Portland Daphnia E Fair Ideas for Science Fair Projects

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Name: Megan
Grade Level 7th

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of acid rain on the survival rate of daphnia.  

I became interested in this idea after I went on a field trip to Portland, Oregon and learned a great deal about acid rain and how it destroys living things.  

The information gained from this experiment could help factory owners and managers become aware that pollution from their factories causes damage to the food chain for water animals. Also it could let wildlife biologists better understand the effect of acid rain on freshwater plankton like daphnia.

HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis was as the concentration of acid in the water increases; the survival rate of the daphnia will decrease.

I based my hypothesis on a movie I watched on the Internet. The movie explained; when sulfur dioxides and nitrogen oxides mix with sunlight, oxygen, and water it creates acid rain. Then when the acid rain falls to earth, it may kill forests, lakes, animals and many more things depending on how much of the pollution mixes with sunlight, oxygen, and water.

EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were:

•  Species of daphnia
•  Age of daphnia
•  Housing method for daphnia
•  Number of daphnia in each test group
•  Test containers’ size and type (Petri dishes)
•  Amount of acid/water mixture used for each test
•  Temperature of the acid/water mixture
•  Amount of time daphnia were observed following introduction of acid
•  Observation method (jeweler’s loupe)
•  Light, temperature, and humidity of test environment
•  General testing procedure

The manipulated variable was concentration or pH of the acid/water mixture the daphnia were subjected to.

The responding variable was the percentage of daphnia surviving at 15-minute intervals following introduction of the acid/water mixture.

To measure the responding variable I used a jeweler’s loupe to observe the daphnia for a heartbeat and counted the number of living (surviving) daphnia in each group for 15 minutes.

MATERIALS

PROCEDURES

1. Get Petri dishes ready.  
2. Use an eyedropper to get 10 Daphnia out of the jar.
3. Put 25ml of H20 into a Petri dish.
4. Set timer for 15mins.
5. After every 5mins check and see how many Daphnia have still survived.
6. When 15mins are over use the Jewelers loupe to count how many Daphnia survived.
7. Record your data.
8. Put the lid back on the Petri dish and label it control group.
9. Take another Petri dish and add 5ml sulfuric acid into it.
10. Use an eyedropper to get 10 Daphnia out of the jar.
11. Pour 20ml H20 (including the water you got from taking the Daphnia out of the jar) into the Petri   dish.
12. Repeat steps 4-7.
13. Put the lid back on and label it 5ml sulfuric acid 20ml H20.
14. Take another Petri dish and add 5ml of the group labeled; 5ml sulfuric acid 20ml H20.
15. Use the eyedropper to get 10 Daphnia out of the jar.
16. Add 20ml H20 (including the water you got from taking the Daphnia out of the jar) into the Petri dish.
17. Repeat steps 4-7.
18. Put the lid back on and label it 5ml (5ml sulfuric acid 20ml H20) 20ml H20.
19. Take another Petri dish and add 5ml of the group labeled; 5ml (5ml sulfuric acid 20ml H20) 20mlH20.
20. Use an eyedropper to get 10 Daphnia out of the jar.
21. Add 20ml H20 (including the water you got from taking the Daphnia out of the jar) into the Petri dish.
22. Repeat steps 4-7.
23. Put the lid back on and label it 5ml (5ml of 5ml sulfuric acid 20ml H20) 20ml H20.
24. Take another Petri dish and add 5ml of the group labeled; 5ml (5ml of 5ml sulfuric acid 20ml H20) 20ml H20.
25. Use an eyedropper to get 10 Daphnia out of the jar.
26. Add 20ml H20 (including the water you got from taking the Daphnia out of the jar) into the Petri dish.
27. Repeat steps 4-7.
28. Put the lid back on and label it 5ml (5ml of 5ml sulfuric acid 20ml H20) 20ml H20.
29. Clean and rinse things used thoroughly.  

RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to determine the effect of acid rain on the survival rate of daphnia.  

The results of the experiment were the less acid you put on the Daphnia the more survived. Every time I took 5ml of the test I just did the less acidic it was. The strongest acid I used was 4. 5. 5 of the 11 Daphnia had died. The least acidic only I Daphnia had died.  

CONCLUSION

My hypothesis was that the concentration of acid in the water increases; the survival rate of the daphnia will decrease.

The results indicate that this hypothesis should be accepted. The more acid I used in the water the fewer Daphnia survived.  

Because of the results of my first experiment, I wondered if I had used a different test organism would there be different results.  

If I were to conduct this project again I would test the daphnia longer. Maybe for 24 hours instead of 15-30mins. Abstract

Portland daphnia e fair ideas for science fair projects continues at Oregon water topics for science fair projects.