Conducting Research on the Effects of Acid Rain:
Conducting research is the heart of the scientific process. It is easy to describe 4 or 5 or 7 steps that comprise the "scientific method," but real science is almost never so tidy. But that's what makes science fun! Many of the most important discoveries are made when things go wrong, and being a good scientist means keeping your eyes open and being a good detective who can figure out what is the missing piece of the puzzle that will make sense of all the clues that you've gathered. Bringing this level of scientific creativity into the classroom is possible. We will carry out a project where you will examine the effects of acid rain on radish plants that you will grow from seed. Each team will design their own experimental program, grow the plants following their program, and we'll report back to each other periodically with a final report on our results in week 7 of the course.

Student photo and comments:

“I have taken one mature, healthy plant from each pot and taped them to paper to compare root growth. Interesting - the #4 pot that received acid solution entire time root system is shorter than the others. Pot #1 and Pot #3 root systems were the longest. Pot #2 is missing a lot of the fibers around the bottom portion of the stem where the others had several. After viewing roots, it is no wonder that these little guys could not stand up well.”

Click here to return to sample activities.