Science PBL (What We've Learned Ppt)

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Slides by : ♥ May ♥ Mingsiew ♥ Yushan  ♥Yanni

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The ashes in the water will block out sunlight which make the marine plants unable to photosynthesize. Plants are producers and the energy is passed on to other animals either directly or indirectly. If plants are unable to photosynthesize, animals that depend on them would be affected, as well as other animals that depend on other animals for food. In other words, the food chain will be disturbed. This may pose a threat to the marine ecosystem as the many of the consumers suffers, without enough food, many of the marine animals would die. There will also be competition between the organisms for resources such as food, oxygen and light. Etc.

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It is made up of abiotic and biotic components and these basic components are important to nearly all types of ecosystems. It consists of the biological community that occurs in some locale, and the physical and chemical factors that make up is non-living or abiotic environment. Some examples of Ecosystems are: pond, forest, grassland.

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Abiotic factors (non living, environmental): Examples: Sunlight Temperature Precipitation Water or moisture Air currents, Soil

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Biotic Factors: (living) Primary producer Herbivores Carnivores Omnivores Detritivores -scavengers which feed on dead plants and animals or their waste. Decomposers Etc.

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Surface water, be it a lake or a stream, tends to stay relatively stable in terms of temperatures. Seasonal changes bring about slow changes in temperatures that the waterway's plant and animal life can tolerate. Industries often use nearby water resources as cool water then discharge the warmed water back into the ecosystem. This action creates an unnatural and a too rapid increase in the water's temperature.

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A sudden change in water temperature affects the organisms living in the water. Changes in water temperature can change fishes’ metabolism. Fish's metabolism slows in colder times where food resources are limited. If the water is warmed, the fish's metabolism increases however the fish is likely to die with the limited food resources.

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Thermal pollution is caused by several types of industry. Cooling waters are often needed for electricity generation and nuclear power. Other industries such as paper mills also rely on cooling waters to conduct their manufacturing processes.

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Discharge waters from factories can have other effects on the ecosystem: If water flow is strong, it can introduce sediment into the water and cause soil erosion along the shorelines. The resulting cloudy water can block light, preventing plants to photosynthesize. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants make food. If a plant cannot make food or produce energy, it will die, further impacting the water quality.

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Turbidity describes how murky or cloudy water is. Water containing high levels of suspended particles is very turbid. Turbidity impacts dissolved oxygen levels in many ways: Turbidity-causing particles absorb a lot of Sun rays. When dark colored particles absorb rays, energy is released hence turbid water gets heated by the sun very rapidly. Water loses its ability to hold dissolved oxygen therefore turbidity can lead to a decrease in oxygen levels Turbidity is often caused by tiny soil particles washed off from the land. These particles contain nutrients that enhance growth of algae when combined with water and sunlight. When algae dies and decomposes a lot of oxygen will be depleted. Hence turbidity can cause lower levels of dissolved oxygen in water by causing algal blooms.

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As water temperature rises, the amount of dissolved oxygen available for living organisms decreases. For cold water fishes such as trout, this change can kill the fishes. When water temperature changes too suddenly, fishes become stressed and vulnerable to disease. Then when great number of fishes die, the water chemistry is altered when the ammonia and nitrite levels increase. If left unchecked, the water becomes an ecological dead zone, unable to support any life.

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Presentation by: May (24) Mingsiew (32) Yushan (33) Yanni (34)

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Nutrients cycle and Eutropicaation Algal Bloom and Toxic Algae Toxic Algae Phytoplankton & Decomposers

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Presenter: Myat  :)

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Nutrient cycling plays is important in the maintenance of an ecosystem Nutrients are central to the function and growth of organisms. In an ecosystem, decomposers are essential in breaking down biomass matter and cycling nutrients. Eg. Animal waste and dead organic matter are broken down by bacteria and fungi into their constituent elements.

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Some nutrients are released into the soil for roots of the plants to take in Elements such as oxygen, hydrogen and carbon are transmitted by air and water to the living components of an ecosystems. Decomposition of dead and waste organic material returns hydrogen and carbon to the atmosphere. Carbon is released as carbon dioxide from the decay of carbohydrates. Hydrogen and nitrogen are released from the decaying protein as ammonia.

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Weathering also assists in releasing nutrients into the soil. However nutrients are also lost in the soil.  litter stays in an ecosystem through run-off. Acid rain is an example of nutrient pollution in ecosystems.

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We will now observe a particular ecosystem to further illustrate the importance of nutrient cycling in ecosystems. In the Amazon basin nutrient inputs occur through precipitation, wind borne dust, ash, nitrogen fixation by organisms, weathering of sediments and aerosols. Essentially producer organisms are responsible for the intake of mineral nutrients into the ecosystem. Thus, they construct the very substance of life. Consumer organisms break down organic tissue and return the material in an form to be used again by plants.

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Species diversity decreases Dominant biota changes Plant and animal biomass increase Turbidity increases Rate of sedimentation increases, shortens the lifespan of the lake Because of the high concentration of organisms in a eutrophic system, there is often a lot of competition for resources and predator pressure. This high degree of competition and the sometimes-high chemical or physical stress make high the struggle for survival in eutrophic systems. As a result the diversity of organisms is lower in eutrophic than in oligotrophic systems.        (oligotrophic-An ecosystem or environment  that offers little to sustain life.)

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The changes in nutrient levels and biology can directly affect human activities. The water can be injurious to health The amenity value of the water may decline Increased vegetation may impede water flow and navigation Commercially important species of fish may disappear Treatment of drinking water may be difficult and supply can have an unacceptable taste or odour

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Presenter: YuShan :)

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Algal bloom is a rapid increase or accumulation in the population of algae in an aquatic system. Algal blooms may occur in freshwater as well as marine environments. Only one or a small number of phytoplankton species are involved. Although there is no officially recognized threshold level, algae can be considered to be blooming at concentrations of hundreds to thousands of cells per milliliter, depending on the severity.

