CAL:BLAST BODEGA BAY TEACHER PROJECTS
PROJECT 1
Bernadette, Sara, Sara, Michelle, Tracy, Aiko, Laura, Dora, Pete
Question:
Does the average height of lupine differ between the dune and grassland habitats?
Hypothesis:
We predict that the average height of the lupine in the grasslands will be taller than the lupine
in the dunes because in the dunes there is more sand and fewer nutrients in the soil.
Approach:
• Two teams at each habitat
• Random selection of sample population
(for randomness, tossed a pencil and
walked 10 paces in the direction the pencil was pointing)
• Calibrated measuring process
• 40 plants measured at teach habitat
Data:
Sample size: 40 per habitat
Range: Dunes, 13–147 cm
Grasslands, 35–190 cm
Dune Mean: 89 cm
Grassland mean: 120 cm
Dune standard deviation: 41.8 cm
Grassland standard deviation: 34.2 cm
P-value from T-test: .000232
Data analysis:
We found a statistically significant difference between the average height of the lupine in the
dunes and the grasslands. The average height of the grassland lupine is taller.
Possible sources of error:
• Measurement tools/procedures
• Inability to see the youngest plants in
denser vegetation
• Interference with other projects
• Small geographical sample
• Confounding factors: distance to ocean
Next steps/further research:
• Compare soil composition for nutrients
• Retest with other plants
• Test water retention in grassland and
dune habitats
• Analyze root size and depth of similar-sized plants
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PROJECT 2
Jill, Raquel
Question:
What types of different insects would you find on a lupine plant vs. a fern plant?
Hypothesis:
We will find more variety of insects on lupines because they have flowers and softer leaves.
Process:
• Take a survey to decide which two different types of plants would have insects. We
decided to select lupines and ferns and adjusted our question.
• We used beat nets and beat each plant ten times.
• We decided to beat in two different locations.
• We collected one type of insect from each sample and after beating in two locations, listed
the different organisms found.
Data:
Living organisms found …
On lupine: spiders, flying insects, beetles, ants, snails, worms
On fern: spiders, flying insects, beetles, snail
Conclusions:
Based on the limited surveying we did, we
conclude that the lupine has more variety of
organisms. And lupine 1 had a higher variety
of organisms than lupine 2. (Included map
showing localities). We also conclude this activity is very easy to do with our classes and
very fun!
Future research:
If we could continue, we would continue surveying to enlarge the sample. We might try
surveying at different times (nights) and on
sunny days!
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PROJECT 3: Raindrops on leaves
Channon, Marline, Kimm, Pauline, Aija
Question:
Which leaf arrangement holds more water?
Materials:
Included pictures of the three types tested:
(1) alternate, petioled – tufted poppy;
(2) opposite, sessile – unknown species;
(3) whorled, sessile – silver lupine
Hypothesis:
We predict that the silver lupine, which has a
whorled, sessile leaf arrangement, will hold
the most water.
Data: (portrayed as graph)
No. of drops
of water*
Whorled,
sessile
Opposite,
sessile
Alternate,
petioled
6.0
5.0
4.9
4.0
3.0
2.0
2.6
2.1
1.0
0.0
* 5.6 drops of water is equal to 1 ml.
Conclusion:
Evidence supports our hypothesis. The silver
lupine, which has a whorled, sessile leaf arrangement, held the most water.
Next steps:
Use other species with same leaf arrangements
Explore more textures
Explore leaf shape
Replicate in different habitats
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PROJECT 4: Beach kelp and algae
Amy, Leah, Rusty
Question:
Is there a difference in the quantity and types of algae found along the shoreline?
Procedures:
(oral presentation of procedures)
Data: (presented in a graph format)
No. of
organisms Plot #1 Plot #2 Plot #3
found
Key
9
8
Red algae
7
Green algae
6
Brown algae
5
4
3
2
1
Next step:
Analyze organisms from shoreline to area
away from water moving in a perpendicular
line away from the water as opposed to parallel to it.
Follow up questions:
Why worms at site 3 only?
What part of the ocean did the algae come
from?
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PROJECT 5: Lupine insect communities—comparing roadside
and coastal
Jaclyn, Chao, Mari, Leonardo
Question:
Do different colors of flowers attract the same or different organisms?
Procedures:
(oral presentation of procedures)
Data: (presented as a bar graph)
#
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Flies
aphids
true bugs
beetle
spider grasshopper isopod
Locality
Total no. of insects
Time collecting
Roadside
21 insects
20 minutes
Coastal
22 insects
20 minutes
Discussion:
Numbers, variety, difference between two locations
Follow-up:
How would the data change with different
weather? Would it be the same if we used different plant species?
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wasp
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PROJECT 6: Comparison of plant size between headlands and
dunes
Paul, Graham
Procedures:
[oral presentation of procedures that discussed how they selected their plants—had problems
finding plants that grew in both places. Finally selected yellow lupine and dock (latter originally nicknamed “red bud” until plant was identified).]
Flowers sampled included Dock
(left) and Yellow Lupine (right).
Data table:
Plant
Dock
Yellow Lupine
Feature
Plant height:
Dunes
Headlands
11”–17”
7½”–14½”
Leaf stem length:
½”–2¼
¾”–2”
Flower stem length:
1”–2½”
½”–1¼”
3’8”–4’6”
1’–2’8”
Plant height:
[oral discussion of problems they ran into]
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Project 7
Beth, Eva, Gabriel
Question:
How do plant species and counts vary with elevation?
