My 2010 Science Fair! "Save Save Save!!!!"

        Learning about plant life is one of my favorite things in science. From the past two years, I have been researching plants for my science fair. This year, I chose to research how an oil spill can affect plants. I believe that if oil is spilled on plants, the plants would start to grow slower or die, because cells are damaged or photosynthesis is stopped. I set up an experiment where I watered beans with water and mixtures with motor oil. The first group was treated with pure water, the second group had water mixed with 10% oil, the third group was mixed with 50% oil, and the last group was mixed with 80%.

        Over two weeks of observations, I saw that those treated with motor oil grew much shorter and slower than the group with water. I also used a microscope to observe the leaves and stems. I saw that the plant cells aren't severely damaged, but the plant leaves were covered with a layer of oil. Therefore, I can conclude that oil spills do not affect plants by damaging their cells but by coating over their leaves. I think that when the plant roots absorb the oil, it transports the oil up to the leaves and covers them. This prevents them from receiving sunlight and carbon dioxide for photosynthesis. After discovering this, I would suggest that people stop using fossil fuel as an energy source so that not only plants, but also marine life can be protected. Lets work together to save our environment!