1. Question: How does the pH differ in different areas of the pond at Cedar Break Farm
2. Hypothesis: The pH will be greater in the areas of vegetation and algae than in the middle of the pond with no vegetation or algae. Why do you think this? Is there something about the plants or algae that might change the pH level?
I think this because the algae-water is more rich in nutrients than the other water.
The regular water in the middle will be about 8 because it still has more nutrients than (drinking) water but not as much as the algae-water.
The water by the Vegetation will be lower because the nutrients are absorbed by the plants.
Algae blooms can also cause elevated pH levels in the water
http://www.ehow.com/about_6837207_effects-temperature-ph-water.html says temperature of the water changes the pH. So, the later in the year it gets the lower the pH will get.
3. Variables:
Independent Variable: Date
Dependent Variable: pH of the water
Constant Variables:
Same place
Specific Locations of the pond
Time of Day
Length of time of testing the strip
pH color strip scale.
If the location is richer in algae and vegetation then the pH is going to be higher because they are letting off a lot of nutrients.
4. Materials:
Camera
pH strips
pH container/color chart.
Laptop to record results
5. Procedure
- Get three pH paper strips and put them in a safe container.
- Go to the pond at Cedar Break Farm.
- Carefully remove a pH strip from the container.
- Dip the pH strip in the water by Location A
- Hold the pH strip under the water for 15 seconds.
- Match up the color of the pH strip with the pH color scale.
- Record your results in the table
- Repeat steps 3-7 for each Location of the pond.
(Location B in the middle of the pond can be difficult to reach. You can either take a small raft to the point, or use a pole or fishing rod attached to a small container to retrieve the water)
5. Data Table
-------------------------pH of Water -------------------------------
Date
|
9/15/13
|
09/30/13
|
10/13/13
|
10/30/13
|
11/15/13
|
11/29/13
|
Average
|
Location A
|
8.8
|
8.1
|
8.0
|
7.8
|
5.5
|
5.2
|
7.23
|
Location B
|
8.1
|
7.9
|
7.8
|
6.8
|
5.1
|
4.6
|
6.71
|
Location C
|
7.4
|
7.1
|
7.2
|
5.9
|
4.3
|
4.2
|
6
|
Source: Seth Walters
pH
List of sources for your background information?
Conclusion:
Over the course of the past 10 weeks or so, I have been testing the acidity (pH) of different areas of the pond at Cedar Break farm. I have concluded that the Location A (on the shore) is generally going to have a higher pH because the algae in the area are excreting nutrients. Location B is the neutral location of the three, because it doesn’t have any vegetation or algae in the area, which is why it was always had a pH higher than Location C, but not as high as Location A. Location C was located directly in the middle of all of the reeds and grass on the adjacent side of Location A. The reeds and grass absorb the nutrients in the water, so there aren’t as many nutrients in the water.
Also, I noticed that the pH constantly decreased over the course of my experiment. So I can also conclude that the temperature of the air/water has a direct impact on the pH of the water. My hypothesis was wrong, but on the right track. I knew that the algae caused a higher pH, but I was wrong when I said that areas rich in vegetation have a higher rating on the pH scale.
If I were to do this experiment again, I would do it in the summertime because then it is generally all similar climate. Whereas September-November can have a drastically large temperature change
