Lab Name CO2 and photosynthesis
Subject Area Science
Grade 9-12
Topic Steps of the scientific method, photosynthesis and cellular respiration unit.
Experiment Title CO2 and photosynthesis
Hardware
  • COSMOS Toolkit: Computer Node
  • COSMOS Toolkit: Mobile Node
  • COSMOS Toolkit: IoT Nodes with sensors (i.e., temperature, humidity, polluting dust, luminocity, CO2)
Software
  • COSMOS Toolkit: Framework
  • Chronograf
Number of Sessions to teach the topic 5-6 periods (~2-3 pre experiment, ~2-3 post)
Educational standards to be addressed
  • Living Environment Standards
    • 5.1a The energy for life comes primarily from the Sun. Photosynthesis provides a vital connection between the Sun and the energy needs of living systems.
    • 5.1b Plant cells and some one-celled organisms contain chloroplasts, the site of photosynthesis. The process of photosynthesis uses solar energy to combine the inorganic molecules carbon dioxide and water into energy-rich organic compounds (e.g., glucose) and release oxygen to the environment.
    • 7.2b When humans alter ecosystems either by adding or removing specific organisms, serious consequences may result. For example, planting large expanses of one crop reduces the biodiversity of the area.
    • 7.3a Societies must decide on proposals which involve the introduction of new technologies. Individuals need to make decisions which will assess risks, costs, benefits, and trade-offs.
  • Common Core ELA/Writing/Math Standards
    • WHST.9-12.2 Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events, scientific procedures/ experiments, or technical processes. (HS-LS2-1),(HS-LS2-2),(HS-LS2-3)
    • WHST.9-12.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach, focusing on addressing what is most significant for a specific purpose and audience. (HS-LS2-3)
    • WHST.9-12.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. (HS-LS2-7)
  • LS2.A Interdependent Relationships in Ecosystems
    • Ecosystems have carrying capacities, which are limits to the numbers of organisms and populations they can support. These limits result from such factors as the availability of living and nonliving resources and from such challenges such as predation, competition, and disease. Organisms would have the capacity to produce populations of great size were it not for the fact that environments and resources are finite. This fundamental tension affects the abundance (number of individuals) of species in any given ecosystem. (HS-LS2-1), (HS-LS2-2)
  • LS2.C Ecosystem Dynamics, Functioning, and Resilience
    • A complex set of interactions within an ecosystem can keep its numbers and types of organisms relatively constant over long periods of time under stable conditions. If a modest biological or physical disturbance to an ecosystem occurs, it may return to its more or less original status (i.e., the ecosystem is resilient), as opposed to becoming a very different ecosystem. Extreme fluctuations in conditions or the size of any population, however, can challenge the functioning of ecosystems in terms of resources and habitat availability. (HS-LS2-2), (HS-LS2-6)
COSMOS concepts to be used for the lab
  • Transmission of data from sensors to an interface using wireless signals.
  • Use of WAN over LAN.
  • Creating remote wifi networks to collect and visualize data.
  • Future: Use of testbed capabilities to gather this data in realtime at a larger scale.
K12 Educational Goals (How the educational goals are achieved through teaching using the experiment, how the topic is connected to the COSMOS concepts used) Students learn about the relationship between CO2 and the rate of photosynthesis by gathering wireless data from sensors, and how this data will be transmitted through a wireless network to a graphical user interface. They will also learn how this technology will be further implemented as a wide-scale experiment onto the COSMOS testbed using the capabilities provided by it. Students present on their findings and how it can be implemented on a larger scale.
Short Description and Walk-through of the experiment
  1. Overview of equipment and experiment (Pre-experiment).
  2. Experimental design using the provided template (here).
  3. Experimental setup.
  4. Tracking experiment over 4 weeks:
    • Plant insertion in third week.
  5. Data analysis (Post-experiment).
  6. Presentation and extension to COSMOS for wider scale experimentation.
  7. HW: Relation to current events.
Testbed mapping of the experiment
  • Track how environmental variables like pollution affect CO2 concentrations in different parts of the city (plant-dense regions versus low plant density regions).
  • Relate to human impacts on the environment.
  • Track other variables that may come into play (air quality, O2 levels, luminosity levels).

Experiment Execution

To collect environmental measurements from nearby IoT nodes press START button. In order to terminate the experiment press STOP button.

Experiment Material

NGSS Lesson Plan
Worksheet
Scientific Work Sample

© 2018 COSMOS Project. Created by Patrick Callahan, Bronx Center for Science and Mathematics
Tamanna Shahid, Collegiate Institute for Math and Science.