Acid Rain Lab

What is acid rain? Check out the following snipit from epa.gov:"An ecosystem is a community of plants, animals and other organisms along with their environment including the air, water and soil. Everything in an ecosystem is connected. If something harms one part of an ecosystem – one species of plant or animal, the soil or the water – it can have an impact on everything else.The ecological effects of acid rain are most clearly seen in aquatic environments, such as streams, lakes, and marshes where it can be harmful to fish and other wildlife. As it flows through the soil, acidic rain water can leach aluminum from soil clay particles and then flow into streams and lakes. The more acid that is introduced to the ecosystem, the more aluminum is released.Some types of plants and animals are able to tolerate acidic waters and moderate amounts of aluminum. Others, however, are acid-sensitive and will be lost as the pH declines. Generally, the young of most species are more sensitive to environmental conditions than adults."Take a few minutes to research what acid rain is, how it relates to the pH scale, if humans cause or increase it, and what the environmental impact is. Your teacher will place you in teams and we'll all discuss what we've found. Remember, low ph is bad... so is high... 7 is perfect Design an Experiment to determine which building material would be best in an area that has acid rain. We'll discuss the process of designing an experiment together and start building what we're going to do. The independent variable is what you are manipulating in the lab. If you want to see how chocolate affects dogs you the IV would be the chocolate. If you wanted to see how sleep affects learning the IV would be the amount of sleep.What is the IV in this lab? Different rocks materials used Vinegar to simulate the pH as acid rain The amount of mass each material loses Rocks without vinegar - using pH 7 water instead The dependent variable is what you're measuring coming out of the lab. If you want to see how chocolate affects dogs you the DV would be the dog attributes after chocolate. If you wanted to see how sleep affects learning the DV would be the effect on the learning.What is the DV in this lab? Different rocks materials used Vinegar to simulate the pH as acid rain The amount of mass each material loses Rocks without vinegar - using pH 7 water instead An experimental control ensures that the independent variable IS making a change. If you want to see how chocolate affects dogs you the control could be the dog who gets no chocolate. If you wanted to see how sleep affects learning the control could be the individual averaging the recommended 8 hours of sleep.What is a good control for this lab? Different rocks materials used Vinegar to simulate the pH as acid rain The amount of mass each material loses Rocks without vinegar - using pH 7 water instead It's important to keep everything else constant in an experiment so you don't accidentally test something else. If you want to see how chocolate affects dogs you the constants could be same kind of dog, same amount of chocolate, same time feeding... If you wanted to see how sleep affects learning some constants could be same individual, same time for sleeping (night hours vs. day hours), same feeding pattern...Which of these would be important to keep constant in the lab? Amount of vinegar Amount of rocks Time sitting Stirring procedure Collect Your Data Material Used Starting Mass Ending Mass Percent Mass Change = (final-initial) *100 What does the following information tell you about this students results? Plants grew taller in distilled water than acid Plants grew taller in acid than distilled water Plants die off when placed in acid Plants die when placed in water What does the following graph show you? Acid precipitation sees to be getting worse between 1993 and 2007 The lowest yearly average acid rain had a pH of 4.25 The worst year for acid rain was 2007 According to this diagram where does the worst acid rain fall? North East (near us) North West South East (Florida) South West (California-ish How does this relate to everything we learned this year??? Acid rain can affect Biotic and Abiotic parts of the environment. Sort these into whether the affect is on a biotic or abiotic component Abiotic statues erode Acid rain water can leach aluminum from soil clay particles Biotic fish stop reproducing trees are damaged Which of these would an ecologist study with regard to acid rain How acid rain affects an organism How acid rain affects a population How acid rain affects a community How acid rain affects an ecosystem How acid rain affects a biosphere All of these How do we study the effects of acid rain? Sort these into quantitative studies and qualitative studies quantitative How much shorter are plants that are exposed to acid rain than plants not exposed What level on the pH scale will cause fish to stop reproducing qualitative Flowers can change color depending