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Our Process
We wanted to conduct an experiment relating to ash and how it affects coral. We came up with the idea to do a hands on experiment because we felt it would be the best way to explore our topic. We started off wanting to test the water first without ash and then with ash. We were going to use real coral in our experiment and test to see if the coral lives or dies. However we ultimately decided it was best to not use coral because we didn't want to kill it. So, we came up with a better idea of just testing the water with ash and comparing it to unaffected water.
Hypothesis
Our initial hypothesis was placing coral in the bucket with ash would bleach it, likely killing it, and the coral in the bucket with the unaffected water would thrive. However, since we were unable to complete this experiment, our new hypothesis was that the unaffected water would be much safer and less toxic than the affected water.
Materials
The materials that we used were:
2x fish tanks
water from the Santa Monica beach
Water from the Monterey beach
Bacteria tests
pH/alkaline water tests
Water quality tests
Procedure
We first filled one fish tank with unaffected ocean water from Monterey, and filled another one with the same amount of affected ocean water from Santa Monica, which means it contained ash from the local Palisades fire.
We then conducted a pH test on both samples using a alkaline water test. We placed a small amount of water in the test tubes, then added two drops of our alkaline test. As shown in the photo, the test came out identical, showing the ash had no effect on the pH of the water.
We also conducted a bacteria test for both samples using these bacteria testers. We put a small amount of water in the bag with the test, and left it for 48 hours to allow for growth. As shown above, the results came back clean, showing no bacteria growth in either.
The final test we conducted was a water quality test. We fully submerged the strip shown above in the fish tanks, one in each. We then compared results, which much to our surprise, were nearly identical to each other.
Data Collection
Bacteria test: The results from our bacteria test came back clean for both samples. The water from neither sample showed any signs of bacteria.
PH test: The PH test results were almost identical to each other, despite what we previously hypothesized.
Water quality test: We were very shocked when we saw the results from this test, but just like the PH test, they were nearly identical. Neither were safe to drink, because they were both ocean water, but neither showed any signs of being highly contaminated.
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