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1.14: Ecology

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  • Page ID
    225911
    • Sharbani Banerjee, Casey Barr, Joe Frantz, Melissa Graham, Tyler Wilson
    • Oxnard College

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    PROCEDURE 1: REFLECTION

    1. Starting from when you wake up, create a list of all the plastic items you used throughout the day. Then next to the item, put a star if the item is a single use container that would be thrown away after you’re done using it (such as a chip bag, yogurt container, etc.). Record your items in Answer Sheet 1.

    PROCEDURE 2: SYNTHETIC SAND

    In this activity, we will be looking at beach sand and what is commonly found in it. There are many things you might find in beach sand; some things are from animals and plants that live in the ocean or on the shore. Shells are hard material that some animals use to protect themselves. Plant pieces like seeds, sticks, and leaves are from land or water plants. Also, there are commonly protist materials such as seaweed. We can also find anthropogenic items (man-made) such as plastics, metals, glass, papers, and fabrics. Today we will be comparing two sand samples from two local beaches.

    Equipment we’ll need

    • Tweezers (4)- labeled oil, isopropanol, glycerol and water
    • 3 small beakers filled with either oil, isopropanol, or glycerol
    • Four sample collecting trays
    • 600mL beaker
    • 1 dropper bottle of acetone
    • Sand sifters/sieves
    • Sand samples from local beaches

    Part 1: Initial Observations

    1. Fill in Answer Sheet 2 to indicate where the sand samples were taken and your identification of the sample in this lab.
    2. Walk over to the sand samples. Fill the sieve with 3 beakers full of sand then gently filter the sand back into the bucket. Avoid creating large amounts of dust.
    3. Transfer all items collected by the sieve into one of the reusable sampling collecting trays.
    4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for the other sand sample.
    5. Record the initial identities and number of each item found in Answer Sheet 2.
      1. If the group is unsure of an item's composition, ask for the professor’s opinion. We will only further characterize the plastic samples found in sand.

    Part 2: Plastic Materials Identification

    1. Fill the 600mL beaker with water.
    2. Choose a piece of separated plastic material and place it into the beaker of water. Be sure to fully submerge the item in the water and gently let go of it from the tweezers. Make sure not to introduce any bubbles that would cause the item to float. Note if the material sinks or floats.
    3. Based on if the item sank or floated, transfer the piece of material to the appropriate beaker based on the next step in Figure 1 flowchart below.
      1. For example, if the material sank the next step is to transfer the piece to glycerol testing if it sinks or floats in this solution.
      2. Use the specific tweezers to transfer into for each specific solution.
    4. Follow the flowchart until identification is reached. Record the results in Answer Sheet 2.
    5. When finished with a piece of material, remove it from that beaker and place it on a separate reusable collection tray.
    6. Repeat steps 7 through 9 with all of the plastic materials separated from the beach sand.

    Clean up/Disposal

    1. Add the separated plastics to the large beaker on the instructor’s desk.
    2. Return the used beakers of different solutions to their original locations.. Return the dropper bottle of acetone.
    3. Pour water down the drain.
    4. Rinse tweezers, beakers, and collection trays. Place on the towel to dry.
    Flowchart of how to identify plastics materials. Dichotomous key used to aid in the identification of types of plastics in the lab.
    Figure 1. Flowchart of how to identify plastics materials from Algalita.

    Minimizing Plastics Usage Resources

    • Get active! Look into the events Algalita in Long Beach are hosting.
    • Educate others!
    • Avoid and reduce usage:
      • Shop used clothes and shoes
      • When buying new items, choose non-plastic options (ex. bamboo toothbrushes, metal water bottles, cloth grocery bags)
      • Go reusable and re-fillable! Stores like Sprouts sell products and foods in bulk- bring small containers or cloth bags to fill them
      • Shop local and at farmers markets

    Answer Sheets

    Answer Sheet 1: Plastics I used in one day

    Item #

    Thrown away?

    Description

    Answer Sheet 2: Identification of Plastics Found in Beach Sand

    Number of items/initial identity

    Identities – Beach Sample 1

    Identities – Beach Sample 2

    Licensing and Attributions

    This page titled 1.14: Ecology was last modified on Sat, 31 Oct 2026 00:05:54 GMT and is shared under a CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by Sharbani Banerjee, Casey Barr, Joe Frantz, Melissa Graham, Tyler Wilson.