Course Schedule

Veranstaltungen von Pia Bradler


Lehrveranstaltungen

Does it stay or does it go? Testing the effect of moss incorporation on nitrate leaching from soils. (FSL) (Seminar)

Dozent/in: Pia Bradler, David Walmsley

Termin:
 wöchentlich | Montag | 12:15 - 15:45 | 14.10.2024 - 31.01.2025 | C 12.006 Seminarraum

Inhalt: This module deals with the basic principles associated with performing a scientific experiment in the natural sciences. Experiments are performed as a means of addressing hypotheses and to what extent they can be accepted or rejected. Whilst most of you may have dealt with this basic scientific principle in theory, many of you probably have never actually performed a scientific experiment. This is not without challenges as we need to think carefully about how our experimental design can answer our hypothesis as well as any factors that may influence the outcome before we perform any experiment. In this course we will test the hypothesis that the incorporation of moss into soils will reduce the amount of nitrate that is leached from the soil. This is a timely question, as the movement of nitrogen (mainly in the form of nitrate) from the soils to the groundwater is a critical issue in many agricultural systems including those in Germany and especially Lower Saxony. We will conduct the experiment in groups starting from the underlying theory on which the hypothesis (and hypothesis testing) is based upon, leading on to the experimental design and finally conducting and analysing the experiment itself. The results of your findings are then to be presented in form of a “mini-paper” which forms your written assessment.