Ocean Acidification and Oysters Lab

Explore this topic in an engaging manner through a classroom/laboratory activity, “Ocean Acidification and Oysters Lab”, created by Hilary Palevsky, UW Oceanography.

This activity will help your students explore how a change in ocean chemistry can affect the growth of marine organisms, specifically, oyster larvae.

Students will use actual data from the Whiskey Creek Hatchery in Oregon, USA, to plot graphs in MS Excel, and perform data analysis and interpretation.

A Classroom/Laboratory Activity, “Ocean Acidification and Oysters Lab” by Hilary Palevsky, UW Oceanography, University of Washington Program on Climate Change to explore and analyze the relationship between the growth of oyster larvae and the chemistry of ocean water (aragonite saturation state) by using actual data from the Whiskey Creek Hatchery in Oregon, USA.

  • First, download the contents from the link given below.

  • Read the content in the Oysters and Ocean Acidification Module (PDF file).

  • Conduct the activity described in Part 1 of the module (plotting and analysis of actual data by using MS Excel).

Optional: You may also perform the activities in Part 2 and Part 3, depending on the time available for teaching this topic.

Hilary Palevsky, UW Oceanography, University of Washington Program on Climate Change

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