Uses of waste products in the
sea
School name: Saint Catherine Academy
Address: 6 Hutson Street. Belize City, Belize
Phone Number: +501 223-4908/223-1758.
Fax: +501 223-0057.
Group Members: Elodia Ochaeta
Monica Flowers
USE OF STEM
This project has all the elements of the S.T.E.M. Science is used in knowing if the algae
will react with the component so the soils can be more fertile for plants to grow faster. Filtering a
lgae and other objects is another way science is used. Technology is used in the machines used i
n the various activities such as pumping water, filter, and other machines. It incorporates Mathe
matics by distributing certain amount of algae depending on its weight for the generation of elect
ricity and fertilizers. Engineering is involved when the machines will be connected together for a
smooth flow of the process. Those were the ways S.T.E.M was incorporated into this project.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT AND IMPACT
The community most certainly is involved in the progress of the project. The students and
teacher of the school would be involved by them using the algae as fertilizers for plants being gr
own on campus. The school can also sell to the public for them to also part take in the project. Th
e school will be using the electricity generated which indicates their involvement. This project wi
ll benefit the school, the community and the ecosystems of the sea. It will benefit the school by t
hem not spending money in fertilizer for their plants, and the electricity will lower the bills of the
school. The community will be benefited by cheap organic fertilizers provided by the project whi
ch is better than artificial fertilizers. The ecosystems will benefit the ecosystems greatly because
the elements cause the pollution will be removed. This will cause the ecosystems to flourish whic
h can cause tourist to be come to the city for the vast ecosystems as well as industries can be ben
efit but the fish population increasing. Another possible anticipated event would be that the peopl
e who swim in that water will be clean to avoid illnesses and diseases. It will be much more save
r for the citizens of Belize City.
References
http://www.oilgae.com/algae/use/use.html
http://www.biomara.org/schools/Lesson%205%20-%20uses%20of%20algae.pdf
THE COMPETITION
In this project of using algae from the sea to fertilize plants and generate electricity, the m
ain sources will the sea. Most of the activity will be done at shore. The Southern Environmental
Association co-manages protected areas such as Gladden Spit and Silk Caye Marine Reserve, the
Sapodilla Caye Marine Reserve and the Laughing Bird Caye National Park in the southern parts
of Belize. Other organizations such as are involved in conserving the coral reef and it ecosystem,
but they don't realize is that the polluting waters near the shore of Belize City is contributing to t
he destruction of the coral reef and ecosystems. Cruise ships and hotels are dumping their garbag
e without realizing the many fishes put at danger. Many ask themselves why is our sea so dirty w
ithout realizing that they input in the pollutions of the sea yet they complain about the sea being
unclean. There is no set organization who has actually been involved in cleaning and preserving t
he beautiful sea by the shores of Belize City. Yes, students or volunteers of schools have been cr
eating programs to clean the shores but not the sea itself. This project's goal is not to just clean th
e Caribbean Sea near us but to reuse the polluting substances as well as algae to reduce the abund
ant pollution. This project can generate electricity as well as be used for fertilizers for plant. This
project can be and will be beneficial for both the ecosystems in the sea but also us, humans.
RESOURCES NEEDED
Major Resource
Pump
Filter machine
Pipe (sewage)
Electricity convertor
Containers for algae to be place
Cost
Donated
A worker to separate larger obj
ects such as shoes, bottles etc .
Someone to install various mac
hines
Over two thirds of Earth's surface is covered by water; less than a third is taken up by
land. As Earth's population continues to grow, people are putting ever-increasing pressure on the
planet's water resources. In a sense our oceans, rivers, and other inland waters are being
"squeezed" by human activities—not so they take up less room, but their quality is reduced.
Poorer water quality means water pollution. Water seems to be a superabundant natural resource
on the planet earth, and we as humans are taking advantage of it; therefore, we chose to
investigate the pollution in our sea near shore. Many hotels, ships and even people are dumping
waste in the sea as well as garbage. But what if there was a machine? A machine that can take
the polluting elements from the water and using the residue collected from filtered water for
environmental purposes. For instance, taking dead algae, this is a simple nonflowering plant of a
large group that includes the seaweeds and many single-celled forms, collected from the residue
to fertilize soil and used to produce petrol, food supplement, medical uses, beauty products, etc.
The other objects collected will be reused or recycled, and this will help fishes not to be trapped
in objects such as bottles, shoes etc. This will surely be very helpful for our coastal environment
and help our ecosystems grow near our coast.
