Ecosystems: Biodiversity & Endangerment

Name: ____________________________________________ Date: _____________________

Day 7: Ocean Plastic Pollution Biological Magnification in the Food Chain Period: ________

LAB REPORT: INSTRUCTION SHEET
Beakers & Beads: Biological Magnification


DDT, one of the most widely
sprayed pesticides, is used to
kill diseased
mosquitoes and
agricultural
insects.














Overview: In this lab, we will create a model food chain and insert a chemical pesticide DDT into it to mimic how
biological magnification affects the food chain. Acting like a magnet for DDT, plastic ocean pollution absorbs the
chemical particles and can directly enter the food chain through animals that mistake plastic pollution for food. When
designing your food chain models, please use your prior knowledge of food chains and trophic levels to develop an
accurate species progression.


Materials:
Small, Medium, and Large Paper Cups (3:3:1)
Sand
Small Plastic Beads (4 for each cup)
Colored Pencils or Crayons
When DDT was sprayed, it drained into rivers and streams at low concentrations that seemed harmless. But
DDT has two properties that make it hazardous. First DDT is nonbiodegradable, which means that it is not broken
down by metabolic processes in bacteria, plants, or animals. Second, when DDT is picked up by organisms, they do
not eliminate it from their bodies. As a result, something unexpected happens. DDT is picked up, concentrated, and
stored by aquatic plants and algae. When herbivores eat those plants, they concentrate DDT to levels ten times
higher than levels found in plants! (Textbook Chapter 6-3: Biodiversity)
Ecosystems: Biodiversity & Endangerment


Pencil
Broom, Dustpan, Disinfectant Wipes
Beaker
Masking Tape

Directions:

1. You will work in pairs of two (2).
2. Use a pencil to punch five holes in the bottom of each paper cup. You should have three small, three medium,
and one large cup at your station. Please inform the teacher if you do not have the appropriate quantities.
3. Please tape over the outsides of the holes.
4. Assign a marine species for each of the cup sizes. Be sure to follow the food chain format, with the smallest cup
being a producer or herbivore and the largest representing a high-level carnivore. (A land example: small cups =
grasshoppers; medium cups = lizard; large cups = hawk).
5. Half-fill each cup with sand and four (4) beads. The sand represents food. The beads represent a chemical
pesticide, like DDT or PCB.
6. On your student recording sheet, hypothesize which of your food species will be most affected by the DDT, or
beads.
7. Hold each small cup over a beaker to catch the sand and remove the tape. The sand that flows out of the cup
represents digested food. Record the number of beads in each cup.
8. To model the effects of biological magnification on the medium cup species, empty the contents of the three
small cups into the medium-sized cup. Repeat step 7 with the medium-sized cup.
9. Empty three of the medium-sized cups into the large cup to model the large cup species eating the medium-s-
sized species. Repeat step 7 with the large cup.