Stimulating Understanding of Computational science through Collaboration, Exploration, Experiment, and Discovery for students with Hearing Impairments
a collaboration of the Shodor Education Foundation, Inc., Eastern North Carolina School for the Deaf, Barton College, the National Technical Institute for the Deaf, and Interpreters, Inc.

For Teachers!

The Effect of Medications on Daphnia

Overview:

Daphnia are small freshwater organisms that can be raised in the classroom. They also play an important role in ponds and streams. Environmental scientists use them the same way miners used canaries. Daphnia are very sensitive to pollution. therefore, if the scientist finds daphnia in a pond, it is probably a healthy pond. If there aren't any daphnia, then the scientist takes a water sample for analysis. Recently, the medications we take have been found in rivers and lakes downstream from sewage treatment facilities. In 8/02 Colleen Flaherty of the University of Wisconsin-Madison reported the effect of a cholesterol-lowering drug (clofibric acid) and an antidepressant (fluoxetine) on daphnia. The students will use a computer model to repeat this experiment. They will analyze the results and make recommendations for future research.

Goals and objectives: 

This lesson addresses these National Science Education Standards:

Human beings live within the world's ecosystems. Increasingly, humans modify ecosystems as a result of population growth, technology, and
consumption. Human destruction of habitats through direct harvesting, pollution, atmospheric changes, and other factors is threatening current global
stability, and if not addressed, ecosystems will be irreversibly affected. 

Student Prerequisites: 

Students need to be familiar with the use of a computer mouse.  

Materials Needed: 

Computers with STELLA, Excel and internet access or CD with this lesson.

If you use PCs you can down load a free zipped version of the model used in this lesson.

You will need to unzip the model. A free evaluation version of WinZip is available at http://www.winzip.com/ddca.htm.

If you use Macs you can down load a free compressed version of the model used in this lesson.

You will need to decompress the model. A free StuffIt Expander is available at http://www.stuffit.com/expander/

You will need STELLA to use the lesson. If your class doesn't have a copy of STELLA you can down load a free save disabled version.  

Developed by
The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.

Copyright © 1999-2001 by The Shodor Education Foundation, Inc.

This project is supported, in part, by the National Science Foundation Opinions expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the National Science Foundation.