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Class Level and Curriculum Links
Junior Certificate Science
Leaving Certificate Biology:
1.5.2 Observation and Scientific Study of a Selected Ecosystem
1.5.6 Organism Role in Energy Transfer
Bog pool dipping (Junior Certificate Science students)
Fill a white basin with water from the bog pool. Dip the pond
net into the pool to catch animals
(macro-invertebrates) from three different habitats in the pond:
a) the surface and open water
b) pool vegetation at the edges of the pond
c) pool bottom
Empty the catch into a white basin. Sort the creatures out into smaller trays. Identify all of the animals found and note whether each species is a herbivore, carnivore, plankton eater or detritus feeder with the help of the bog pool bug dial provided in the resources section of this web site. Record the information in a table in your notebook. Make food chains and webs for the bog pool using this information. Return all the creatures to the pond when this activity is complete.
Quantitative Sampling of macro-invertebrates in the Bog Pool (senior Biology students)
Collect macro-invertebrates from the bog pool in two one minute sweep samples through the pool vegetation and in the open water just above the surface of the pool sediments using a standard pond net (mesh 5X300 microns).
Identify the macro-invertebrates caught to species groups such as dragonfly nymphs, water beetles, caddisfly nymphs etc and count the total number of each found in the sample. Record the information in the table below. Return all the creatures to the pond when complete. Use the information to make food chains and webs and to construct a pyramid of numbers for the pond.
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