How Plankton Swim: An Interdisciplinary Approach for Using Mathematics &amp; Physics To Understand the Biology of the Natural World

Clay, Tansy W.; Fox, Jennifer B.; Grünbaum, Daniel; Jumars, Peter A.

doi:10.1662/0002-7685(2008)70[363:hpsaia]2.0.co;2

Cited by 7 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…The approach of case-based scenarios and guided-inquiry, described here using chemistry and biology in a forensic crime analysis, should be transferable to other areas of science education in higher education and promote interdisciplinary and disciplinary understanding; for example, chemistry and ecology in ocean acidification or chemistry and physics in photocatalytic hydrogen production. Examples within the secondary school science domain already support this approach. , …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

A Case-Based Scenario with Interdisciplinary Guided-Inquiry in Chemistry and Biology: Experiences of First Year Forensic Science Students

Cresswell

Loughlin

2017

J. Chem. Educ.

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In this paper, insight into forensic science students' experiences of a case-based scenario with an interdisciplinary guided-inquiry experience in chemistry and biology is presented. Evaluation of student experiences and interest showed that the students were engaged with all aspects of the case-based scenario, including the curriculum theory components as well as the active learning within interdisciplinary laboratories. Working in groups of three during laboratories was favored by students, but mixed responses for group assessment were observed. Since the introduction of the case-based scenario, sustained improvements in student assessment outcomes were observed. Questionnaire respondents indicated a strong interest in case-based learning. We propose a methodology framework for the case-based scenario investigation in forensic science and discuss the student experiences and improved learning occurring with the scenario involving an interdisciplinary guided-inquiry experience in chemistry and biology. This work suggests that an interdisciplinary guided-inquiry learning approach, ideally contextualized within a case-based scenario, is adaptable to other science discipline combinations.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 96%

A Case-Based Scenario with Interdisciplinary Guided-Inquiry in Chemistry and Biology: Experiences of First Year Forensic Science Students

Cresswell

Loughlin

2017

J. Chem. Educ.

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“…I use corn syrup in this lab rather than salt water. The corn syrup mimics the environment of a plankton, which have a low Reynold's number and so are subject to viscous forces (Clay et al, 2008). Reynold's number is the ratio of the inertial forces to viscous forces; it means that if you are large in size and can generate a fairly high velocity, you can propel yourself through the water, and, if you stop swimming you will have inertia and "coast" to a stop (Naselli-Flores et al, 2021).…”

Section: Engage: Photos Of Marine Plankton Microscope and Live/preser...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Plankton operate under viscous forces, so if they stop swimming, they just stop -there is no "coasting". For small sized organisms like phyto-and zooplankton, the surrounding water molecules are proportionately very large as compared to their body size , and they experience too much friction relative to their muscle strength to go fast, both of which makes movement through the water more difficult (Clay et al, 2008;Naselli-Flores, et al, 2021). For small organisms like plankton, swimming through water is the equivalent of a human swimming in a sea of molasses.…”

Section: Engage: Photos Of Marine Plankton Microscope and Live/preser...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Marine phytoplankton, generally single-celled photosynthetic diatoms and dinoflagellates, are heavier than water and thus tend to sink; unfortunately this decreases their survival, as sinking drives them to areas without adequate light for photosynthesis (Huisman, et al, 2002;Clay et al, 2008;Chindia and Figueredo, 2018;Durante et al, 2019;Naselli-Flores et al, 2021). It is a fine balance.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(n.d.)) for example, wrote the classic investigation of plankton sinking rates. While this activity has students design plankton and sink their models in water, I use corn syrup as did Clay et. al.…”

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confidence: 99%

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STEM Challenges in Marine Biology Class: A “Sweet” Twist on the Classic Phytoplankton Sinking Rate Activity

Pike

2022

Current: The Journal of Marine Education

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Over the millennia, phytoplankton have evolved adaptations to reduce sinking rates and increase the amount of time they are able to stay in the photic zone; one such adaptation is increasing form resistance with larger surface areas. Spines, flattened body shape, forming chains, and so forth can increase surface area and slow sinking rates. While there are many plankton sinking rate activities accessible on the web, this middle and high school level laboratory activity is modified to make data collection easier and more reliable, and adds a dash of a STEM engineering challenge. Students first test equal-sized spherical clay 'plankton' with differing numbers of spines to see how body projections affect sinking rate, then they create different shaped plankton in a challenge to be the slowest to sink. The use of corn syrup as the 'ocean' makes a crucial difference from the classic plankton race activity -it allows the plankton to sink slowly enough that students can get good data, and it represents the ocean's viscosity as experienced by plankton. This engaging 5 E's marine biology and oceanography activity is presented as a STEM challenge -can your students create the slowest sinking plankton? Students practice doing science and utilize experimental design, they use math to test biological predictions, they graph and analyze data, and then use the data as evidence as they defend their conclusions utilizing the claim-evidencereasoning format.

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Instructional Integration of Disciplines for Promoting Children’s Positive Attitudes Towards Plants

Çìl

2016

Journal of Biological Education

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How Plankton Swim: An Interdisciplinary Approach for Using Mathematics & Physics To Understand the Biology of the Natural World

Cited by 7 publications

References 10 publications

A Case-Based Scenario with Interdisciplinary Guided-Inquiry in Chemistry and Biology: Experiences of First Year Forensic Science Students

A Case-Based Scenario with Interdisciplinary Guided-Inquiry in Chemistry and Biology: Experiences of First Year Forensic Science Students

STEM Challenges in Marine Biology Class: A “Sweet” Twist on the Classic Phytoplankton Sinking Rate Activity

Instructional Integration of Disciplines for Promoting Children’s Positive Attitudes Towards Plants

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