Inquiry

Investigating Primary Productivity

Experiment #17 from Investigating Biology through Inquiry

In this Preliminary Activity, you will gain experience using a Dissolved Oxygen Probe as you measure the DO level of a water sample provided by your teacher. You will also learn how to calculate respiration rate, gross productivity, and net productivity using the light and dark bottle method.

After completing the Preliminary Activity, you will first use reference sources to find out more about primary productivity before you choose and investigate a researchable question dealing with primary productivity. Some topics to consider in your reference search are:

• primary productivity
  
• dissolved oxygen
  
• net productivity
  
• gross productivity
  
• photosynthesis
  
• cellular respiration
  
• respiration rate
  
• eutrophication