Oyster Project by Lewison, Charlotte (Student)

The Oyster Emergency

slewisonc — 2025-06-06 20:32:25 UTC

Oysters are facing a serious problem because the ocean water they live in is becoming more acidic, which makes it harder for them to grow and maintain their shells. This is happening due to an increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This causes more CO₂ to dissolve in seawater, forming carbonic acid. As a result, the ocean is changing and is becoming more acidic and less favorable for shell-forming organisms like oysters to survive. This causes harm to oysters because the acidic water reduces the availability of carbonate ions, which are essential for building their shells. We should care about this problem because oysters play an important role in marine ecosystems and support fisheries that many communities depend on.

Stakeholder Perspective

slewisonc — 2025-06-06 20:33:06 UTC

Hi, I am a Poultry Farmer. I raise chickens for meat and eggs, and I rely on clean air, water, and a healthy environment to keep my animals healthy. Oysters may not be part of my business, but I understand how a damaged ecosystem can affect the food chain, local industries, and even my community’s economy.

When I think about possible solutions, I need a solution that addresses ocean acidification without impacting land-based agriculture like mine. I’m interested in solutions that help the environment overall, not just one part of it.

I also face constraints, such as needing to keep costs low and making sure any new environmental regulations are fair and doable for farmers like me. I can’t afford huge changes that don’t relate directly to poultry farming.

I think the proposed solution of putting egg shells in the ocean could help because i can donate the egg shells from my chickens and then get the oysters back.

It meets the criteria because it’s a sustainable way to solve it and i can provide the egg shells which is a full circle win win opportunity

Even with my constraints, I could support this if we work together across different types of farms and industries to find win win solutions for everyone.

Chemistry to the Rescue

slewisonc — 2025-06-06 20:33:28 UTC

the crushed eggshells that aren't used by the farmers or are damaged can be donated and crushed up and sprinkled in the ocean. this would give the oysters the right chemicals to build their shell by giving them more CaCo3 and it would speed up the shell building process due to collision theory. since there is more CaCo3 there is more collisions occuring between the oyster shells so it can get the chemicals, it needs to build its shell quicker.

Reflection

slewisonc — 2025-06-06 20:33:40 UTC

In this unit, I learned that chemistry is connected to environmental problems like CO2 in the atmosphere and how it affects oysters in the ocean. I really enjoyed coming up with our own solutions for the problem because it's interesting how many different ways we can solve problems with chemistry and save the planet from pollution It was interesting to learn about sustainable chemistry, and I liked how we got to analyze real world examples of how chemistry can help solve environmental challenges. like the oysters dying and who is affects and what solutions are the most possible, i liked it because it made me think of how many people need oysters to make a living and how you could profit off of these people's needs if you came up with a good solution for the dying.