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Extreme Habitat Energize Me!

Honors Biology Ms. Leffel

Name: Partners: Period: Due Date:

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The Future is Ours

Housing Construction 451 Building Way E · Baltimore, Maryland · (410) 555-5555 · future@housing.com

___________________________________________________________________ Wednesday, November 6, 2013 SeaHawk Research 201 Central Ave, East Edgewater, MD 21037 410-956-5600 To Whom It May Concern: As the world population continues to grow, resources and living space will become scarce. With the help of technological advances, humans are investigating living in areas that only a few years ago would be considered uninhabitable. The Future is Ours housing company is planning for the future and wants to purchase land which may become livable in the future. We would like for your research team to study extreme environments and select one to design a man made habitat that people could live in. Some possible extreme environments:

Antarctica

Mariana Trench

Atacama Desert

Mars

Cueva de los Cristales Sincerely, Sam Future President, The Future Is Ours

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MEMO

SeaHawk

Research

To: All Researchers Re: Extreme Environment We have been hired by The Future Is Ours Construction Company to work on their upcoming research project (see attached letter). We will design a man made habitat in an extreme environment which can support human life. Project Requirements: Each group will:

Create either a 3D scale model or floor plan of your man made habitat that addresses each of the needs below.

o Protection from the environment o Photosynthesis o Cellular Respiration o Waste Removal o Human Needs (Sleeping, Food, Water, Comfort, any other needs, specific to your

environment, that humans may have)

Label each component of the model or floor plan, using the following label:

Component Name:

Explanation: (Explain how it functions. What does it do and how does it do it? What purpose does it serve?)

Need(s) it Addresses:

Each individual student will:

Develop a flow map which shows the flow of carbon through your habitat.

This will count as an assessment and should be completed individually, in the students’ own words. There is zero tolerance for plagiarism.

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Grading Rubric: Model/ Floor Plan

CATEGORY 10 8 6 4 2

Plan Model/ Floor plan is neat with clear functions for all components.

Model/ Floor plan is neat with clear functions for most components.

Model/ Floor plan provides clear functions for most components

Model/ Floor plan does not show functions clearly or is otherwise inadequate.

Model/ Floor plan does not allow for human life.

Function Structure functions extraordinarily well, meeting all needs and anticipates additional needs.

Structure functions well, meeting all needs.

Structure functions pretty well, but does not meet needs completely.

Fatal flaws in function with many needs left unmet.

Does not meet or explain how to meet any needs.

Con-struction

Great care taken in construction process so that the structure is neat, attractive and follows plans accurately.

Construction was careful and accurate for the most part, but 1-2 details could have been refined.

Construction accurately followed the plans, but 3-4 details could have been refined.

Construction appears careless or haphazard. Many details need refinement.

Could have been done on the bus.

Labels All components are labeled (using provided format), with an excellent description of what the component does and how it does it.

All components are labeled (using provided format), with a good description of what the component does and how it does it.

Most components are labeled (using provided format), with a good description of what the component does and how it does it.

Most components are labeled (using provided format), with a fair description of what the component does and how it does it.

Few components are labeled (using provided format), or poor description of the component.

Livable Conditions

All needs for humans in the extreme habitat are met.

Most needs for humans in the extreme habitat are met.

Some needs for humans in the extreme habitat are met.

Few needs for humans in the extreme habitat are met.

No needs for humans in the extreme habitat are met.

Total: /50

Grading Rubric: Carbon Flow Map

Cycle is complete, tracing carbon as it moves through the habitat /5

Reflects components actually found in the model/ floor plan /5

Explains how each process occurs in order to cycle carbon /5

Clearly illustrates the inputs and outputs for each process, where the inputs come from, and where the outputs go

/5

All components are neatly labeled, clear, understandable, relevant, and include an original illustration showing the process.

/5

Total: /25

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Habitat Research Sheet Habitat Name and Location:

Extreme Conditions (which make it hard to live in):

Possible Energy Sources: o Sunlight o Methane o Lava o Other

Things That Live There Now: o Plants o Animals o Bacteria o Other

How Will You: Protect humans from the environment? Produce oxygen? Recycle carbon dioxide? Remove Waste? Meet human needs? Sleeping Food Water Comfort Other

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3: Energize Me Name: Chemosynthesis Article Class: Date: What is Chemosynthesis?

