Ms.

Molstad
East High School
Chemistry in the Community Class
 Pre-Test
Determining Prior Knowledge
Assess what you learn during lab
10 Points
Do the best you can
 What is a Bioassay?
Involves use of a
biological organism to
test for chemical toxicity
Ex: Canary in the coal
mine
Test effects of
compound being
considered for use in
drugs
Environmental testing
 Dose/Response Experiment
Expose organisms to
various levels of a
chemical and then
measure their response

 Duckweed is the bioassay

organism

 Place duckweed in various

concen. of chemical, you
monitor growth and health
over a period of 7 days.
 What is Duckweed?
Small aquatic plant
Found on surface of
ponds, wetlands, and
nutrient rich lakes.
Lemna minor
Food source for some
animals
Fast growing
Is Duckweed Bad for Waterways?
Increased nutrients =
Increased duckweed

Lake Eutrophication:
Increased P & N
Causes algal blooms
Reduced dissolved O
Kills other organisms
Where do the Increased Nutrients
Come From?
Human activity at
home
Agricultural runoff
Golf courses
Untreated sewage
Industrial runoff
 Duckweed Bioassay Lab
Test the affect of various Duckweed Bioassay Data
concentrations of Solution # Avg. Comments
Concentration Duckwee # about Plant
fertilizer on an aquatic d Fron Health
plant Fronds/C
up
ds

Predict Control

Fertilizer
Hypothesis Concentration
( %)
Conduct Experiment Fertilizer
Concentration

Analyze results ( %)
Fertilizer
Concentration
Form Conclusion ( %)
 Duckweed Reproduction
By budding-new fronds
grow from buds on
parent plant
Measure growth rate by
counting how many new
fronds develop
Frond Counting
 Lab Procedures
Lab Set Up/Participation Data Collection & Analysis
Lab Participation Filling in table
Set Up Graph
Questions
Last Day of Counting!
Duckweed Frond Counts-Class Averages
Day 1 Day 3 Day 5 Day 8
Control
100%
10%
1%
0.10%
0.01%
0.001%
 Question #4 TC50
TC50 1. Look at Control
The Toxic Concentration Day 1 – 20 fronds
that kills 50% of Day 8- ___ fronds
Duckweed
OR
2. Look at Day 8
The Toxic Concentration
Which soln. had ½ as
that causes Duckweed to
many fronds as the
grow ½ as well as those in
control?
the control group
If no ½, then list a
range
Determining Doubling Time
Question #6 in Packet  To Calculate Duckweed Growth Rate:
 n = the number of days over which
Should have 3 soln. growth is measured
Fo = the number of fronds at day 0
conc. to determine Fn = the number of fronds at day n
doubling time for. D = the doubling time of duckweed (in
days)
Some might show D = {(nlog2) divided by (logFn - logFo)}
days
negative growth 
Ex: If at day 0 there are 8 fronds and at
day 4 there are 18 fronds, then
D = {(4 x log2) divided by (log18 - log 8)}
= {(4 x 0.301) divided by (1.255 - 0.903)}
= 3.4 days
 Why Use a Bioassay?
Use of a biological
organism to test for
chemical toxicity
Examples of use:
Test effects of
compound being
considered for use in
drugs
Environmental testing
Tuesday:
Turn in Lab Packet
Post Test