Project:

The Effect of Aquatic Plants on Water Quality in Urban vs. Rural Areas

Students:

Alexa Wiener, Emma Buruchian, Sara Johnson

School:

The Spence School,

Mentors:

Aruna Chavali

Abstract:

We will collect aquatic plants from Central Park and Black Rock Forest. We will extract DNA and figure out the algae’s species, what they might eat, and how they have adapted to live and thrive in their specific environment. We will also examine the temperature and acidity of the water the algae was found in. This combination of information will help us determine the relationship between plant presence and water quality in different bodies of water in rural/urban areas. We predict that the water quality in Black Rock Forest will be significantly better than the water quality in Central Park because it has been mostly untouched by humans and therefore, contains less human trash and pollution. According to this hypothesis, our findings should show less acidic water, lower temperature water, and better water quality in Black Rock. In addition, the presence of certain types of aquatic plants and the knowledge of the types of environments they usually grow in can help us assess the condit

Poster:

Team samples: