The Effect of Bleach on Anacharis’ Health

1. The Effect of Bleach on Anacharis’ Health By: Joshua Yoon Ms. Pietrangelo- Pd. 10

2. Problem Statement Hypothesis • Can water plants be used to determine water quality? • If the water that the plants grow in is impure, then there will be visible changes in its appearance that indicate a change in how healthy the plant is.

3. Basic Concepts • Bleach- Many bleaches have strong bacterial properties, and are used for disinfecting and sterilizing. It is not acidic and has a high pH. If used in ill manners, it could create resistant micro organisms. • Anacharis- Abundant and resilient water plant that is very common. It can survive either rooted or not rooted and floating around. They provide oxygen. • Concepts- since bleach cleanses, I am thinking it may be beneficial to the Anacharis in some way. Since it is used to kill bacteria, maybe it will be harmful to the plant as well and kill it off. • Bleach is an impure contaminant, therefore it will show visible changes in Anacharis

4. Design Diagram DV: Anacharis 'Health (Visual Appearance) CONSTANTS: Water temperature, water type, bubbler, water volume, plant type, number of plants per trial, bleach type, time intervals used to record data

5. Materials • Sketch pad • Colored pencils • Magnifying glass • Journal • 6 Bubblers • Thermometer • Gravel • 6- Fish tanks • Measuring Spoons (mL) • Measuring cups (mL) • bleach • Water • Spoon • 60 Anacharis plants from Petsmart • Camera

6. Procedure: • Label all fish bowls with letters A~F • Fill a fish bowl with gravel until it is 2.54 cm (1 in) full • Place two Anacharis in fish bowl, carefully placing its’ roots within the gravel • Fill the fish bowl with water until 5.08 cm (2 in) form the rim of the bowl (I will find actual measurements on how much water/gravel/etc. is needed once I go and purchase fish bowls. As of now I am not sure how large it is which is why I cannot provide definite measurements.) • Check to make sure all fish bowls are approximately alike regarding temperature using thermometer, slight differences are okay for the Anacharis are versatile plants. • Attach a bubbler to the fish bowl so it properly provides oxygen to the Anacharis • Repeat steps 1-4 for all fish bowls • No bleach will be added into fish bowl A • Measure 2.5 mL of bleach, then stir into fish bowl B • Measure 5 mL of bleach, then stir into fish bowl C • Measure 7.5 mL of bleach, then stir into fish bowl D • Measure 10 mL of bleach, then stir into fish bowl E • Measure 12.5 mL of bleach, then stir into fish bowl F • Place all fish bowls in an equally well sunlit area • Steps 1~15 would be one trial set. Repeat Steps 1~15 four more times for the full 5 trials. • Record observations for each fish bowl every 24 hours in your journal. Take pictures, sketch what you see in the sketchpad, etc. • Observe for 3 weeks, analyze, and conclude results.

7. SAFETY FIRST • Bleach is very dangerous always wear gloves! • Be cautious with bleach • Thermometer can break so be careful • Wear goggles so bleach doesn’t go in eyes

8. Results! • No Statistical Analysis • No Graph • No “written” data • All photographically attained • LUCKY

9. 0 mL of Bleach! [Control] Sample from Tank A at start Sample from Tank A at end

10. 2.5 mL of Bleach! Sample from Tank B at start Sample from Tank B at end

11. 5 mL of Bleach! Sample from Tank C at start Sample from Tank C at end

12. 7.5 mL of Bleach! Sample from Tank D at start Sample from Tank D at end

13. 10 mL of Bleach! Sample from Tank E at start Sample from Tank E at end

14. 12.5 mL of Bleach! Sample from Tank F at start Sample from Tank F at end

15. Photo Proof

16. Conclusions • Hypothesis was supported • As we can see, visible changes DID appear • In doing this experiment the discovery that little amounts of bleach are beneficial was found • The more bleach there was, the more negative impact it had. • The less there was, the better • Water plants CAN be used to see water purity • Bleach is a dissolvent therefore it does not stay present in the water forever, which helps if in little amts.

