The Effect of Earthworms on Soil pH
School Name
Heathwood Hall Episcopal School
Grade Level
9th Grade
Presentation Topic
Zoology
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
In this experiment, the purpose was to see if there was correlation between earthworms and soil pH. Two containers of soil were put on a porch outside and every week from October 27, 2018 to December 15th, 2018, the pH of that soil was checked. Each week, however, several increasing amounts of earthworms were added to both containers. At the end of the 7 weeks, a combined 36 worms were in both containers. Around week 2 for one container and week 4 for the other container, the pH shifted to 8.0 on the scale from the 7.5 it started out on. While it is possible that this shift could be due to the earthworms, poor experimental design let other factors interfere with seeing if the earthworms exclusively affected the pH. Another issue that disallows a statement about whether the earthworms affect the pH or not is that the two containers, despite being in the same location, shifted at two different times.
Recommended Citation
Peterson, Pete, "The Effect of Earthworms on Soil pH" (2019). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 195.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2019/all/195
Location
Written submission only. Author not attending
Start Date
3-30-2019 11:59 PM
Presentation Format
Written Only
Group Project
No
The Effect of Earthworms on Soil pH
Written submission only. Author not attending
In this experiment, the purpose was to see if there was correlation between earthworms and soil pH. Two containers of soil were put on a porch outside and every week from October 27, 2018 to December 15th, 2018, the pH of that soil was checked. Each week, however, several increasing amounts of earthworms were added to both containers. At the end of the 7 weeks, a combined 36 worms were in both containers. Around week 2 for one container and week 4 for the other container, the pH shifted to 8.0 on the scale from the 7.5 it started out on. While it is possible that this shift could be due to the earthworms, poor experimental design let other factors interfere with seeing if the earthworms exclusively affected the pH. Another issue that disallows a statement about whether the earthworms affect the pH or not is that the two containers, despite being in the same location, shifted at two different times.
