The Effect of Bleach on Anacharis’ Health

By: Joshua YoonMs. Pietrangelo- Pd. 10

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.

Basic ConceptsBleach- 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

  

Design DiagramIV: Bleach (mL) Control

LEVELS (Bleach)

2.5 mL

5mL

7.5 mL

10 mL

12.5 mL

0 mL

TRIALS 5 5 5 5 5 5

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

Materials6- Fish tanksMeasuring Spoons (mL)

Measuring cups (mL)bleachWaterSpoon60 Anacharis plants from Petsmart

Camera

•Sketch pad•Colored pencils•Magnifying glass•Journal•6 Bubblers•Thermometer•Gravel

  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.

SAFETY FIRSTBleach is very dangerous always wear gloves!

Be cautious with bleachThermometer can break so be careful

Wear goggles so bleach doesn’t go in eyes

Results!No Statistical AnalysisNo GraphNo “written” dataAll photographically attained

LUCKY

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

Sample from Tank A at end

2.5 mL of Bleach!Sample from Tank B at start

Sample from Tank B at end

5 mL of Bleach!Sample from Tank C at start

Sample from Tank C at end

7.5 mL of Bleach!Sample from Tank D at start

Sample from Tank D at end

10 mL of Bleach!Sample from Tank E at start

Sample from Tank E at end

12.5 mL of Bleach!Sample from Tank F at start

Sample from Tank F at end

Photo Proof

ConclusionsHypothesis was supportedAs we can see, visible changes DID appearIn 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 betterWater plants CAN be used to see water purityBleach is a dissolvent therefore it does not

stay present in the water forever, which helps if in little amts.

Error and its ImpactNot all Anacharis were exact the exact

same in qualitative aspects. (diff sizes, shapes, volume, color, etc)

Tap water was usedHalfway 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

ImprovementsFind a way to accurately (not just

photographically) record resultsUse natural spring waterStir in bleach so evenly distributed

in waterConstant lightingMake sure all Anacharis are alike in

size, shape, volume, color shade, etcStart weekly dosage of bleach from

start, not mid way through experiment

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

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

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

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, Vesco Vanna. 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