EFFECTS OF OIL SPILL ON ACQUATIC PLANTSEFFECTS OF OIL SPILL ON ACQUATIC PLANTS

Hypothesis

The Hydrilla (aquatic plant) in the beaker, with a layer of oil on the surface, will not be able to perform photosynthesis and will stop producing oxygen.

Prediction

Since oil is not soluble in water, its presence on the water’s surface will block the sunlight and prevent oxygen from reaching the Hydrilla plant. This will prevent the plant from producing photosynthesis. Due to the lack of food and oxygen the plant will die.

Content Statement

Key Words: Organic fluid, Density, Soluble, Oxygen, Hydrilla, Photosynthesis, Absorption.

Science Concept:• Organic fluid – Oil is an organic fluid, usually flammable

and insoluble in water.• Density – The density of water is its specific gravity,

i.e. is weight of the water per its unit volume depending on the temperature of the water.

• Soluble – the substance that dissolves in water.• Photosynthesis – is the process of converting light energy

to chemical energy and storing it in the bonds of sugar.• Absorption – undissolved oil from water which separates the

water from oil and blocking the oxygen to pass through it.• Oxygen – an important part of the atmosphere, and is

necessary to sustain most terrestrial life as it is used in respiration.

• Hydrilla- a species of aquatic plant.

Content Statement

•How It Applies:

Oil hinders the growth of the plants to a great extent.

It blocks the air supply and sunlight, thus, making it impossible for the plants to carry out photosynthesis and make food.

In the absence of photosynthesis, plants fail to germinate and hence, the growth stops.

Plants are not able to transpire and most of them die.

Variables

Manipulated Variable:

Oil on the surface of water.

Constants:

The size of hydrilla plant, the size of the beaker, the amount of water and the size of the test tube.

Responding Variable:Amount of oxygen in the test tubes.

Materials- 2 Hydrilla plants

(of approximately equal size)-    2 beakers-    2 test tubes-    2 funnels-    1 liter of water-    1 ruler

- -    45ml of engine oil

Procedures1. Fill up each of the 2 beakers with 1200ml of water then

place one Hydrilla plant inside each beaker.

2. Next, invert the funnels and place them over the Hydrilla plants in the beakers. The plant should be positioned inside of the funnel.

3. Fill the 2 test tubes up with water and place them over the outlet of the funnels. *Make sure there isn’t any air inside of the test tubes.

4. Pour 45ml of engine oil into one of the beakers.

5. Observe the amount of air collected in the test tubes to determine the level of oxygen produced by the Hydrilla plants. To do so, use a ruler to measure the height of the oxygen in the test tubes (by centimeters).

6. Record observations every hour for the next 5 hours.

DataManipulateManipulatedd

VariableVariable

11 22 33 44 55 tottotalal

averageaverage

(mean)(mean)With OilWith Oil 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Without Without OilOil

0.5

0.5

1 1 1.5 4.5 0.9

*The average is the amount of oxygen in each test tube measured in centimeters over a period of 5 hours.

Data

ManipulatedManipulated

VariableVariable

medianmedian modemode rangerange

With OilWith Oil 0 0 0

Without OilWithout Oil 1 0.5, 1 1

Graph

Results

#of Hours Amount of Oxygen (Centimeters)1 Hour     Plant w/oil   0       Plant w/o oil  0.5 2 Hour     Plant w/oil  0       Plant w/o oil  0.53 Hour       Plant w/oil   0       Plant w/o oil  14 Hour        Plant w/oil 0       Plant w/o oil  15 Hour         Plant w/oil 0       Plant w/o oil  1.5 

Conclusion/Real World ApplicationAbout half of the 700 million gallons of oil that are estimated to enter the ocean every year are from run-off. Improper handling of used motor oil is a huge part of this percentage.

More often than not, motor oil that isn’t properly disposed of ends up in our oceans and waterways. Water pollution not only leads to poor water quality, destruction of habitats, and loss of wildlife, but it also poses a major health risk to society.

http://greenliving.lovetoknow.com/Effects_of_Oil_Spills

Conclusion/Real World Application

bpclaims.info

Scientists are still assessing the effects of the estimated 170 million gallons of oil that flooded into the Gulf after the explosion of BP's oil rig in April of 2010.

Thousands of birds and marine animals were found injured or dead months following the spill. The BP oil spill covered over 100 miles of the Gulf, completely destroying underwater ecosystems, coral reefs, and aquatic plant life along the way.

“These types of disasters limit the growth principle of ecological and environmental systems, restraining the species in their natural habitat, their supply of food, water and other essentials for their survival...” —livinggreenmagazine.com

Narrative Diary• March 13th- Began discussing experiment ideas with lab partners and browsing the

science folders and the internet for ideas• March 20th- Emailed Dr. Joseph with our idea• March 22nd- Received the okay to begin project• March 29th Began shopping for supplies and reading up on the experiment

Located test tubes and beakers.

April 3rd Consulted with group, split up the responsibilities of the project

April 5th Discovered that test tubes did not fit over purchased funnels and funnels did not fit inside the beaker

April 5th Went shopping for new supplies, purchases smaller funnels, glass containers, bigger test tubes and aquatic plants

April 5th Did experiment…no success sanded down the edges of the funnel to get a better seal with test tube

April 5th- Moved experiment out to the sun, was able to log results

April 5th- Confirmed hypothesis