Winogradsky Columns: simple, elegant inquiry

This interdisciplinary activity mixes ecosystems, chemistry, and human health as it requires students to assess changes in dissolved oxygen that occur within Winogradsky Columns. An extremel... See More

This interdisciplinary activity mixes ecosystems, chemistry, and human health as it requires students to assess changes in dissolved oxygen that occur within Winogradsky Columns. An extremely thorough and detailed teacher's guide provides in-depth information about the bacterial reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+. The guide even includes sample observations that students are expected to note! This easy to perform experiment will help your students make connections between the processes of anaerobic respiration and iron reduction and the role that iron plays in arsenic-polluted water. Students can modify the simple protocol to conduct their own inquiries by introducing variables of their choice.