Approach:
50m transect with 1m2 quadrat every 10 m
Presentation of data:
Included map showing locality at Horseshoe
Cove
[Drew outline of beach to top of bluff showing ~ incline at every 10 m. Elevation horizon
at 50 m = ~ 0% inclination down to Beach at
10% inclination. Included bar graph of no. of
species found at each sampling site.]
No. of
plant
species
50 m
0%
incline
40 m
30%
incline
30 m
60%
incline
20 m
20%
incline
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12
11
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
Conclusions:
Species type varied with elevation.
Species count varied with elevation.
Grass coverage varied with elevation.
Future research:
Multiple transects
Additional quadrats
Soil moisture measurements
Salinity measurements
Elevation data
Alternating quadrats
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10 m
20%
incline
0m
10%
incline
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Project 8: Above and below investigation
Marisa, Tracy, Liz, Nandini, Wally
Question:
Do similar plants that grow on the West side of the Bodega Marine Laboratory vary in root
length and biomass from those growing on the East side?
Hypotheses:
#1 – The ratio of above ground biomass/root biomass differs in plants from site #1 (East) and
site #2 (West).
#2 – The plant roots on the east side (site 1) will have deeper roots and less biomass, the plants
on the west side (site 2) will have more biomass and be less deep.
Data table:
Distance away
from coast
West Side (ocean
side: Site #2)
East Side (Horseshoe
Bay: Site #1)
8 inches
8.7 inches
Root length
7.7 inches
5 inches
Weight of plant
19 grams
24.5 grams
Weight of root
3 grams
18 grams
Height of plant
5m
Height of plant
9m
17m
19m
2 inches
12 inches
Root length
10 inches
9 inches
Weight of plant
12 grams
70 grams
Weight of root
7.75 grams
20 grams
Height of plant
18.5 inches
17 inches
Root length
6 inches
12.5 inches
Weight of plant
10 grams
12 grams
Weight of root
5 grams
5 grams
Height of plant
16 inches
16.5 inches
Root length
19+ inches
7.5 inches
Weight of plant
304 grams
39.5 grams
Weight of root
230 grams
17 grams
Results:
Our data supports both hypotheses.
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Project 9
Brenda, Elizabeth, Ellen
Question:
Do plants that grow in clusters have smaller or
shallower roots than plants that are spread out?
Hypothesis:
Plants in clusters would have shallower roots.
Procedure:
1. Identify plant
2. Mark location
3. DIG!!!
4. Draw and measure
5. Record
6. Replant!
Data tables:
Plant
Yarrow
Poppy
Plant
Yarrow
Poppy
Location
Location
Height above
ground
Root depth
below ground
3 paces from edge of bluff
43 cm
4 cm
2 paces from edge of bluff
38 cm
1 cm
22 paces from edge of bluff
41 cm
13 cm
3 paces from edge of bluff
36 cm
1 cm
2 paces from edge of bluff
23 cm
1 cm
22 paces from edge of bluff
39.5 cm
1 cm
Direction
of Root
Diameter
of root
3 paces from
edge of bluff
230 degrees
< 1 cm
Long root growing sideways
2 paces from
edge of bluff
150 degrees
< 1 cm
Smaller roots growing out of central root;
many stems coming off one root
22 paces from
edge of bluff
190 degrees
< 1 cm
Roots pointed away from edge of bluff;
did not go deep into dirt
3 paces from
edge of bluff
Could not
determine
2.5 cm
Long root growing sideways; smaller
roots growing out of central root
2 paces from
edge of bluff
Could not
determine
4.6 cm
Many stems coming off one root; this root
that twisted underground but did not go
deep into dirt;
22 paces from
edge of bluff
Could not
determine
3 cm
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Description
of root
Seven flowers growing off each root
Results:
The yarrow, which appeared from the surface to be many plants spread out, turned out to be
one large plant with many stems far apart. The roots of all 3 yarrow plants studied grew approximately 3 cm downwards, then made a 90-degree turn and continued growing parallel to
the ground, away from the ocean, for an undetermined distance. We were unable to measure
the full lengths of the roots without causing serious disruption to the habitat.
The poppies, which were also selected as plants that grow “spread out” rather than clustered,
also turned out to be single plants with many distant stems (up to 7) sharing a single root.
The roots of the poppies only grew to a depth of ~1 cm and then began winding. We were surprised by the thickness of the roots and began taking data on the root diameters. One poppy
root had a diameter of 4.6 cm!
Conclusion:
Our investigation was modified due to time
constraints, however, we did find some interesting information about the yarrow and
poppy, both of which can grow without other
plants of the same species nearby. We can conclude that (1) neither the poppy nor the yarrow
have deep roots/require much depth to grow;
(2) both have substantial root structures (underground mass is significantly greater than
above ground mass) that grow parallel to the
ground; (3) both plants’ root structures support multiple stems with flowers.
New questions:
1. Do yarrow and/or poppies in other habitats have similarly shallow root structures?
2. How do the nutrients in the top 1– 4 cm of the coastal prairie compare to the soil deeper
down?
3. Do other flowering plants in the coastal prairie have shallow roots?
4. Do any have deeper roots?
5. Do other plants (other samples of yarrow and other species) have roots that grow away
from the ocean?
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