Pond Water MICROORGANISMS BIOINDICATORS of Water Pollution 46 Reference
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Description
Students observe and identify pond water microorganisms with microscopes to determine if it is polluted or not. Here are 46 reference cards of protists and invertebrates with pollutant tolerance levels indicated. Some common protists and pond organisms can be used as bioindicators.
Are you studying MS-ESS3-3 or HS-ESS3-4 and discussing the impact that humans have on our waterways?
For years I have taken my middle school classes to a nearby pond to collect organisms to look at under the microscope. I absolutely love the excitement of the students as they find new creatures each day!
While studying water pollution in the MS-ESS3-3 standard we talk about the runoff from the streets into the local waterways and the effects that it can have on the organisms in a pond or streams nearby. Nothing makes them understand this more than seeing the creatures and evaluating the pollution level themselves!
The problem I ran into throughout the years was the students really didn’t want to plow through pages and pages of reference books to try to figure out what the creatures were and they just wanted me to quickly identify them. I found myself making representative sketches on the board every year and then I decided to make these reference cards to laminate and keep out on a desk for them to use.
Students seem to like this new “game“ of seeing how many of the creatures that they can actually find. I find that the cards help bring them back to the original task of deciding whether or not the lake is polluted or not rather than just being excited about finding creatures.
I do this in my six grade environmental science unit and my seventh and eighth graders beg to come back in each year. This year I had a day with seventh graders in the same room teaching the six graders how to take videos through the microscopes with their iPads and helping them to identify the creatures.
Included are 46 of my drawings of the most common single celled and multi celled organisms found in slow-moving ponds. I have done the research for you as to what type of environment each organism can or can not tolerate such as low oxygen, nitrogen or phosphate levels, metal or heat pollution.
I have included two images per 8 1/2 x 11 page, to save on ink, and have found it is best to print these cards out and laminate them to either post them on a bulletin board or spread them out on a table as the students work. I have the students keep a running journal throughout my 1 to 2 week exploration and by the end of the activity they should have an understanding of the overall quality of the water based on which organisms were discovered.
Included in this resource:
- Teacher Notes
- NGSS Standard
- Teacher Directions
- 46 of My Drawings of Microorganisms plus their pollution tolerance level
==>My blog post at Sciencebysinai.com called Identifying Pond Water Microorganisms as Bioindicators describes how I do this super fun unit!
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