The Effect of Acid Rain on Plants Susan Base, Jessica Best, Amy Crook, and Tya Dawson

Materials greenhouse 5 half flats 180 bean seeds Acids of varying pHs Distilled water - to serve as a control Soil Soil Digital camera - to record appearance Digital camera - to record appearance Rulers to record growth (height in cm) of the plants Rulers to record growth (height in cm) of the plants

Research Questions 1. How will different concentrations of acid affect the growth and appearance of bean plants? 2. At what rate will each group of plants deteriorate? 3. What is the ideal acidity of liquid for the bean plants to thrive? 4. How does this relate to acid rain in our environment?

Research Questions 1.The lower the pH level the more damage caused to the plants.

Research Questions 2. Deterioration: the decline in the health and growth of the plants in the specified tray. Control: most successful pH-1: least successful of the acid groups Nitric: most successful of the acid groups

Research Questions 3. The ideal acidity would contain pH levels between 5 and 7, similar to that of water.

Research Questions 4. Serves as a model to acid rain to our because the higher acid concentration the less likely plants would be able to survive

The Five Groups of Plants

Control Group: Tray 1 Distilled Water BEFORE

Control Group: Tray 1 Distilled Water AFTER

pH -1 : Tray 2 BEFORE

pH -1 : Tray 2 AFTER

pH 1 : Tray 3 BEFORE

pH 1 : Tray 3 AFTER

pH 4 : Tray 4 BEFORE

pH 4 : Tray 4 AFTER

pH5 : Tray 5 BEFORE

pH5 : Tray 5 AFTER

Descriptive Statistics by solution

Bar Chart of Solution and Appearance

Final Appearance

Final Height Measurements

Methods/Process  Watered/Measured on November 12th,16th,19th,22nd  Solutions measured in designated squirt bottles  Same person measured her designated tray.  Only one person took photographs to ensure appearance accuracy  We will first calculate the amount of acid to add to the distilled water to obtain the desired pH.

Hypothesis based on our process  The concentration of the acid used to water the plant will be inversely proportionate to the height of plant growth  The higher concentrations of acid will cause the leaves to turn yellow or be smaller than the leaves of the plants that have been treated with lower concentrations of acid.  The plants' rate of deterioration will depend on the concentration of the acid within water  The plants treated with the higher acidic pH levels will deteriorate more quickly than those with lower pH levels.

Acid Rain on a larger scale  acid rain is a huge contributing factor to the harm of ecosystems.  Acid rain is generally made up of acidic gases that have dissolved in rain- water.  Rain-water usually has a pH level of about 5  Acid Rain usually has an average pH level of 4.4, but it can be lowered to 4 or even 3 due to the acidic gases in the environment.  These gases are generally the pollutants of energy companies and other highly polluting sources in our environment.

Acid Rain Prevention SO2 emissions from power stations can be reducedSO2 emissions from power stations can be reduced Alternative energy sources such as hydroelectric, wind, solar, and geothermal powers can be used instead of burning fossil fuelsAlternative energy sources such as hydroelectric, wind, solar, and geothermal powers can be used instead of burning fossil fuels Anything that consumes less energy overall should be usedAnything that consumes less energy overall should be used