Alyssa: I think that this project was really very enriching for me. The planning process for the the project was different from what we usually do as instead of having specific experiments aisgned to us, we were only given a few vast topics that covered just about everything and we were supposed to think of the experiments ourselves. However, despite this small challenge, I still thoroughly enjoyed this SIA and feel that it has really expanded my knowledge on the impacts of acid rain on our environment. Although the use of vinegar does not give us and exact picture of the harmful effects of acid rain, it still helped to draw a rough picture in my mind. Thus I am thankful for this opportunity as it really does change the way I observe and treat our environment from now on.
Carlen: I feel that this SIA was truly a wonderful opportunity for me to get to know our environment better. Through the research done for this SIA and the carrying out of the experiment, I feel that I now better understand what acid rain is and just how harmful it can be. Before we carried out the experiment, I didn't realise how potentially destructive it could be. However, when I saw the effects of vinegar on some of the plants, I understood just how real the acid rain problem was and that if we want to protect the environment, we really have to do something to prevent acid rain. I hope we get more such SIAs as I am really appreciative of the benefits I gain though it.
Ye Ju: Through this science SIA, I was able to gain a deeper understanding of the effects of acid rain on our environment, especially on plants. By substituting vinegar as the source of acidic water, we monitored the growth of the plants closely every day, and started adding vinegars after letting the plants grow for the first five days. The results we got were rather horrifying, for the plants which received vinegar seemed to be very weak. This taught me the importance of reducing the forming of acid rain, for it would bring about much harmful turns to our surroundings. By this project, I was able to see the impact of the acid water on plants with my own eyes, and learned the importance of protecting our environment.
Monday, 21 May 2012
Background understanding of the environment
Our research on how the acidity of water affects plants can be related on a much larger scale to acid rain and it's impact on the environment such as rainforests. In some parts of the environment, acid rain is a huge factor that contributes to the harming of our ecosystems. Their effect is very destructive and long lasting. Acidic water ruins plants nutrients, Hurting the plants' ability survive and thus give life to other organisms. Many agencies are already involved in the prevention of acid rain and have even started programmed and laws to further prevent the occurrence of acid rain. Below are some links and articles related to agencies work on acid rain:
Egerejeen.wordpress.com/2012/02/25/efforts-to-control-acid-rain-and-international-agreements/
http://www.ec.gc.ca/air/default.asp?lang=En&n=F5CBD0BB-1
http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/reducing/index.html
http://www.ypte.org.uk/environmental/acid-rain/1
By conducting this project, we hope to better understand and get a rough idea of just how much the world is being hurt by acid rain. However, as using acid in our experiment is very dangerous and could be harmful to us, we decided not to take the risk and instead use vinegar, which contains acetic acids, as it still can show us a small aspect of the way acid rain is impacting our environment.
The reason why we chose to put our data in a table instead of a bar graph or something else was because we felt that this was the best and most appropriate method of expressing our data. The table shows clearly our findings and the height changes of the four plants without it being too cluttered or confusing like it might be if we used a dot graph. Also, as we do not have that many readings, we felt it would be more concise and direct to put it in a table.
Summarising the data:
The plants which were given vinegar did not grow as healthily as those which were given water. This shows that acid rain does have an impact on plants such as-- slower growth, injury, and even death. Although there are other factors contributing to the formation of acid rain, our experiment has determined that liquid of smaller pH than 7 (acidic) does affect the growth of plants negatively, hindering their growth.
Nowadays, with pollution getting more severe by the day, acid rain is being formed rapidly. It causes acidification of lakes and streams and contributes to the damage of trees at high elevations. Sulfates and nitrates even contribute to visibility degradation and harm public health. Thus, this has to be put to stop and all of us have to play our part so as to reduce the forming of acid rain.
The plants which were given vinegar did not grow as healthily as those which were given water. This shows that acid rain does have an impact on plants such as-- slower growth, injury, and even death. Although there are other factors contributing to the formation of acid rain, our experiment has determined that liquid of smaller pH than 7 (acidic) does affect the growth of plants negatively, hindering their growth.
Nowadays, with pollution getting more severe by the day, acid rain is being formed rapidly. It causes acidification of lakes and streams and contributes to the damage of trees at high elevations. Sulfates and nitrates even contribute to visibility degradation and harm public health. Thus, this has to be put to stop and all of us have to play our part so as to reduce the forming of acid rain.
Organising the data:
The heights of plants in containers A and C decreased an average height of 3.5cm after vinegar was added to them. The stems of plants in containers A and C were weak and the plants could not stand upright.
whereas
The plants in containers B and D continued to grow healthily, increasing an average height of 2.5cm with water given every day. The stems of the plants in containers B and D were strong and the plants were still upright.
The heights of plants in containers A and C decreased an average height of 3.5cm after vinegar was added to them. The stems of plants in containers A and C were weak and the plants could not stand upright.
whereas
The plants in containers B and D continued to grow healthily, increasing an average height of 2.5cm with water given every day. The stems of the plants in containers B and D were strong and the plants were still upright.
Addressing known errors:
1. The amount water that the plants first received every day for the first 5 days might have been different.
2. The amount of sunlight each plant received throughout the entire experiment might have been different.
3. The amount of vinegar that plants in containers A and C might have been different.
4. The heights of the plants taken might not be accurate.
5. The sizes of the four containers were different.
6. The experiment was only carried out on one type of plant.
1. The amount water that the plants first received every day for the first 5 days might have been different.
2. The amount of sunlight each plant received throughout the entire experiment might have been different.
3. The amount of vinegar that plants in containers A and C might have been different.
4. The heights of the plants taken might not be accurate.
5. The sizes of the four containers were different.
6. The experiment was only carried out on one type of plant.
Sunday, 20 May 2012
Results!
Table of results
Containers
|
Height of plant/cm
|
||
Day 5
|
Day 6
|
||
A (with vinegar)
|
10
|
8
|
|
B
|
10
|
13
|
|
C (with vinegar)
|
8
|
3
|
|
D
|
10
|
12
|
|
 |
| The stems of plants in containers A and C were weak and the plants couldn't stand upright. whereas the stems of the plants in containers B and D were strong and the plant was still upright and healthy. |
 |
| picture of the plants |
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