Steps to Produce Bioethanol
1. A macro alga is chosen because it has high sugar content.
2. The macro algae is cut up and treated. It appears like sludge and it is now called
feedstock.
3. Micro-organisms called Yeast are added to the feed-stock mixture in a machine. The
feedstock is changed by the yeast to ethanol and other components. This process is
called fermentation.
4. The ethanol is separated from the other components and filtered. The bio ethanol can
now be used with petrol.
Fertilize Soil
1. The material was gathered.
2. Loam soil was mixed with algae
3. A bean was placed into the loam soil with algae and one was placed in the loam soil without any
fertilizer.
4. The bean tress was carefully observed for 3 weeks.
5. The height of the beans tree was measured.
The purpose of doing this mini experiment was to see if the plant will grow faster if it is fertilize by
algae.
The difference between the different types of algae is that Planktonic algae are singlecelled, microscopic plants which are distributed worldwide. Blooms can be bright green, pea
soup looking or even a blood red color. It will grow in ponds with higher levels of calcium and
phosphorus. It is common to have this type of algae encouraged after ponds are limed to enhance
fish production.
Attached-erect algae are non-rooted but dense. It typically has a gritty and bristly texture
and is not much use to the overall pond health; whereas, Blue-Green algae is often the biggest
culprit when it comes to "pond scum" problems. Blue-green algae are nitrogen-fixing organisms
and only need nitrogen and carbon dioxide to live, both very prevalent in most ponds.
An alga poses a problem to your pond health when you have too much algae and during
algae blooms. During the photosynthesis process when plants use sunlight and carbon dioxide to
produce food, they give off oxygen. Photosynthesis is a good process for your pond. The plants
are using carbon dioxide and giving off oxygen which is needed for your fish, the decomposition
of organic matter, and other processes within your pond. However, photosynthesis only occurs
when there is sunlight. As the sun goes down, plants turn from oxygen producing organisms to
oxygen consuming organisms. Therefore, the more aquatic plants and algae you have in the pond
or body of water, the more oxygen they will give off during the day and the more they will
consume during the nighttime hours. As the night goes on, the oxygen levels continue to
decrease. The lowest levels of oxygen will be just before sunlight in the morning before the algae
and plants start producing oxygen again. If your pond has too much plant life, the oxygen levels
can decrease to the point that large fish struggle to live.
While algae have its negative effect it is important for several reasons such as: Green
algae are producers. They catch the sunlight that penetrates the water while they absorb nutrients
from the water and produce sugar and oxygen just the way their larger land loving cousins do.
Algae can become so dense that they can clog pipes and can be scooped up almost like seaweed.
Most fish eat algae as at least part of their diet. Other single cell and simple organisms depend on
algae for protection and food. The oxygen produced by algae supplements the oxygen absorbed
at the surface of the water to keep a steady supply for water-breathing creatures.
Excess oxygen produced by the huge quantities of algae and other aquatic flora finds its way into
the atmosphere to help maintain the 20% or so of atmospheric oxygen that land creatures,
including humans, need to live.
Microscopic algae are the source of much of Earth's oxygen. Algae are also very
important ecologically because they are the beginning of the food chain for other animals.
Phytoplanktons, a mostly single-celled type of algae, are eaten by small animals called
zooplankton that drift near the surface of the sea.
Nitrogen fixing fresh water algae fixes Nitrogen directly from atmosphere & makes it
available to agricultural land. Algae take in all types of elements & compounds that are dissolved
in water & help to build their cells. Hence, it can be used as a bio assay test organism. They are
used as food matter by many aquatic animals & when dead, it forms detritus which again is
consumed by many filter feeders & particulate matter consuming organisms. They fix in large
amount of carbon-di-oxide either diffused through atmosphere or that made available in the form
of bicarbonates in aquatic media & give out Oxygen in return.
Dead algae which would be used in this experiment can be used for Humans use algae as
food, for production of useful compounds, as bio filters to remove nutrients and other pollutants
from wastewaters, to assay water quality, as indicators of environmental change, in space
technology, and as laboratory research systems
The purpose of doing this experiment is to clean the seashore while providing
beneficial ways to help the community improve on their carbon foot print as well as reducing
water pollution.
TIME TABLE
MATERIALS
TIME IT WILL TAKE
set up the pump for the water
filter
To set the electricity generator
The selling of and the using of the algae as fertilizer
1-2 days
1-2 days
1-2 hours
1 week