Sampling the Environment

Phytoplankton
from: http://tinyurl.com/btt2jjc 

Today we went out to the pond to collect quantitative data about the disolved oxygen (D.O.) levels and temperature of the pond.  We also made qualitative observations about the types of plankton that were collected using the plankton tows.

For homework: Complete the questions on pages 1 and 2 of the lab handout.  You do not need to complete the last question on page 2.   In case your paper got too wet during the lab, the questions are posted below.

Tomorrow we will look at our data and begin to discuss how what we saw can relate to the use of energy in the pond.

Questions due tomorrow:
1. Why should the estimated linear distance of your tows be equal?
2. Why do we care about long-term data on pond plankton?
3. Why do we care about the pond's DO levels?
4. Why do we care about the pond's temperature?
5. Each sampling point was sampled more than once (by different people in the canoes, and some groups).  Why did we sample multiple times?