Meeting Abstract

P2.50  Wednesday, Jan. 5  The Rich Benthic Community Found in Fish Tanks Is an Ideal Tool for Teaching Upper Level Biology Laboratories JENSEN, BH; The College of Saint Rose jensenb@strose.edu

There is a wonderful, mostly unnoticed, community living on the bottom of many fish tanks. This largely benthic community frequently contains representatives of seven different Phyla (Ciliophora, Platyhelmenthes, Nematoda, Rotifera, Annelida, Arthropoda, and Chordata). Additionally, it, like other benthic communities, is not static. Relative abundance of organisms varies, as does the richness of the community. I have previously described a lab activity to teach basic microscopy using these organisms, but the potential uses of this community far exceeds an introductory laboratory. The purpose of this poster is to further develop the uses of fish waste as a teaching tool, focusing on activities more suited to an upper division laboratory. I find that the use of fish waste in biology labs is advantageous on many levels, but most importantly, with some creativity, is can be used in an enormous number of ways, and the students show genuine interest in the activities. Although possible uses are endless, I describe characteristics of the community that make is suitable to teach, 1) manipulations of small invertebrates, 2) experimental design, and 3) isolation and culture of invertebrates. Beyond these three uses, I hope that further discussion of currently used labs will ultimately lead to the use of this community in new ways.