Soil Composition, Plant Growth, and Fish Health
Lesson Overview: Students complete an experiment that allows them to examine the relationship between soil composition, plant growth and fish health.
Subject Area: Biology
Topic: Ecosystem function
Audience: 9-12
Suggested time: 50 minutes for Day 1, 10 minutes 2 days a week for 4 weeks, 50 minutes on final day
Resources: Project overview sheet
Sample data sheet
Materials:
2 plastic soda bottles 4 plant seeds
Worm soil Regular soil
Scissors Masking Tape
Permanent marker Fish
Water Mesh netting
Learning Objective:
Students will use compost, plants, and goldfish to develop a more profound understanding of interspecies connectivity and ecosystem function
Background:
1. Students plant the same seeds in the two different soil types: one is regular soil and one is a mixture of regular soil and enriched worm bin soil. They will compare growth rates and biomass production between the two soil types.
2. Students will water their plants and have that water percolate down into a small fish aquarium. They will make observations about how the two soil types affect fish health.
3. Students should have a basic understanding of soil composition and photosynthesis.
Assessment strategy:
1. Students will create a lab write up at the completion of the lab, which will be graded. We will pay special attention to the students’ abilities to relate the data back to the biological questions at hand.
2. We will grade them on data collection capabilities
Teaching tips:
1. Have the students apply a fixed amount of water to their plant on a strict regime to ensure that plants are not over/under watered.
2. Keep the plants in a safe place so other students (not involved in the experiment) do not disturb the growing plants.
Extension strategies:
1. This can be extended to examine the varying performance of different plant and fish species.