Module 1: Bioremediation

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The Exploring Florida Science modules are designed to help teachers improve their content knowledge and more effectively communicate science concepts to their students. The modules focus on technology-rich science content and teaching materials that allow educators to simultaneously address multiple strands in the Sunshine State Standards for Science. Suggested lesson plans offer ideas for how teachers can incorporate these concepts in their classrooms.

Bioremediation uses living organisms to clean up or remove pollution from soil or water. Bacteria and plants can degrade or neutralize a wide variety of contaminants.

This 3 minute video clip provides an introduction to the subject of bioremediation and the content of this module. The featured scientist explains what bioremediation is, and she describes her research. Her research focused on developing a new method to improve the cleanup of contaminated soils. This video also provides an overview of the elements contained in this module and suggestions about how they can benefit students. (The video may take a moment to load.)

A text transcript of the video is available here.

Scientist’s StoryBack to top

The Scientist’s Story feature of this module shows how the featured scientist became interested in a career in science. From childhood through college and then graduate school, she has always been curious about how the natural world works. If desired, this feature can be projected in the classroom.

Content, Lessons, Activities, and ExperimentsBack to top

These resources include authentic hands-on and inquiry activities for secondary students related to this module. Teachers are invited to adapt these ideas to meet the needs of their students and their educational context.

From Contamination to Beautification: Ferns Remove Arsenic From Soil

Available for teachers: [Fern html (teacher version)] [Fern pdf (teacher version)]

Available for students: [Fern html (student version)] [Fern pdf (student version)]

Fern plants have been found to accumulate the metal arsenic in their leaves, and they have been proposed as a method to clean up soil contaminated with arsenic. This activity presents data sets from a research lab investigating the nature of the ferns’ arsenic uptake and the possibility of using ferns to clean up arsenic-contaminated soil. Each data set is followed by a question and answer set to guide student analysis of the data.

Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA)

Available as: [NAA pdf] [NAA PowerPoint]

How can scientists measure the concentration of arsenic in ferns? One method is neutron activation analysis (NAA). NAA is a technique used to measure the concentrations of elements in a sample. NAA can very accurately determine the concentrations of 74 different elements. This short (16 slides) PowerPoint presentation uses photographs to explain how NAA works.

Phytoremediation of Copper in water using Indian Mustard Seed

Available as: [Copper html] [Copper pdf]

While some plants will tolerate growing in soil containing high concentrations of metals, mustard and cabbage plants actually accumulate large amounts of metals in their biomass. Mustard plants are known to accumulate copper. This lab simulates the cleanup of coppper-contaminated groundwater with mustard plants. Students will grow mustard seedlings in copper-containing water and measure copper concentrations daily to follow the removal of copper from the water.

Bioremediation of Manufactured Gas Plant Sites

Available as: [Bioremediation html]

This document contains information about the bioremediation of contaminated soils and is intended to help teachers improve their content knowledge of bioremediation. Background information addresses the question of whose responsibility it is to clean up pollution. The story of how soil can come to be polluted is explained by the history of manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites. MGP sites are industrial sites which were active during the 19th and early 20th centuries. The final part of this document discusses the research of the featured scientist, Dr. Sabrina Powell. She investigated a technique to improve the cleanup of contaminated soils at MGP sites. The text shows the application of the scientific method to a real-world problem.

Video: Fuel Spill Cleanup in Union County, Florida

This video shows a field trip to an environmental clean-up site in Union County, Florida. A leaking underground storage tank (LUST) at a gas station was discovered to be contaminating area soils and groundwater. Engineers had to design equipment capable of removing the fuel contamination. The Department of Environmental Protection oversees the clean-up and monitoring process which utilizes 34 recovery wells, pumps, and bioremediation. Over a million dollars has been spent on this project. It was estimated that the clean-up project would take about four years, but after more than twelve years of monitoring the process continues. The video runs for 9 minutes.

External Resources and Web Sites

A variety of bioremediation-related web sites and other external resources have been identified. To access these resources, click here. To see external hands-on activities and experiments, click here. These web sites and resources are stored using del.icio.us, a social bookmarking website.

Digital ResourcesBack to top

Teachers and students have access to an extensive library of digital resources for this module and a wide range of science and social studies topics. These resources include maps, photos, clip art, video and virtual reality panoramas. The list below gives a sampling of the types of resources available.

• Tree distribution maps
• Non-Carbonate Hardness of Water from Floridan Aquifer, 1975 map with link to Water Hardness entry.
• Predominant Constituents of Dissolved Solids, 1975 map with link to Dissolved Solids in Water from the Upper Part of the Floridan Aquifer in Florida entry.
• Orthophosphate Load in Pounds per Mile Squared, 1975 map with link to Generalized Distribution and Concentration of Orthophosphate in Florida Streams entry.
• Estimated Water Use in Florida, 1965 map with link to Estimated Water Use in Florida 1965 entry.
• Hillsborough EPA Superfund Sites, 2008 map. (Puzzles and KMZ to be added Sunday afternoon.)
• Sinkholes of Hernando County, Florida, 1948 to 2007 map. (Puzzles and KMZ to be added Sunday afternoon.)
• Floripedia Sulfate Concentration in Water entry (map not yet posted).
• This menu offers a dozen water quality maps.
• Sample stereoview of Devil's Millhopper sinkhole. (Other stereoviews, virtual reality movies, and still photographs to follow.)

