Plankton Design Race

Name____________________________________
Date _____________ Pd _____

Design a plankton out of recycled materials (100% from home not the classroom). Maximum
dimensions are 10 cm by 5 cm.
Goals: Simulate the slow sinking part of a planktons diurnal migration.
Engage in the scientific process of preparing, designing, testing, revising, and reviewing.
Explain how you designed your plankton to sink slowly - write your procedure on sheet paper.
Report (write on back of this page) Data plankton performance and times. Conclusion
discussing the relationship between the evidence and your hypothesis and with two modes of inquiry
and provide an example of each of the five phases of inquiry used in this investigation.
Prepare: 5 points
Remember the phytoplankton need ___________________ and ______________________
Zooplankton eat __________________________________ and are eaten by ___________________________________. During
the day zooplankton ___________________________ to hide and at night they ________________________ to eat. This
is called vertical migration. Because it happens daily its also called __diurnal_ migration.
Design challenge based on hypotheses: If I make, test, and revise a plankton then it will slowly sink
from the surface within 3 minutes and to the bottom of the tank in less than 4 minutes for each trial.
Independent variable:
Dependent variable:
Constants:
Design requirements - 1 dimension up to 10 cm - all other dimensions up to 5 cm. Because plankton
must sink to survive your plankton starts at the surface, must be below the surface within 3 minutes
and must be on the bottom by 4 minutes. Paper makes the water gross so it is not allowed.
Your plankton will need to be able to perform repeated trials.
Rubric
Engage
Explain
Report

4
Design and race own plankton 3 +
trials
Explanation shows repeated trials
and revisions, is repeatable,
accurate and detailed
7 components are clear, detailed,
and complete

Self-score reflects evidence - 2

2

Design and race team

plankton 3 + trials
Explanation shows repeated
trials and revisions, is
accurate and detailed

Design and race team

plankton 2 trials
Explanation shows repeated
trials and revisions, is 70%
+ accurate

7 components are clear and

complete

5 + components complete
and accurate

made individual plankton from recycled home materials -2 participation contributes to all learning http://vimeo.com/12589245 2 min with definition.
http://vimeo.com/84872751 16 min before living ocean notes.
Reporting
Plankton
Explain
assign lab group times at tank for testing to minimize crowding
Trial 1 at ___________ time
intro video - the secret life of plankton - TED talk Tierney
& The Power of Plankton
Detailed description of construction and results
Inquiry -use handout to provide examples of 2 modes and the 5 phases of inquiry
Conclusion
Hypothesis supported disproved
Revisions I would make next time... because... (tell how you expect your revisions would improve
performance.
R = Recall. Describe what you did briefly.
E = Explain. Why you were doing the experiment.
R = Results. Use your results to state if you first hypothesis was/was not supported.
U = Uncertainty. Describe any uncertainty or issues that may impact your results.
N = New. Write two new science related things you learned from this experiment or new ways you
could apply the information you learned from this experiment.
Example RERUN paragraph for conclusion: