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We're going to tie everything together by exploring the habitats that these organisms live in as well as how scientists do their work under the sea. By the end of this course, you will not only have a fantastic foundation in Marine Biology and Oceanography, but also have built your very own underwater exploring robot!

Lesson 17: Habitat Environments
Lesson 18: Exploration

Quick Links:
Marine Biology 1
Marine Biology 2

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Lesson 17: Habitat Environments

Imagine trying to build a home on sand, or where it gets flooded twice a day, or hammered on by waves! The types of animals you'll find depends on where you look on the planet.

The experiment we're going to do comes in two parts. The materials you need for both parts are:

  • four 2-liter soda bottles, empty and clean
  • 2 bottle caps
  • one plastic lid that fits inside the soda bottle
  • small piece of fruit to feed fruit flies
  • aluminum foil
  • plastic container with a snap-lid (like an M&M container or film can)
  • scissors and razor with adult help
  • tape
  • ruler
  • predators: spiders OR praying mantis OR carnivorous plants
  • soil, twigs, small plants

Fruit Fly Trap

In order to build this experiment, you first need prey. We're going to make a fruit fly trap to start your prey farm, and once this is established, then you can build the predator column. Here's what you need to do to build the prey farm:

Did you know that fruit flies don't really eat fruit? They actually eat the yeast that growing on the fruit. Fruit flies actually bring the yeast with them on the pads of their feet and spread the yeast to the fruit so that they can eat it. You can tell if a fruit fly has been on your fuit because yeast has begun to spread on the skin.

When you have enough fruit flies to transfer to the predator-prey column, put the entire fruit fly trap in the refrigerator for a half hour to slow the flies down so you can move them.

If you find you've got way too many fruit flies, you might want to trap them instead of breed them. Remove the foil buckets every 4-7 days or when you see larvae on the fruit, and replace with fresh ones and toss the fruit away. Don't toss the larvae in the trash, or you'll never get rid of them from your trash area! Put them down the drain with plenty of water.

Predator-Prey Column

You can use carnivorous plants, small spiders, or praying mantises. If you use plants, choose venus flytraps, sundews, or butterworts and make sure your soil is boggy and acidic. You can add a bit of activated charcoal to the soil if you need to change the pH. Since the plants like warm, humid environments, keep the soil moist enough for water to fog up the inside on a regular basis. You know you've got too much moisture inside if you find algae on the plants and dirt. (If this happens, poke a couple of air holes.) Don't forget to only use distilled water for the carnivorous plants!

Keep the column out of direct sunlight so you don't cook your plants and animals.

Download Student Worksheet & Exercises



Lesson 18: Exploration

People have wanted to explore the oceans, but it hasn't been until recently that it was possible. In the past ten years, engineers and scientists have even made it possible for kids to build their own underwater exploration devices to see what's out there, in the depths of the sea.

Aquascope

Tide pools are best observed undisturbed. But, they’re too shallow to snorkel… So how to can we explore them without removing their inhabitants? With an Aquascope! Aquascopes are very cheap and easy to make. With only a coffee can, some plastic food rap, and a couple of other items you can make a window into the world of tide-pools! In principle, aquascopes allow us to take a glass-bottom-boat tour of the rich ecosystems of tide pools. The plastic acts as the glass, while the coffee can allows us to break the distorting surface of the water.

  • gallon size plastic jug
  • plastic wrap
  • scissors
  • rubber band


Download Student Worksheet & Exercises

Underwater R.O.V. Robot

You are about to embark on the adventure of creating and operating your own ROV underwater robot. As with all Supercharged Science educational items, we want kids to discover that science isn’t in the special parts that come with a kit, but rather in the imagination and skill of the kid building it. We strive to avoid parts that are specially made just for a kit, molded plastic pieces, etc. and instead use parts that any kid could buy from the store. This means that kids can feel free to change things around, use their own ideas to add improvements and whatever else their imagination can come up with. So on this note, let’s get started.

Materials:

The parts you'll need are as follows:

Glue & Fasteners

  • Superglue (0.5 oz. bottle or more)
  • Hot glue gun and extra glue sticks
  • Tube of silicone sealant or caulking
  • Petroleum jelly (Vaseline)
  • 6 pcs. #6 x ½” stainless steel or brass sheet metal screws
  • 6 pc. #6 stainless steel washers
  • 10 pcs. 6” x 3/16” zip ties
  • Old newspapers to work on
  • Paper towels to clean up with


Frame Parts

  •  5 ft. of ½” schedule 40 PVC pipe (Have it cut into these pieces at the store)
    • 6 pcs. 1.5" long
    • 8 pcs. 4" long
    • 2 pcs. 6.5" long
  • 10 pcs. ½” schedule 40 PVC 90-degree elbows
  •  4 pcs. ½” schedule 40 PVC tee’s
  •  2 ft. of 2” schedule 40 PVC pipe (Have it cut into two 6" pieces at the store)
  •  4 pcs. 2” schedule 40 PVC end caps
  • 3 thruster housings (plastic vials like film canisters... something that the hobby motors can fit into snugly)
  • 3 pieces of 1” metal semicircular conduit straps (w/2 screw holes. 1” conduit)
  • 10” x 6.5” piece of plastic hardware cloth (1/4” squares) - it looks like a plastic mesh grid. If you have chicken wire on hand, then you can use that instead.


Electrical parts

  • Three 12V DC motors 
  • 3 thruster propellers (drill out with 3/32” holes) - boat propellers from a hobby store work great
  • 3 DPDT center-off screw terminal switches
  • Electrical tape (good quality) OR 2 pcs. #31 wire nut connectors
  • 30 ft. of “CAT-3” (or “CAT-5”) telephone/network cable (8-conductor or 4-pair, AWG 24)
  • Rectangular project box  (Approx. 4” x 6” x 3”)
  • 12V Battery (two 6-volt lantern batteries, an old motorcycle or car battery or an “automotive jump starter” rechargeable power source)


Tools

  • Wire strippers
  • Long nose pliers
  • Soldering iron & stand with solder
  • An electric drill
  • Assorted drill bits (Specifically: 3/32”, 1/8”, 1/4”)
  • Razor knife
  • Hack saw or PVC pipe cutter
  • Flathead screwdrivers
  • Scissors
  • #120 sandpaper
  • A ruler or measuring tape

 

Okay, so you’re ready to go.  Oh, a couple of notes.  First, if your thruster housings are not snug enough in the pipe clamps, just wrap electrical tape around them a few times to add a little bit of extra thickness.  One other thing.  You may choose to solder alligator clips to your battery wires to make them easier to connect.  Just clip the alligator clip on something large to open its jaws, slip off the rubber part and solder your wire on.

Happy Exploring!

Going Further



Reading

The best way to learn a new subject, like Marine Biology, is to immerse yourself completely. Here are resources to help you do just that:

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