FCAT ConnectionsBack to top

These pdf files contain multiple-choice FCAT practice questions related to the content of this module. Question sets are targeted for grades 6-8 and grades 9-12.

Grades 6-8

Available for teachers: [FCAT questions pdf] Available for students: [FCAT questions pdf]

Grades 9-12

Available for teachers: [FCAT questions pdf] Available for students: [FCAT questions pdf]

Sunshine State StandardsBack to top

The Bioremediation Module focuses on topics from biology, chemistry, physics and earth science, touching on sources of pollution, cleanup of contaminated soil, and an experiment to improve a cleanup method as an application of the scientific method to a real-world problem. The associated Sunshine State Standards are listed here for grades 6-8 and 9-12. Lists of the standards with benchmarks are provided as PDF files for each grade range. The standards listed first are the original 1996 standards, and the 2008 standards are listed below.

Grades 6-8 (1996 Standards)

Strand A - The Nature of Matter

1. The student understands that all matter has observable, measurable properties. (SC.A.1.3): BM 5

Strand C - Processes that Shape the Earth

2. The student understands the need for protection of the natural systems on Earth. (SC.D.2.3): BM 1, 2

Strand G - How Living Things Interact with the Environment

2. The student understands the consequences of using limited natural resources. (SC.G.2.3): BM 1, 2, 3

Strand H - Nature of Science

1. The student uses the scientific processes and habits of mind to solve problems. (SC.H.1.3): BM 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Grades 9-12 (1996 Standards)

Strand A - The Nature of Matter

1. The student understands that all matter has observable, measurable properties. (SC.A.1.4): BM 5

Strand C - Processes that Shape the Earth

2. The student understands the need for protection of the natural systems on Earth. (SC.D.2.4): BM 1

Strand F - Processes of Life

1. The student describes patterns of structure and function in living things. (SC.F.1.4): BM 1, 5, 7

Strand G - How Living Things Interact with the Environment

2. The student understands the consequences of using limited natural resources. (SC.G.2.4): BM 4, 5. 6

Strand H - Nature of Science

1. The student uses the scientific processes and habits of mind to solve problems. (SC.H.1.4): BM 1, 3, 6, 7

2. The student understands that most natural events occur in comprehensible, consistent patterns. (SC.H.2.4) BM 2

3. The student understands that science, technology, and society are interwoven and interdependent. (SC.H.3.4): BM 1, 2

Grades 6-8 (2008 Standards)

Big Idea 1: The Practice of Science

SC.6.N.11, SC.6.N.1.2, SC.6.N.1.3, SC.6.N.1.4, SC6.N.1.5

SC.7.N.1.1, SC.7.N.1.2, SC.N.1.3, SC.N.1.4, SC.N.1.5, SC.N.1.6, SC.N.1.7

SC.8.N.1.1, SC.8.N.1.2, SC.N.1.3, SC.N.1.4, SC.N.1.5, SC.N.1.6

Big Idea 3: The Role of Theories, Laws, Hypotheses, and Models

SC.8.N.3.2

Big Idea 4: Science and Society

SC.8.4.1, SC.8.4.2

Grades 9-12 (2008 Standards)

Body of Knowledge:

Nature of Science

Standard: The Practice of Science SC.912.N.1.1 - 1.6

Standard: The Characteristics of Scientific Knowledge SC.912.N.2.4

Standard: The Role of Theories, Laws, Hypotheses, and Models SC.912.N.3.1

Standard: Science and Society SC.912.N.4.1 - 4.2

Earth and Space

Standard: Earth Structures SC.912.E.6.2, 6.4, 6.6

Standard: Earth Systems and Patterns SC.912.E.7.1, 7.8

Life Science

Standard: Interdependence SC.912.L.17.13 - 17.20

Physical Science

Standard: Matter SC.912.P.8.6 - 8.7

Standard: Energy SC.912.P.10.11 - 10.12

MisconceptionsBack to top

Misconceptions or alternative conceptions are beliefs that are not scientifically accurate. The teacher’s roles include identifying misconceptions and then creating experiences in which students can explore their own ideas and adopt the correct concepts. Related to the science of bioremediation, students may have one or more of the following misconceptions.

• Throwing something away is always safe. When you throw something away, the waste stays where you put it.
• If something in the environment (air, water, soil) looks clean, it is clean.
• Bioremediation involves only plants and animals that you can see, rather than using bacteria and other microorganisms.
• The cleanup process is always able to achieve complete removal of a contaminant from the environment.
• Scientists are usually men. Scientists always work in a research lab by themselves.
• Scientific research does not have much to do with our daily lives.
• Science is a linear process, and it always results in a clear answer to the question being asked.

Now that you've finished you can take the post-test to evaluate your progress.

Support Materials

• Sunshine State Standards: Vestibulum congue interdum velit. Morbi quis diam vel enim adipiscing ullamcorper.
• Misconceptions: Integer sed purus in turpis sollicitudin adipiscing.
• FCAT Connections: Maecenas in est in diam pretium rhoncus.
• Lesson Plans: Nam eu turpis vel tellus condimentum consectetuer.
• Additional Resources: Donec quis neque at arcu tristique malesuada.

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