How vulnerable is my community to the threat of an algal bloom?
In this lesson, students will explore the potential negative effects – direct and indirect – of algal blooms, and then learn how to test for the preconditions of an algal bloom at a local body of water.
What is an algal bloom?
- Define and explore the characteristics of algae
- Investigate the eutrophication process
- Analyze state and local algal bloom data to discover the prevalence of this problem
What negative effects can algal blooms have?
- Explore the harmful effects of toxic algal blooms on animals and humans
- Explore the indirect effects of algal blooms (e.g. economic, cultural, etc.)
How can algal blooms be detected before and after they surface?
- Learn how to distinguish between harmful and harmless types of algae
- Develop a procedure for testing for the preconditions of an algal bloom
- Collect water samples from a local body of water and test them for the preconditions of an algal bloom
Discipline: Science
Sub-discipline(s): Biology
Grade level: 9-12
Summative Performance Task
Description: The students will write a lab report about their experience with testing for the preconditions of an algal bloom at a local body of water.
Assessment method(s): Lab report (essay)
Assessment criteria:
- Did the student come up with a relevant “compelling question” for their experiment? (e.g. What is the water quality like at our local body of water?)
- Did the student provide a detailed and comprehensive procedure, including information about the materials they used?
- Did the student explain how and why they deviated from their original procedure?
- Did the student describe the data they collected?
- Did the student attach their filled-out documentation form to their lab report?
- Did the student draw reasonable conclusions based on their data?
- Did the student back up their conclusions with data-based evidence?
- Did the student identify multiple mistakes that might have been made during testing?
- Did the student describe multiple challenges they faced while testing?
- Did the student list multiple things they would like to do differently the next time they do algal bloom testing, and why?
Taking Informed Action
Description: The students will present their algal bloom testing data (and any other data they collected at their testing site) to an audience of stakeholders.
Assessment method(s): Presentation materials (will vary between students)
Assessment criteria:
- Did the student draw reasonable conclusions, using their data as evidence?
- Did the student present their data clearly and accurately?
- Are the student’s presentation materials aesthetically pleasing and eye-catching?
- Did the student reference credible and relevant external sources?
- Did the student’s presentation materials display considerable effort?
- Did the student demonstrate high school-level writing skills?
Types of activities featured in this lesson plan...
C3 Standards
- SC.HS.7.2.B Use mathematical representations to support and revise explanations based on evidence about factors affecting biodiversity and populations in ecosystems of different scales
- SC.HS.7.2.C Evaluate the claims, evidence, and reasoning that the interactions in ecosystems maintain relatively consistent numbers and types of organisms in stable conditions, but changing conditions may result in a new ecosystem
- SC.HS.8.3.E Use mathematical representations to support claims for the cycling of matter and flow of energy among organisms in an ecosystem.
- SC.HS.13.3.D Plan and conduct an investigation of the properties of water and their effects on Earth materials, surface processes, and groundwater systems.
- SC.HS.13.3.E Develop a quantitative model to describe the cycling of carbon and other nutrients among the hydrosphere, atmosphere, geosphere, and biosphere, today and in the geological past.
Interdisciplinary Connections
Give your students a more integrated educational experience
Overlapping standards and skills
- Civics: At the end of this lesson, the students will take informed action by sharing the algal bloom data they collected from a local body of water. This will require them to identify, communicate, and even collaborate with community stakeholders. Furthermore, throughout the lesson, the students will explore their responsibility to their fellow citizens to investigate the water quality in their community. Consider collaborating with a civics teacher.
- Social Studies: During the second part of the lesson, the students will brainstorm about the indirect effects of algal blooms. Many of these indirect effects – economic, cultural, social, etc. – are intertwined with the subdisciplines of social studies – economics, geography, civics, and history. By collaborating with social studies teachers at your school, you could give your students the chance to take a deeper dive into one or more of these indirect effects.
- English: This lesson in particular contains a high number of quick write activities. Such activities give students the opportunity to practice good sentence structure. In addition, the summative performance task is a lab report. Completing the summative will help your students practice their specialized essay-writing skills.
- Geography: During one activity in this lesson, the students will analyze a data-based map of Nebraska, as well as water testing data for the entire state, to learn more about the prevalence of algal blooms in Nebraska. In this way, they will have a chance to practice their map-reading skills, as well as think critically about how the physical and cultural geography of both different regions of Nebraska and the state as a whole determine the risk of an algal bloom in a given place.
Relevant lessons from other disciplines
English Lesson: How do we write an effective paragraph using CREW?
Geography Lesson: How can maps contribute to our understanding of local water quality issues?
Part of the "Phenomenon Labs" collection
Science Lesson: What can aquatic organisms tell us about the health of a body of water?
Science Lesson:How does nutrient pollution affect the water in my community?