on the pH of their soil Does the pH change the appearance of organisms? Match the effect of acid rain to it's level of organization a single mayfly can die from exposure to a pH of under 5.5 organism at a pH of 5 a group of fish have non-hatching eggs population when a population of mayflies dies at a pH of 5 the frogs that depend on them can also die community Acid rain can remove minerals and nutrients from the abiotic parts of the environment like the soil. Without those nutrients trees are unable to grow. ecosystem Which of the following is an example of an autotroph being affected by acid rain? At high elevations acidic fog and clouds can damage the leaves of trees making them less able to absorb sunlight. A pH of 6 is the critical level for snails causing them to die. Areas with thin layers of soil often lack the ability to neutralize the acid in rain water. Acid rain can contain nitrogen which also has an affect on fish and shellfish populations. Resources and Works Cited epa.gov Even if acid rain doesn't affect an organism directly it can cause a ripple effect up the food chain. If the autotrophs are affected the next level up (that eats them) would also be affected. What's the next level up from autotrophs? more autotrophs herbivorous heterotrophs carnivorous heterotrophs Organisms that are affected by acid rain may lack the ability to "bounce back" quickly. Which of these would have a harder time bouncing back and why? fast life history pattern creatures because they reproduce rapidly slow life history pattern creatures because they reproduce rapidly fast life history pattern creatures because they reproduce slowly slow life history pattern creatures because they reproduce slowly How do population rebound? Match the scenario to the correct term or graph type When a population first starts to rebound their numbers can expand exponentially J shaped curve After a population hits limiting factors the growth can slow down S shaped curve The population size that an environment can support indefinitely is known as the Carrying Capacity Is acid rain a density dependent or density independent limiting factor? density dependent density independent Due to acid rain a population of 1000 fish only has 10 new babies during the breeding season and 23 of them die. Is this population growing or shrinking? growing shrinking staying the same Use the math: r = (b-d) / Nr = rateb = birthsd = deathsN = total populationWhat is the growth rate? (use the information from the last question) -0.013 0.013 0.033 -0.033 If the population of 1000 fish had a growth rate of -0.2 how many would we expect after 13 breeding seasons?Remember, G=N(1+r)^t approximately 5000 fish approximately 500 fish approximately 50 fish approximately 5 fish Acid rain can cause a domino effect in the food web as well as on individual organism relationships. Practice the types of relationships below and think about how if acid rain affects one it will affect the other. One organism eats the other Predator Two organisms interact and BOTH benefit Mutualism Two organisms interact and one benefits while the other doesn't care Commensalism Two organisms interact and one benefits while the other is harmed but usually not killed Parasitism Affecting the organism at the base of a food chain can have catastrophic effects for the whole community. Which of these is a reason that changes at the bottom can affect the top? Approximately 10% of energy is lost at each level. There are less organisms as you go up the pyramid of numbers because there's less available energy. Both of these According to epa.gov "Walking in acid rain, or even swimming in a lake affected by acid rain, is no more dangerous to humans than walking in normal rain or swimming in non-acidic lakes. However, when the pollutants that cause acid rain —SO2and NOX,as well as sulfate and nitrate particles— are in the air, they can be harmful to humans.SO2 and NOX react in the atmosphere to form fine sulfate and nitrate particles that people can inhale into their lungs. Many scientific studies have shown a relationship between these particles and effects on heart function, such as heart attacks resulting in death for people with increased heart disease risk, and effects on lung function, such as breathing difficulties for people with asthma."Which of the following biogeochemical cycles are most affected by acid precipitation? Water cycle carbon cycle nitrogen cycle phosphorus cycle Energy flows but matter cycles Place the following sinks and processes in their correct location based on their affected biogeochemical cycle Water cycle acid precipitation acid fog Nitrogen cycle bacteria and fixation Both atmospheric component Neither rocks Which of the following is true? like nitrogen carbon has an atmospheric sink like water carbon has an atmospheric sink like phosphorus like nitrogen carbon has an atmospheric sink How does Acid Rain Affect Biomes? Choose a biome and explain 3 ways that acid rain would affect the ecosystem.