Chemosynthesis is a process certain organisms use to obtain energy for the production of food, akin to photosynthesis, but without the use of sunlight. The energy comes from the oxidization of inorganic chemicals that the organisms find in their environment. The process occurs in many bacteria, and in another group of organisms known as archaea. The life forms that use this method to obtain energy are found in a variety of environments, including soil, the intestines of mammals, petroleum deposits, and in extreme conditions, such as around hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. They are adapted to circumstances which may have been commonplace billions of years ago, leading some scientists to theorize that they may be direct descendants of the earliest life on Earth. What Environments Support Chemosynthesis?

Hydrothermal vents are among the planet’s most remarkable environments. They consist of steams of hot, chemical-rich water pouring out from the ocean floor from geologically active vents. Diverse ecosystems are supported by chemosynthetic microorganisms which live in and around these deep-sea vents. These microbes include bacteria and archaea, a very ancient group of organisms. Archaea are superficially similar to bacteria, but very different from bacteria genetically and chemically.

The hot water produced by the hydrothermal vents is very rich in sulfates, which the microbes use for chemosynthesis. Some microorganisms, known as

methanogens, produce methane as a by-product of this process, which they use as an energy source. Other chemosynthetic organisms may also use this methane as an energy source, producing sulfates as their by-product.

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Chemosynthetic life forms provide the foundation for larger communities of organisms near hydrothermal vents, similar to photosynthetic organisms on land. These chemosynthetic organisms not only act as a food source for larger organisms, but they also form important symbiotic relationships with other organisms. One interesting example is the tubeworm, which starts life with a mouth and a gut, which it uses to take in large numbers of chemosynthetic bacteria. At a later stage, it loses it mouth, and continues to survive by consuming food produced by its internal bacteria.

Chemosynthetic microorganisms have been found in hot springs, which they survive by the oxidation of sulfur or ammonia. They have also been found in rocks deep below the Earth’s surface, where they obtain energy by oxidizing iron. Chemosynthesis also takes place in more familiar places. For example, in soil, nitrifying bacteria convert ammonia into nitrites and nitrates, while methane generating archaea can be found in marshes and swamps, in sewage, and in the intestine of mammals. What are some Possible Uses for Chemosynthesis?

Nitrifying bacteria in the soil provide useable nitrogen for plants. Without them, plants and animals could not exist. Evidence supports that the earliest life forms on Earth used chemosynthesis to make organic compounds from inorganic compounds, thus making Earth habitable for other life forms.

Scientists have suggested a number of ways in which chemosynthetic organisms can be put to good use. For example, they could be used to generate methane for fuel. This could be burned to power engines or to create electricity. Since many of these organisms live on chemicals that are toxic to humans, and release harmless by-products, they might also be used to detoxify certain types of poisonous waste. Does Chemosynthesis Take Place on Other Planets?

The ability of these microbes to survive in extreme conditions has earned them the name “extremophile,” and led scientists to believe that these life forms may exist on other planets. Experiments suggest that some chemosynthetic extremophiles may survive and grow beneath the surface of Mars, leading to the traces of methane found in the Martian atmosphere. Another possible location for these life forms is Jupiter’s ice covered moon, Europa. It is thought that liquid water exists under the thick layer of ice that covers Europa.

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3: Energize Me Name: Landfills Article Class: Date: Parts of a Landfill

Bottom liner system - separates trash and subsequent leachate from groundwater

Cells (old and new) - where the trash is stored within the landfill

Storm water drainage system - collects rain water that falls on the landfill

Leachate collection system - collects water that has percolated through the landfill itself and contains contaminating substances (leachate)

Methane collection system - collects methane gas that is formed during the breakdown of trash

Covering or cap - seals off the top of the landfill

The Methane Collection System

Bacteria in the landfill break down the trash in the absence of oxygen (anaerobic) because the landfill is airtight. A byproduct of this anaerobic breakdown is landfill gas, which contains approximately 50 percent methane and 50 percent carbon dioxide with small amounts of nitrogen and oxygen. This presents a hazard because the methane can explode and/or burn. So, the landfill gas must be removed. To do this, a series of pipes are embedded within the landfill to collect the gas. In some landfills, this gas is vented or burned. More recently, it has been recognized that this landfill gas represents a usable energy source. The methane can be extracted from the gas and used as fuel. In the North Wake County Landfill, a company collects the landfill gas, extracts the methane, and sells it to a nearby chemical company to power its boilers.

A methane collection pipe helps capture the hazardous gas.

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3: Energize Me Name: Algae Bio Fuel Article Class: Date: Professor Juergen Polle is packing up his laboratory on a sweltering morning in New York City, but the beakers and test tubes aren't going on summer break. The professor of biology at Brooklyn College has run out of funds for his research, and is shutting down his lab until a new round of funding can be found. Polle joins some of the top minds in the nation working to find an alternative for oil -- and he's placing his bet on algae.