17. Error and its Impact • Not all Anacharis were exact the exact same in qualitative aspects. (diff sizes, shapes, volume, color, etc) • Tap water was used • Halfway through experiment, Ms. P told me to add bleach more frequently. It had been two weeks since I had put a dose of bleach in the groups • Sunlight distribution wasn’t constant and equal • Bleach wasn’t distributed evenly in tanks, just poured in

18. Improvements • Find a way to accurately (not just photographically) record results • Use natural spring water • Stir in bleach so evenly distributed in water • Constant lighting • Make sure all Anacharis are alike in size, shape, volume, color shade, etc • Start weekly dosage of bleach from start, not mid way through experiment

19. Why? • I chose to do this experiment because plants have always interested me and I always wanted to grow a plant that could grow in water. • I did not want to fill out 100 forms for human experiments • Bleach was harmful but also good in ways, I wanted to explore that • Anacharis was abundant, cheap, resilient, and common • BP oil spill made me want to find out how a dirty body of water could be cleansed/how if we had not known it spilled, to be warned with any signs

20. Applications! • Place Anacharis or any water plant in bodies of water such as lakes, rivers, ponds, etc and check up on them daily to see the health of the environment • Use small amounts of bleach in bodies of water where there are contaminants, bacteria, etc. to help purify and bring back health to the water • Use excessive amounts of bleach to kill off any unwanted plants in a specific area • Create a system where bleach is dispersed into water every so often to make sure water is clean

21. Thanks to…. • Mrs. Pietrangelo for helping me understand my experiment better and for answering questions • Thanks to mom who handled the bleach because it was “too dangerous” for me and also bought the necessary materials • Thanks to sister for letting me use her camera

22. Bibliography: • "Aquatic Plants - Freshwater Sportfishing." Internet FAQ Archives - Online Education - Faqs.org. The Gale Group, Inc., 2010. Web. 08 Oct. 2010. <http://www.faqs.org/freshwater-fishing/Aquatic-Environment/Aquatic-Plants.html>. • This site really helped me with understanding how an aquatic plant contributed and interacted with its environment. It talked of functions the water plants provided and how there are different zones and levels in the ecosystem that plants are divided into depending on their purpose. I basically got a general grasp of how I could apply my elodea plant and my experiment to real life. • Bob, Fenner. "The Beginner Plant, "Anacharis", Elodea & Egeria." Wetwebmedia, Aquarium, Pond, Marine and Freshwater Fish, Reef Tanks, and Aquatics Information. Web. 08 Oct. 2010. <http://www.wetwebmedia.com/plantedtkssubwebindex/elodea.htm>. • This site seems reliable and really went into depth and detail about the Elodea plant itself. The physical descriptions, what it needs to survive, care, where it can be usually found, and just about the plant as a whole. It did not really talk about much besides the actual plant but it gave me particular details i found useful. • Dal, VescoVanna. Aquarium Life. Secaucus, NJ: Chartwell, 1975. Print. • This book helped me in man ways. It set the basic grounds for what an aquatic plant basically was. It supplied information on the role these plants had in an aquarium and ecosystem, physical characterstics of water plants, cultivation of them, and most importantly described plant care. It also mentioned common locations they can be found. The most helpful was that it pointed out how to take care of nearly all water plants, which applied to one of my questions • Haitch, Richard. "FOLLOW-UP ON THE NEWS; Battling Hydrilla." New York Times 17 Mar. 1985. Gale Science In Context. Web. 8 Oct. 2010. • This article helped a lot in making me come up with my own thesis and variations of how I could apply my experiment to the real world. For instance, one idea I had was that maybe the negative opinion expressed in the article could be a good thing. It said Elodea could not be eradicated, but only contained. So I thought, maybe we can use the Elodea’s toughness and durability for a good cause. Such as altering it in ways so that it cleansed the water around it, and then being versatile enough to survive bad conditions. • Huebert, Dave. "Water Plants 101." Bruce Hallman's Homepage. Web. 08 Oct. 2010. <http://www.hallman.org/plant/huebert.html>. • This article explained to me the aquatic plants and how they functioned. This was a .org site that went into detail on plant behaviour and what really goes on in them. It tells of Co2 intake and helped me come up with answers on how Aquatic plants could filter harmful substances in the water. • "Oil Spills." Welcome to OceanWorld - Bringing the Ocean to the Classroom. 7 July 2010. Web. 08 Oct. 2010. <http://oceanworld.tamu.edu/resources/oceanography-book/oilspills.htm>. • This site is reliable because it has .edu. This was basically used to strengthen my knowledge about oil spills and how they affect the water around it and how it just has an impact on the ecosystem. I wanted to see generally where oil spills occured throughout history and how much of it was spilled. There was a timeline that showed me exactly this. I was basically getting insight on how I could apply my experiment to situations that are harmful to the environment. Using my experiment of how Elodea can detect impurities in the water, I somehow can possibly connect it to major events in history such as the Exxon oil spill