The Effect of Acid Rain on Plant Growth
School Name
Heathwood Hall Episcopal School
Grade Level
9th Grade
Presentation Topic
Botany
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Written Paper Award
3rd Place
Abstract
The purpose of this research was to test the effect that acid rain had on the growth of plants. With the use of Wisconsin Fast Plants(plants that take only 40 days for full growth) in four groups of 24 treated with the different pHs of sulfuric acid such as 4.2, 4.6, 5.6, and 7 in the time-span of the first 11 days of growth, measurements of the growth such as the height and amount of leaves of each plant were taken and put into graphs and data sets to observe the growth rate and effect of the plants. It was noticed that the plant groups with the pH’s of 4.2 and 4.6, of higher acidity grew at a faster rate than the plants of lower acidity with the pHs of 5.6 and 7. Although plants bend in the direction of light, the plants of higher acidity bent more than the plants of lower acidity. Another effect noticed about the plants was the fact that the leaves of the highly acidic plants became frail and damaged into a grey color, whereas the leaves of the plants with the pHs of 5.6 and 7 were perfectly green and healthy. More plants in the highly acidic plant group died than in the lower acidic plant group. The conclusion came to be that acid rain didn’t stunt the growth of the highly acidic plants, it really just affected the plants over time.
Recommended Citation
Hanna, Nadine, "The Effect of Acid Rain on Plant Growth" (2019). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 175.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2019/all/175
Location
Founders Hall 111 B
Start Date
3-30-2019 8:30 AM
Presentation Format
Oral and Written
Group Project
No
The Effect of Acid Rain on Plant Growth
Founders Hall 111 B
The purpose of this research was to test the effect that acid rain had on the growth of plants. With the use of Wisconsin Fast Plants(plants that take only 40 days for full growth) in four groups of 24 treated with the different pHs of sulfuric acid such as 4.2, 4.6, 5.6, and 7 in the time-span of the first 11 days of growth, measurements of the growth such as the height and amount of leaves of each plant were taken and put into graphs and data sets to observe the growth rate and effect of the plants. It was noticed that the plant groups with the pH’s of 4.2 and 4.6, of higher acidity grew at a faster rate than the plants of lower acidity with the pHs of 5.6 and 7. Although plants bend in the direction of light, the plants of higher acidity bent more than the plants of lower acidity. Another effect noticed about the plants was the fact that the leaves of the highly acidic plants became frail and damaged into a grey color, whereas the leaves of the plants with the pHs of 5.6 and 7 were perfectly green and healthy. More plants in the highly acidic plant group died than in the lower acidic plant group. The conclusion came to be that acid rain didn’t stunt the growth of the highly acidic plants, it really just affected the plants over time.
