Name _______________________________
Date______________________
______________________
Acid Rain on Seed Germination
Background Information
Acid rain is a matter of great concern for the environment all across the world.
Plants, forests, animals, and almost every living species on earth are at great risk due to acid
rain. The acid in rain is chiefly caused by pollutant gases such as sulfur d
dioxide
ioxide (SO2) and
nitrogen dioxide (NO2) entering into clouds and rain. Acid rain is measured using a scale called
pH. The pH scale measures how acidic or basic a substance is. It ranges from 0 to 14. A pH of 7
is neutral. A pH less than 7 is acidic, and a pH greater than 7 is basic. Normal rain is slightly
acidic because carbon dioxide (CO2) dissolves in it, so it has a pH of about 5.5. You will
investigate in this lab the effects acid rain has on seed growth by measuring the root stems.
Hypothesis
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
MATERIALS
Document Camera
Metric Ruler (mm)
Personal Computer
Marker
Interactive White Board/Projector
/Projector
pH paper
Seedlings
10 mL Tap Water
Petri Dishes
10mL Diluted Sulfuric Acid
Cotton Balls
1
Name _______________________________
Date______________________
______________________
PROCEDURE
Activity 1
Seed Germination
1. Label one Petri dish “Acid Rain” and the other “Rain” with your group name and
hour.
2. Insert cotton around the edges and bottom of Petri dish.
3. Set 5 seedlings on the top of the cotton in each Petri dish so they are visible to the
document camera.
4. Label each seedling numerically, 1
1-5,
5, by labeling on the side of the Petri dish.
5. Add 10 ml of diluted sulfuric acid in the “Acid Rain” Petri dish or until all of the
cotton is damp.
6. Add 10 ml of tap water in the “Rain” Petri dish or until all of the cotton is damp.
7. Set the “Acid Rain” Petri dish under a document camera and the “Rain” under
another document camera or place both Petri dishes underneath the same
document camera.
8. Open the computer and choose to time
time-lapse record.
9. Set the frames per second at 1 image every 2 hours and start recording.
10. Allow the experiment to run for 5 days.
11. Each day, check the P
Petri
etri dishes for dryness and remoisten if needed.
a. Sulfuric Acid Acid Rain
b. Tap Water Rain
12. Each day check the pH level of the “Acid Rain” and “Rain” Petri dish and record.
13. On Day 5, stop
top the time-lapse recording.
14. Measure the image for each day using the measu
measurement tool.
a. Take a measurement of the growth of the root stem in mm for each day.
15. Save your 5 pictures of measurement for growth of the root stem to add to your
data collection.
16. Construct a data table using Microsoft Excel and record the growth, pH level, and
observations.
2
Name _______________________________
Date______________________
______________________
DATA COLLECTION
Measurement (mm)
Day 1
Bean
Acid Rain
Rain
ain
Day 2
Bean
pH
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
Day 3
Bean
Measurement (mm)
Acid Rain
Rain
ain
Day 4
Bean
pH
1
1
2
2
3
3
4
4
5
5
Day 5
Bean
Measurement (mm)
Acid Rain
Rain
ain
pH
1
2
3
4
5
3
Measurement (mm)
Acid Rain
Rain
Measurement (mm)
Acid Rain
Rain
pH
pH
Name _______________________________
Date______________________
______________________
QUESTIONS
1. Fill out the Learn
earn portion on your KWL sheet.
2. From your data, create a table showing the growth of the seeds and a table with ph
levels.
3. How many beans germinated in the “Acid Rain” Petri dish and the “Rain” Petri dish?
_______________________________________________________________________
a. What was the percentage of germination for each Petri
dish?_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
b. Is this what you expected for each Petri dish?______________
_____________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
experiment?________________________
4. How did the pH levels change throughout the experiment?________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
If change, why did this occur?________________________________________________
occur?________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. Why has acid rain become a global problem and what impacts are being seen around
the world?_______________________________________________________________
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________________________________________________________________________
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