The Effect of Plant Mediums With Nitrate Concentration from Water Run Off
School Name
Spring Valley High School
Grade Level
10th Grade
Presentation Topic
Environmental Science
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
Nitrogen found at high concentrations can cause severely harmful effects on plants and animals that come in contact with it. As nitrogen is used in excess amounts on poor farming land, it is quickly becoming a deadly pollutant to ecosystems worldwide. Malnutrited soil can not hold these levels, so new growth mediums like perlite could be used to better control this situation. It was hypothesised that when a controlled growth medium had a sodium nitrate (a common ingredient in fertilizers) solution washed through it compared to distilled water, the resulting concentration of nitrates will be higher. It was also hypothesised that the perlite growth medium would produce less nitrates found in its water runoff compared to potting mix (used to represent poor soil). Thirty trials were conducted for each group: a controlled for perlite and potting mix, and a 0.0003 M sodium nitrate solution with perlite and potting mix. A two-sample z-test revealed that the 0.0003 M did influence the nitrate run off with a -16.010 and -98.561 test values for the perlite and potting mix (respectively) and p-values of less than 0.001 for both. A correlation coefficient showed a strong positive correlation for both perlite and potting mix and revealed that at nitrate levels higher than 0.353 ppm, perlite reduces the run off concentration more than potting soil. This experiment proved to show that perlite is a better choice for protecting farms against nitrogen leaching.
Recommended Citation
Carpenter, Emily, "The Effect of Plant Mediums With Nitrate Concentration from Water Run Off" (2018). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 161.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2018/all/161
Location
Lassiter 222
Start Date
4-14-2018 9:30 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
The Effect of Plant Mediums With Nitrate Concentration from Water Run Off
Lassiter 222
Nitrogen found at high concentrations can cause severely harmful effects on plants and animals that come in contact with it. As nitrogen is used in excess amounts on poor farming land, it is quickly becoming a deadly pollutant to ecosystems worldwide. Malnutrited soil can not hold these levels, so new growth mediums like perlite could be used to better control this situation. It was hypothesised that when a controlled growth medium had a sodium nitrate (a common ingredient in fertilizers) solution washed through it compared to distilled water, the resulting concentration of nitrates will be higher. It was also hypothesised that the perlite growth medium would produce less nitrates found in its water runoff compared to potting mix (used to represent poor soil). Thirty trials were conducted for each group: a controlled for perlite and potting mix, and a 0.0003 M sodium nitrate solution with perlite and potting mix. A two-sample z-test revealed that the 0.0003 M did influence the nitrate run off with a -16.010 and -98.561 test values for the perlite and potting mix (respectively) and p-values of less than 0.001 for both. A correlation coefficient showed a strong positive correlation for both perlite and potting mix and revealed that at nitrate levels higher than 0.353 ppm, perlite reduces the run off concentration more than potting soil. This experiment proved to show that perlite is a better choice for protecting farms against nitrogen leaching.
