Algae in the Cupboard and Plankton Wars

Sooo it was Thursday, 2-17-11.  Mrs. Richardson, the best teacher ever, gave us a homework assignment. It involved going home and looking at the ingredients in everyday household items. The algaes we were looking for were beta carotene, carrageenan, and alginates. In V8 splash (a drink) i found beta carotene. In a blueberry nutri-grain bar, i found carrageenan and alginates. Another item was a fiber plus bar, that had the beta carotene. The final thing i found was a healthy choice soup, that had beta carotene.


On monday, as we entered 4th period, Mrs. Richardson told the class that we were going to do plankton wars! Everybody was excited and nobody knew what to expect. The task was to have your plankton float in the middle, but not at the top and not sinking to the bottom. She put people in groups of twos, my partner was Josh. We decided to go with a cupcake base and add things to it. We added weights, straws, sponges, and play doh. our plankton did't win because it had too many weights. Karen and Morgan won because there design weighed less and was bouyant. Brandon and Olivia won second place because they didn;t adjust theres and everybody else did. Our second creation would have won but it didn't count :/