Micro- Organisms in the Gulf of Mexico

1. Micro- Organisms in the Gulf of Mexico By: Margaret

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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)

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 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.