seeing biodiversity

  • LC50/LD50: seeing the concentration of LC or LD that would cause death of 50 percent of a test organism

  • population density and biomass: seeing how much something grows

  • variables: seeing what happens when variables are added to a population of bacteria to see how it gets affected