Tenenbaum Gifts

From BioShock Wiki

For every three Little Sisters Jack rescues, Dr. Bridgette Tenenbaum will leave a gift at the Gatherer's Garden. Each gift contains 200 ADAM, plus the following items. If Jack rescues every Little Sister, the player will receive the gift at the level and specific Little Sister shown; otherwise it will occur later, as one rescues every third Little Sister:

1. Neptune's Bounty (1st LS): Hypnotize Big Daddy Plasmid; 12 Armor-piercing Pistol Rounds.
2. Arcadia (1st LS): Safecracker Gene tonic; 12 Electric Buck.
3. Fort Frolic (1st LS): Hypnotize Big Daddy 2 plasmid; 4 First Aid Kits.
4. Hephaestus (1st LS): 4 EVE Hypos; 6 Proximity Mines.
5. Olympus Heights (1st LS): Armored Shell 2 tonic; 12 Incendiary Bolts.
6. Apollo Square (2nd LS): Prolific Inventor tonic; 150 Liquid Nitrogen.
7. Point Prometheus (3rd LS): 100 Antipersonnel Auto Rounds; 4 First Aid Kits.

Players receive 160 ADAM per Little Sister if they Harvest, or 80 if they Rescue. Since Tenenbaum's Gifts appear at every third rescue, Jack would have had 480 ADAM if he harvested the three (3x160), but will get 440 ADAM for rescuing them (3x80 + 200). Therefore, each of the above gifts are worth 40 ADAM, though the extras (especially the Plasmids) make up for it. And perhaps also worth a clean conscience. Based on ADAM worth alone, these gifts more than make up for the slight loss in ADAM. Over the course of the game the player only looses 280 ADAM(compared to harvesting) and based on the price of other plasmids/tonics these are worth 2-4 times as much.(depending on play style and plasmid preference)

Note that if a gift is searched, it will disappear the next time it leaves the field of view, even if some of the items were at their max and thus didn't weren't picked up from the gift. Therefore, if there is something of interest, but the item is at it's max - such as if the player already has 6 Proximity Mines and would like to use them against a Big Daddy - do not search the gift yet. (It's alright to peek at it; just don't grab it yet.) Lay the Mines, then search the gift. One can also use the above list to plan ahead and, for example, not worry about getting low on EVE Hypos or First Aid Kits if they'll be gifted to the player soon.

If the player rushes out of a level before picking up a gift earned there, it will appear at the Garden on the next level.