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Freshwater algal blooms are the result of an excess of nutrients. The excess of nutrients may originate from fertilizers that are applied to land for agricultural or recreational purposes (ash?) Algae tend to grow very quickly under high nutrient availability, but each alga is short- lived, and the result is a high concentration of dead organic matter which starts to decay. The decay process consumes dissolved oxygen in the water. Without sufficient dissolved oxygen in the water, death rate of the marine creatures increases rapidly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algal_bloom

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Large numbers of "blooming" algae can at times produce toxins or result in lower oxygen levels in seawater, causing marine creatures to die at an increasing rate. It may also produce marine toxins that enter the marine food web when consumed by mussels. Typically, these mussels have a capacity to concentrate and accumulate very large amounts of these toxins without apparent harm to themselves. Toxin levels can be so high that consuming only a few mussels could be lethal. When blooms produce such deleterious effects, they are called harmful algal blooms. http://www.answers.com/topic/toxic-algae

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Presenter: Yanni :)

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are generally thought of as organisms similar to red tide dinoflagellates, which can kill numerous fish, crabs, and other species. Toxic algae blooms also can occur near floating fish aquaculture cages where there is a build up of fish excrement and uneaten food under/near the cages downstream from waste discharges from pig farms, etc.

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Some aquarists may be unaware, but toxic algae organisms can "bloom" in fish tanks (and ponds) and cause distress and death to tank occupants.   Algae blooms, toxic or not, can occur in closed systems when high organics or nutrients are present, can occur in both freshwater or salt water tanks with sufficient lighting and nutrients.       Various species of algae that are toxic release their toxins upon death; these toxins in the water can irritate and cause severe distress or death to tank (pond) occupants that have no way to escape.

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Human, and other animal, deaths from toxic algae occur each year from contaminated dialysis water, contaminated drinking water, consumption of affected organisms, and from consumption of organisms (filter-feeders) that concentrate the offending algae, etc.

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While most of these species of phytoplankton and cyanobacteria are harmless, there are a few dozen that create potent toxins given the right conditions. Harmful algal blooms may cause harm through the production of toxins or by their accumulated biomass, which can affect co-occurring organisms and alter food-web dynamics. Impacts include human illness and mortality following consumption of or indirect exposure to HAB toxins, substantial economic losses to coastal communities and commercial fisheries, and HAB-associated fish, bird and mammal mortalities.

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Presenter: Mingsiew :)

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Phytoplankton are microscopic plants that live in the ocean. These small plants are very important to the ocean and to the world They are at the base of the food chain. Many small fish and whales eat them. Then bigger fishes eat the little fishes, etc. The food chain continues at some point in time we (people) come into it when we eat the fish. So the energy of plankton  becomes our energy too

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Phytoplankton live near the surface of the ocean because they need sunlight like all green plants. They also need water and nutrients to live. Phytoplankton use water and CO2 to grow, but phytoplankton still need other vitamins and minerals, like iron to survive. When the surface of the ocean is cold, the deeper parts of the ocean bring these nutrients to the surface and the plankton live. But, when the surface of the ocean is warm, it does not bring as many of these essential nutrients and the phytoplankton die. Hence the entire food chain is affected.

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Many kinds of decomposers are microscopic, meaning that they can't be seen without a microscope. Others, like fungi, can be seen. Different kinds of decomposers do different jobs in the ecosystem. Others, like some kinds of bacteria, prefer breaking down meat or waste from carnivores

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Is plankton a producer consumer or decomposer? Phytoplankton is the producer, which is eaten by zooplankton, which is then eaten by other organisms in the ocean.  Hence, Phytoplankton is a producer while Zoo plankton is a consumer but no plankton is a decomposer unlike bacteria. So, Phytoplankton is NOT a decomposer.

Final Product ;) : 

Final Product ;) Our Blog against on the environment

Rejected Ideas2 rejected ideas are : 

Rejected Ideas2 rejected ideas are Seminars Seminars would pose restrictions when we have a limited period of time to share our knowledge with. Only a limited number of people would be accessed to the information we share through the seminars because only a certain number of people would be attending them. Seminars need to be held all around the world in different countries stop-by-stop which is not as efficient and realistic. 2. Banners Banners would restrict us to the amount of information we can print on it as we have limited space on them. Banners may be worn after a certain period of time and may hence be removed eventually, causing it to be a short-lived way to educate only a limited number of people. Only people who pass by the banners would be accessed to the information shared on it however we are unable to put them up all around the world.

Hence, we've finally done up a blog to share with the world some knowledge about our beloved Mother Earth to educate the public the harm we are causing her if we do not do our part to stop pollution.   http://www.treasure-earth.blogspot.com♥ : 

Hence, we've finally done up a blog to share with the world some knowledge about our beloved Mother Earth to educate the public the harm we are causing her if we do not do our part to stop pollution.   http://www.treasure-earth.blogspot.com♥

Reasons for doing a blog ;) : 

Reasons for doing a blog ;) A blog of our own would allow us to have unlimited space to post all the information and even videos or podcasts of interesting facts of the Earth we have on to it.    It would also enable us to share our knowledge of the Earth and educate people from all over the world with the information we post on it as a blog would be viewed by people of all over the world so long as they can be accessed to the Internet    (which is currently very commonly used and easily accessible to people)   A blog would also exist forever for everyone to view as long as we manage it frequently hence a blog would be a long term way of sharing information.

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Presenters: HELLO May (24) Mingsiew (32) YuShan (33) Yanni (34)