Intertidal Zone Lab

Our next lab concerned the organisms of the intertidal zones. The intertidal zone is defined as the area between land and sea which is regularly exposed to the air by the tidal movement of the sea. There are four different intertidal zones. They are the Splash zone, upper intertidal zone, lower intertidal zone, and the Subtidal zone. In our lab we compared the abundance of rock crabs between the lower intertidal zone and the upper intertidal zone. Rock crabs are found on the rocks along the shores of Hawaii. They are fairly small and common in Hawaii. In our lab we found that there were more rock crabs in the lower intertidal zone.

This was our procedure:

1. At the Waipuilani tide pools arrange materials needed to collect data. (Materials: Quadrat, Transect, Digital thermometer, Refractometer, and Pipette.)
2. Randomly place Quadrat under water in the Lower intertidal zone.
3. Bring Digital thermometer, Refractometer, and Pipette to the edge of the Quadrat.
4. Turn on Digital thermometer by flipping the on/off switch.
5. Place the metal tip of the Digital thermometer in the water that is within your Quadrat.
6. Bring the thermometer out of the water and record the water temperature.
7. Suck up water from within your Quadrat with Pipette.
8. Place 2-3 drops of water from pipette onto the glass surface of the Refractometer.
9. Look through eyepiece of Refractometer and record the data on the right of the screen.
10. Take the Refractometer and the Digital thermometer away from water and put away.
11. Take Transect to the Quadrat and measure the distance from the edge of the Quadrat to the shoreline. (Record data)
12. Return to Quadrat and count the amount of Rock crabs within.
13. Record the amount.
14. Pick up Quadrat and randomly place it on top of the rocks in the upper intertidal zone.
15. Measure the distance from the edge of the Quadrat to the shoreline and record.
16. Return to the Quadrat and count the amount of Rock crabs within.
17. Record data.
18. Randomly place Quadrat under water in the Lower intertidal zone.
19. Count the amount of Rock crabs within.
20. Record the amount.
21. Repeat steps 14-20 five times.
22. Put materials away.

This was a really fun lab, durring our experiments we encountered alot of really cool organisms and cute little animals. -

Plankton Graph

Final Product Science Lab Write-up

SCIENCE LAB WRITE-UP
Introduction:Shanti Gould
8-23-07
We are going to be testing the abundance of plankton between the Kihei Boat Ramp and Ho’okipa. There are two major types of plankton, zooplankton and phytoplankton. Zooplankton is animal plankton and phytoplankton is plant plankton. There are many different types of zooplankton and phytoplankton. Copepods and worms are species of zooplankton and in our experiment we will be comparing the number of copepods and worms with the temperature in each testing area. We are doing this to see whether Ho’okipa or the Kihei Boat Ramp has a higher abundance of zooplankton and what role the temperature of the water plays in this. The abundance of plankton will help us to discover which testing area has a higher food supply for marine animals. Studies have been done regarding the plankton amount and water temperature and it was found that the amount of picophytoplankton is greatest in warm nutrient poor water. This study was conducted by Nona S. R. Agawin, Carlos M. Duarte, and Susana Agusti in May of 2000.

Question and Hypothesis:
From doing this study I hope to learn the temperature of the water that plankton thrive in.
After researching this topic I believe that plankton will be more abundant in warmer waters were nutrients are low. So I believe that there will be more plankton at the Kihei Boat Ramp.

Procedure:
1. Collect samples by dragging plankton net through water by dock, walk along the dock three times back and forth at Kihei Boat Ramp.
2. Pour sample from plankton net into sample bottle by opening the bottom of the net.
3. Record water temperature in degrees Celsius by using thermometer.
4. Record salinity using hand held Refractometer in ppt.
5. Record turbidity using turbidity tube and Secchi disk.
6. Take sample bottle and supplies back to lab.
7. Put sample bottle in refrigerator for overnight storage.
8. Retrieve sample bottle from refrigerator.
9. Turn sample bottle upside down two times.
10. Pour sample into Petri dish so that entire bottom of Petri dish is covered.
11. Set up digital microscope and turn on.
12. Place a blank white sheet of paper under microscope lens.
13. Place microscope tray under lens but on top of blank sheet of paper.
14. Put two drops of Detain into microscope tray.
15. Put 200 mag. lens onto microscope.
16. Adjust microscope so that picture is clear.
17. Observe sample of plankton from Kihei Boat Ramp.
18. Record data of findings.
19. Take sample out from under microscope and pour sample into beaker.
20. Repeat steps 5-13 for Hookipa plankton sample.
21. Observe sample of plankton from Hookipa.
22. Record data of findings.
23. Take sample out from under microscope and pour sample into beaker.
24. Create data chart (in personal science journal)

Data and Results:
Our results showed that the average number of copepods at the Kihei Boat Ramp was 564 copepods per tray and that the average number of copepods at Ho’okipa was 12 copepods per tray. The salinity at Ho’okipa was 35ppt and the water temperature was 25.2 degrees Celsius. The salinity at Kihei Boat Ramp was 32ppt and the water temperature was 28.3 degrees Celsius.

Discussion:
Copepods are more plentiful at the Kihei Boat Ramp. Our results showed us that plankton are more abundant were the water temperature is warmer. The water temperature at the Kihei boat Ramp was warmer than the water temperature at Ho’okipa. Our study agrees with the study done by Nona S. R. Agawin, Carlos M. Duarte, and Susana Agusti in May of 2000. This agrees with my hypothesis that was based on the previous study.