Bottom Dwelling Ecology of the Graham Cracker Marine Reserve. . .

A Biofilm Plate Simulation!


... and a scrumptiouis one, at that.

This lab was, for me, some much-needed fun. 

Using background knowledge that we've acquired in this class, such as that of benthic organisms and the substrate, as well as learning about some new things about the spawn of certain shellfish and biofilms, the class created a simulation of a well-known marine science experiment.

In the experiment itself, a plexiglass plate is suspended in the ocean with a biofilm layer over it upon which organisms can settle and cling.

Our graham crackers were, in theory, much tastier than plexiglass (though I am not too fond of the food).  The biofilm, however, was quite good: frosting!



This shows the first stage of growth in the experiment.

The LifeSaver gummy represents the bolt used to secure the plate in the experiment, and the sprinkles show the settlement of red coralline algae, diatoms, and barnacles.

My little frosting marine life center was slightly short on species (apparently all of the coral and oysters went floating on by into the sea, as is represented by sprinkles missing the cookie).

Also, there were not enough of any of them to merit the gain of a marshmellow (a fully matured organism).

Thus, the second stage of the experiment looked remarkably similar to the first.