| Explore | |
|---|---|
| Research Question | How does acid rain affect the germination and growth of radish seeds? |
| Predictions | -The acid will either cause the seed to germinate faster because it will destroy the outer shell OR the acid will be too strong for the seed to handle and it will kill the seed -If the seed does germinate, we predict that there will be some deformities with the seed such as unusual colour, unusual shape or possibly if it were harvested it would not taste normal |
| Experimental Design | We will ask our question “How does the acidity of precipitation affect the growth rate and speed of germination of a radish seed.” We begin to test our hypothesis “The seeds will germinate faster and the acid will cause the plant to become deformed” We will select radish seeds as our seeds. 2)We will soak the radish seeds and then place them in our growth chambers, which will be the bottle’s edge method as described in the student package, which will be made from the bottom of water bottle. To construct a growth chamber: Get a plastic water bottle and cut off the top half Layer the bottom of the bottle with paper towel Mark out even spaces for each seed using a pencil Place between 10-30 seeds in each growth chamber Lastly, we will place sand in the bottom of the bottle to keep the paper towel in place. 3)there will be three separate growth chambers containing radish seeds. A)one chamber (labelled “con” ) will contain radish seeds, that will receive a regular amount of sunlight, water and oxygen. B)The next chamber (labelled “exp 1”) will contain radish seeds the will receive a regular amount of sunlight and oxygen as well as a diluted solution of acid. (this is how we will test the effect of acid rain on plants this way. C)the last chamber (labelled “exp 2”) will also receive regular amount of sunlight, oxygen as well as a less dilute solution of acid. ** the experimental groups will receive acid through the paper towel (by the bottles edge method)** 5) As the seeds grow we will monitor any changes (rate of germination by sprout showing) (rate growth by height of stem) within the experimental chambers that are unnatural in reference to the control group as well as continuing to acid/water/care for the plants 6) We will make observations on the speed of growth as well as how the experimental radishes grow. |
| Conclusion | In conclusion, our experiment was set up to test how the acid rain affects the growth and germination of plants. The results of our experiment suggest that the higher the acidity of a substance being administered to a radish seed will make it germinate faster than average and grow taller than average, average being the speed and height of the control group. The results suggest this because our pH 2 group, the one with the highest acidity, germinated the fastest and grew the tallest. We could have more experiment groups to test all levels of pH on radish seeds or we could test the same levels of pH (2 and 4) on different kinds of seeds to see the tolerance levels of other producers. Both of these experiments could further our understanding of the effects of acid rain on producers. |
| Investigation Theme | WOS |
| Grade Level | High School Students (Grades 9,10,11,12) |
| School Name | Orillia Secondary School |
| Session | Spring 2017 |
