Project:

Does Urbanization Affect Bacterial Life Present in Soil?

Students:

Saira Shah, Jenny Wang

School:

The Dalton School, Manhattan

Mentors:

Andy Chen

Abstract:

Our goal is to compare soil samples from an urban environment such as Central Park to a more pristine suburban location through culturing bacteria as well as testing for abiotic factors to determine soil and its relationship to the environment it is found in. Specifically, we will be looking at two parts of the soil, both biotic and abiotic factors. Our focus will mainly be on the bacteria present, but also on abiotic factors to better understand the differences in soil conditions. After comparing our discoveries from the Central Park and Teatown environments, we can use the data to conclude the reasoning behind our results. We hypothesize that when soil is exposed to humans in a more urbanized environment, there will be more harmful bacteria and unhealthy abiotic factors in this soil as opposed to soil in a suburban environment which sees less human interaction.

Poster:

Team samples: