Micro- Organisms in the Gulf of Mexico

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Micro- Organisms in the Gulf of Mexico

• By Margaret

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Our Experiment

• In class we got 4 tubes.
• Tube 1 Tube 2 Tube 3 Tube 4
• Indicator Indicator Water Water
• Oil Oil Oil Oil
• Water Microbes Water Microbes
• Microbes can be fungi or bacteria. In class we
  used a product called Rid-X. It was full of
  microbes.

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The Point of Our Experiment

• The purpose of the experiment is to SEE how
  microbes eat oil. We knew that the experiment had
  worked when the liquids turned pinkish-red. If
  you can remember, the microbes were put into tube
  numbers 2 4.

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Results
As you can see tube 2 was the one that proved our
Experiment worked.
Well, it actually happened in both tubes but you
only have proof that it happened in tube 2
because it had indicator ( tetrazolium)
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Food Chain

• We also learned about the food chain. If oil goes
  to the bottom of the ocean and it gets on things
  including detritus, (detritus is dead fish and
  animals in the ocean that have sunk to the bottom
  and decayed) Phyto- Plankton will eat that and
  die. Then the zooplankton eat them and die. Then
  the fish ( grazers) eat the zooplankton and die.
  Then 1st order carnivores, then the 2nd order
  carnivores, then top predators, and then us. So
  eventually everything/ one dies.
• Thank you Cause and Effect.

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Dead Zone

• A dead zone is where the microbes all have a
  party and they all eat the oil while using the
  oxygen to where there is no oxygen so when other
  animals swim in that spot well you probably know
  what happens after that. In order for microbes to
  eat the oil, it has to be broken into tiny pieces
  using dispersants. Microbes grow faster in the
  Gulf of Mexico as apposed to other oceans because
  it is warmer.

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• Well, you have all the facts I can give you so I
  hope you will try this at home ( with
  permission). I hope this power point brought you
  some knowledge and thanks for checking out this
  experiment.