Pollution vs Corn E Fair Ideas for Science Fair Projects

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Ages 10 thru College	Ages 12 thru High School	Age 8 and up

Name: Brian
Grade Level 7th
Awards: Mid-Columbia Science Fair. Distinction for Clarity of presentation. honorable mention at the Mid-Coumbia Science Fair. Washington State Science and Engineering Fair,second place.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of different water pollutants on corn.

I became interested in this idea when I noticed that all the plants my mother watered with tap water died very quickly.

The information gained from this experiment could benefit farmers, botanists, gardeners, and anyone who works with plants.

HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis was that antifreeze would be more damaging than deicer. 

My second hypothesis was that soap would be the least damaging. 

I based my hypothesis on a statement made by the national health association in an article about pollution danger, “Every year, between 1 and 10 billion tons of oil are spilt, killing many species and destroying the ecosystem in the area.”

EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were:
* The time the plants were planted
* The size the plants were when the experiment treatment began
* The amount of light the plants received
* The amount of water the plants received 
* The amount of potential pollutants the plants received 
* The trays the plants were grown in
* The type and amount of soil that was used 
* The planting depth

The manipulated variable was the type of potential pollutant that was given to the plants.

The responding variable was the biomass of the plants in each group.

To measure the responding variable I measured the biomass in grams with a thriple-beam balance

MATERIALS

PROCEDURES

1. Prepare you workspace.
* Find a workspace that is away from pets, children, and other animals.
* Remove all foreign objects from your work area.
* Place 4x5 piece of clear plastic over your workspace
2. To prepare the trays divide the trays into 4 groups and label one group control and the label the rest 1-3.
* Create a key that shows that 1= antifreeze 2=deicer 3=soap.
3. Fill the trays to 2 inches below the lip.
* Place five rows of five “sweet” corn seeds in each tray exactly 2 inches apart from each other and fill the cup with soil to 1 inch below the lip.
4. Next water each tray with 100 mL of distilled water.
* Repeat step four every other day until plants are exactly 4 inches tall.
5. Then once the plants are 4 inches tall mix in a beaker 30 mL of deicer and 270 mL of distilled water then label it mix one 
* Water group one with the beaker of mixture one
6. Repeat step 5 using antifreeze and soap for each corresponding group
7. Repeat step 5 and six for 3 weeks.
* After three weeks measure plants (in all groups) for biomass.
* Record data and compute. 
8. Clean workspace thoroughly and carefully.
* All contaminated soil and excess liquid must be handled appropriately.

RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of different water pollutants on corn.

I results of the experiment were the control group had a biomass of 31.8 grams. The deicer group was 43.2 grams. The biomass of the antifreeze group was 15.9 grams. The Soap group was 19.4 grams.

See the table and graph below.

CONCLUSION

My first hypothesis was that antifreeze would be more damaging than deicer. The results indicate that I should accept my hypothesis. 

My second hypothesis was that soap would be the least damaging.

The results indicate that my second hypothesis should be rejected. 

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if a different type of soap would have the same effect on the plants. I also wonder if the Ethylene glycol would be more harmful than Propylene glycol.

If I were to conduct this project again I would test wheat as well as corn and I would use more plants in my tests. I would also try to replicate this experiment after I had gotten my original results to be sure of my data. Abstract

Pollution vs corn e fair ideas continues at corny ideas for science fair projects.