"We cannot fly planes with ethanol. We need oil. And algae can make oil as a drop-in replacement for fossil fuel," Polle told CBSNews.com on a recent tour of his lab.

Proponents find algae appealing because it can be grown in salt water. The race to find a sustainable alternative to oil has mainly focused on other types of biofuels, like corn-derived ethanol or vegetable oil, but these options compete with food crops. What makes algae ideal is that it can be grown in non-arable land. And while it burns carbon dioxide (CO2) like fossil fuels, it requires CO2 to photosynthesize, making it carbon neutral.

So much confidence was placed on the green alternative to oil that the U.S. Energy Department has made several investments in algae research. President Obama touted the potential algal biofuel in a 2012 speech, when he announced $30 million in funding for similar research.

Polle says researchers are faced with the trial and error of developing a new process or finding a new way of using algae. His research mainly focuses on finding the most productive strain of algae, and testing how they grow in different environments.

"It's the first time, and the first time is always more expensive than if I repeated that process," Polle said. "And all of the errors that are made, they are expensive."

Professor Paul Falkowski, director of Rutgers Energy Institute, says the plight to replace fossil fuels is a battle of man versus nature.

"When we take petroleum out of the ground, we are buying a resource that was created millions of years ago and we don't pay for it. We're using nature's inventory of carbon," Falkowski told CBSNews.com on a tour of Rutgers University's Institute of Marine and Coastal Science.

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Rutgers, which is one of the largest algae research centers in the nation, is taking a different approach to making algal biofuels competitive with petroleum. Falkowski's team is working to genetically modify plant cells to create a more efficient and productive way to derive oil from the autotrophic organism.

"What I'm trying to do here is make algae make oil for us, 1 million times more efficiently -- to compete with the product that's in the ground," Falkowski said.

Petroleum currently costs about $100 a barrel, while algae oil is about $300 a barrel. Falkowski believes the primary challenge algal biofuels face is economics. Either the fuel would to have to be subsidized by the government, or the price of petroleum would have to go way up to make algae oil a cost-effective alternative.

"Economics doesn't trump nature, nature trumps economics," Falkowski said. "We can't put carbon dioxide back into the ground faster than we can extract it. But we sure as hell can make fossil fuels go away. It's only a matter of will power, it's not a matter of know-how."

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3: Energize Me! Name: Carbon Flow Map Class: Date:

1. Draw the Sources of Carbon Here 2. Draw the Uses (Sinks) of Carbon Here

3. Draw a line that connects the source and the sinks. Some sources may be going to one

or more sinks, and vice versa. 4. Label each line with the process that connects the source and sink (or vice versa)

Chemosynthetic Bacteria (underground)

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Use the habitat that you designed to create a carbon flow map. It should reflect the structures actually found in your habitat. This will be your rough draft.

1. Draw the Sources of Carbon Here 2. Draw the Uses (Sinks) of Carbon Here

3. Draw a line that connects the source and the sinks. Some sources may be going to one

or more sinks, and vice versa. 4. Label each line with the process that connects the source and sink (or vice versa). 5. Once you have completed your draft, create a flow map like the one at the bottom of

the first page. It should be neat, colored, and following the rubric given with the project (back of your unit packet).

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Group Agreement:

o We understand that as a group, we will all receive the same grade for the group project portion of this assignment.

o We understand that work on this project should be equal for all group members. o We understand that ANY sources used (even those provided my Ms. Leffel) are to be

cited, and there is zero tolerance for plagiarism. This includes copying from other students, copying and pasting ANY words from a website, the text book, or any other source (even with citation – verbatim or strongly paraphrased).

o We know that some time will be given in class to work on this project, but not enough to complete the project. Therefore, we plan/expect to work on this project outside of the classroom.

o We are aware that the project is due on __________, regardless of student absence. We also know 10% off per day (not class meeting) late will be removed, as it applies to the group and individual portions.

o We understand that we may not interrupt Ms. Leffel’s classes to hand in a project; this will result in a loss of 5% from the final grade. We know to hand it in at the beginning of the day, NEST, or at the end of the day.

o On the due date, we will provide a printed copy for handing in. We will do so independently of Ms. Leffel.

o We understand that we will be graded according to the project rubric found in this document. Additional copies are available for students at www.srhsbio.wikispaces.com.

If we are unclear about any of these concepts, we will seek out Ms. Leffel ahead of time for clarification.

Group Member Names (print neatly) Signature