1. Aquatic Plankton Project Proposal
Megan Barnard, Brianna LaFratta, Catherine Swinksy, and Kelly Tarmon

2. Background

3. Background

4. Background
Phytoplankton

5. Background
Wolkowicz, G. S., and Y. Yaun Effect of light on the growth of non-nitrogen-fixing and nitrogen-fixing phytoplankton in an aquatic system. Mathematical Biology 72:1663–1692.

6. Research Questions Hypothesis
Does sunlight affect the abundance of aquatic plankton?
Hypothesis
It is hypothesized that there will be a higher amount of aquatic plankton in the area with sunlight than the area in the shade.

7. Proposed Methods
The site we chose to gather our sample is a retainment pond near Buffalo creek.
Extraction will be from two different locations in the pond. The first spot will be in shaded area. The second spot will be in a sunny area.
Possibly thinking of observing over two days to finalize our speculations on the weather patterns for the pond.

8. Proposed Methods We will collect equal amounts of water.
Once the plankton is collected, we will keep them in separate specimen containers.
Next, we will count and interpret our findings under a microscope to collect data.
Data collection and interpretation: Temperature of water, the number of plankton, what type of plankton are found, how many plankton are found, etc.

9. Materials
Plankton Net

10. Materials
Microscope and Slides
Dissolved Oxygen Meter

11. Timeline -Gather information on Aquatic Plankton
-Take Samples at the retainment pond near buffalo creek
-Gather all Data(make figures, count plankton etc.)
-Write a formal research presentation to present
-Then we will write a final written lab report