EIR!!The Effect of Acid Rain on Seed germination
Name- Aaryan Murthy
Class- 10B
Teacher- Mrs. Ratna Subramaniam
Research Question- Investigating the effect of acid rain on seed germination?
Hypothesis- The radish seeds in the petri dish containing water, will survive, whereas the seeds containing vinegar will die. Acid rain kills plants and seeds, therefore destroying and concurrently preventing ecosystems from growing. By lowering the pH of aquatic ecosystems such as lakes or ponds for example, the acidity of the water increases and consequently fish eggs die and frogs cannot tolerate the water.
Variables-
I.V- Temperature, distilled water, Vinegar
D.V- Seeds
C.V- Type of seeds, Tissue
Apparatus-
* 20 radish seeds
* 2 petri dishes
* Paper towels
* Pipet x1
* 2 beakers
* PH test strips
* Distilled water
* Vinegar
* Sharpie marker
Procedure-
1. Obtain 2 plastic petri dishes with covers, some paper towels (2) and a permanent marker and 2 beakers- label each of the beakers: distilled water (control), vinegar (acid rain).
2. Tear or cut the paper towel so you have three layers that fit inside the bottom of each petri dish. Tear or cut two more layers, but do no put them inside of the petri dishes.
The Term Paper on Acid Rain 16
Acidic deposition, or acid rain as it is commonly known, occurs when emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) react in the atmosphere with water, oxygen, and oxidants to form various acidic compounds. These compounds then fall to the earth in either dry form (such as gas and particles) or wet form (such as rain, snow, and fog). Prevailing winds transport the compounds, ...
3. Obtain 20 radish seeds and divide them into two groups of 10. Place one group of the 10 seeds into the petri dish on top of the paper towel.
4. Obtain a beaker with distilled water. Using a pipet, carefully and thoroughly water the paper towels and seeds in one of the petri dishes. DO NOT WATER THE OTHER DISH. The towels should be thoroughly wet, but there should not be any standing water inside of the petri dish. Be sure that the seeds are spread evenly throughout the dish.
5. Take a picture of your seed and label it “control”.
6. Dampen on of the remaining pieces of paper towels and place it over the wet seeds. Using the permanent marker, label one petri dish cover “control” and write you and your partners names. Place the dish in the designated area.
7. Obtain some vinegar and pH paper from your teacher. Dip a piece of pH into the distilled water and compare it to the pH chart. The pH of the vinegar is 4. Now begin to add vinegar to the water one pipet at a time. Swirl the beaker with the pipet after each addition of vinegar. Continue this process until you have a pH of 4.
8. Repeat steps 4-6 using the “acid rain” and take a picture of it with a camera.
9. Check the two dishes for the next 5 days. Be sure to keep the paper towels in both dishes moist. (Make sure you use distilled water in the control dish and vinegar water in the acid rain dish).
Take a snapshot each day and label each picture with the day and “control” or “acid rain”.
Tabulation-
Number of days | Observation | Picture (Water) | Picture (Vinegar) |
1 | Distilled water = 6 seeds. Vinegar = 3 (swollen) | | |
2 | Distilled water = 6 seeds. Vinegar= 4 swollen | | |
3 | Distilled water = 7 seeds. Vinegar= 5 swollen | | |
4 | Distilled water = 7 seeds. Vinegar= 5 swollen | | |
The Essay on In Your Opinion Are Water Resources Over Or Undervalued In The United States
In your opinion are water resources over or undervalued in the United States? Water is the most important life element to humans after oxygen. Without water human can live only up to 3 days after which they would die. Today water represents a great and profitable industry for the fact that the producers of the main US soft drinks need water, as well as the ordinary citizen who use water for their ...
5 | Distilled water = 8 seeds. Vinegar = 5 swollen and 2 germinated. | | |
Conclusion- My hypothesis wasn’t supported because surprisingly the seeds containing vinegar germinated. From the data table above, we can see that there is an upward trend and a continual growth in the acid ‘controlled’ petri dish. A couple of questions that aroused to me when working on this experiment was what would happen to the germination when using a stronger acid solution? And what would happen to the growth of the plant as it grew and developed in an acidic environment?
Evaluation- I strongly feel that my method was reliable and valid. However, if I had the chance to conduct this experiment again, I would use different types of seeds because the ones we used weren’t too effective. I would also use a spray instead of a pipet to prevent the droplets from falling into the water dish.
