Phase 2 (9th Grade)
Images of Experiment |
Abstract |
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Harmful Algae Blooms (HABs), which occur because of unnatural increases in Phosphates and Nitrates, are increasing worldwide. This research attempted to use Stropharia Mycelium colonized on three substrates: corncobs, woodchips, and an equal parts mixture of corncobs to woodchips, to conduct rapid-filtration of Phosphate and Nitrate, in order to prevent HABs. It was hypothesized that Stropharia Mycelium, colonized on all three substrates will be effective in reducing Phosphates and Nitrates and that Stropharia Mycelium colonized on corncobs will be most effective of the three substrates. To test the hypothesis, substrates colonized with Stropharia Mycelium were placed in funnels on ring stands. Water with high concentrations of Phosphate and Nitrate was poured into the funnels and collected at the spouts of the funnels. The Absorbance % of the water collected was measured using a Spectrophotometer and using a calibration curve, the Absorbance% was translated to ppm. API® color chart tests were also used to determine the concentration of Phosphate and Nitrate in the collected samples. Due to cloudiness in water samples (which tampered with the Absorbance % of those samples) and the presence of green mold, results were mostly unreliable. However the results for the corncob substrate were consistently “desirable” which suggests that colonized corncobs have potential to become effective Phosphate and Nitrate filters.
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