Daphnia and Water Pollution Science Fair Projects

Temperature Experiments

When you work on science experiments that involve the variation of temperatures you need to make sure that you are able to control and monitor your temperatures. In water experiments you will need a tank heater and a water based thermometer. You will also want to monitor the filtration of the heat or the light sources that the water is exposed to.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of different kinds and amounts of pollutants on the survival rate of daphnia.

I became interested in this idea when I heard about how easy it is to contaminate water and how polluted some bodies of water may be. So, I thought it would be fun and interesting to study it further.

The information gained from this experiment might help people understand how polluted water may become and the effects it has on human life and wildlife.

HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis was that oil would reduce the survival rate of daphnia more than the other pollutants used in my experimenting.

I base my hypothesis on an article about water pollution in The World Book Encyclopedia that said: "Oil spills pollute water and damage beaches. Oil coats fish, birds, marine mammals, and other aquatic life, killing them." Below in another paragraph, it said: " Pesticides can be harmful to humans and wildlife."

EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were:

• amount of daphnia
• amount of pollutants
• kind of water
• amount of water
• Petri dishes
• jeweler’s loupe
• percentage of pollutants

The responding variable was the percentage of the daphnia that survive in the various pollutants.

To measure the responding variable I will count the daphnia that are still alive in the Petri dishes.

MATERIALS

Daphnia water polluiton science fair projects continues at daphnia vs pollution organic science fair projects.