Vernier Sensors Featured in JASON Expedition to Panama

How do you measure the air temperature and relative humidity in the rainforest canopy when howler monkeys are throwing sticks at you? It’s easy! Use Vernier and Texas Instruments equipment! That’s what the JASON Foundation chose to use on their January 2004 expedition to Barro Colorado Island (BCI) in the Panama Canal. Research scientists, students, and teachers gathered to explore and study this unique and beautiful island, managed by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute. Vernier and TI employees accompanied the expedition to Panama, providing on-site training and support. Students gathered temperature, relative humidity data, light level, pH, CO2 gas and O2 gas concentration data. The durability, portability, and kid-friendliness of the equipment made it easy for them to collect data from the forest floor to the top of the canopy. Dr. Robert D. Ballard founded the JASON Foundation in 1989 after receiving thousands of letters from school children wanting to know how he discovered the RMS Titanic. The JASON Foundation is a non-profit educational organization working in partnership with teachers, students, corporations, educational institutions, and government to inspire in students a lifelong passion to pursue learning in science, math, and technology through exploration and discovery. Coming up next—JASON Expedition: Disappearing Wetlands. Check it out at http://www.jason.org and discover the impact of JASON and Vernier's cooperative alliance.

Dr. Robert Ballard shows a student how to use a Vernier CO2 Sensor in the Panamanian rainforest. Students using Vernier CO2 Sensors to study leaf litter on the forest floor. An ice bath was used to vary the temperature of the experiment.

Try It Yourself: Leaf Litter Experiment
The decomposition of plant material is a very important part of the brown food web. The microbes that decompose dead leaves and other forest floor detritus provide nutrients for new plants to grow. CO₂ gas is one of the products of this process. In Panama, students used a CO₂ Gas Sensor, Vernier LabPro, and a TI graphing calculator to measure the amount of CO₂ gas being produced by leaf litter. Once the CO₂ production rate was clear, they varied the temperature and the moisture content, and found very interesting patterns emerging. You can do the same thing in your home ecosystem.

General Procedure

1. Prepare a Vernier CO₂ Gas Sensor, LabPro, and TI graphing calculator, computer, or Palm handheld.
2. Collect a handful of leaf litter and place it in the CO₂ chamber.
3. Collect data for 5 minutes.
4. Determine the CO₂ production rate by calculating the slope of the resulting graph.

Extensions
Vary the temperature by placing the chamber in various water baths.
Vary the moisture content by adding known amounts of water to the chamber.