You usually greet your students in the morning with a smile and a cheerful "Good morning!" Today will be different. You will prepare an experiment before the students enter the room and instead of coming in with that sweet smile, they will be holding their noses and saying, "Ew! What's that smell?" They will want to know what has polluted their environment! They will learn the effects of acid rain.
Is our rain clean?
How does acid rain effect plants?
What is acid rain?
Definition - The student will be able to define acid rain.
Observation - The student will be able to describe and show the effects of simulated acid rain.
Materials/Equipment
Vinegar, tap water, plastic pop bottles, soil, beans, two spray bottles, paper towels, water quality kit- to test pH
PH Water Form
Evaluate Student Journals
Use Rubric Sheet
Plant 4-5 bean seeds in the bottom half of two different pop bottles.
Spray one group of seeds with tap water
Spray the other group of seeds with acid rain (vinegar).
Record seedling growth in plant journal.
Collect samples of water- rain, tap, puddles, ponds.
Test pH of each water sample and record on spreadsheet.
Determine if our rain water is clean or is it acid rain?
What can we do about our rain water? (to keep clean, or to improve quality)
The students may be put into 4 or 5 groups for this activity. I use table groups that the students sit at. Each group will have two pop bottles which are cut in half to grow their beans in. You may want to set up a center where beans are placed on top of moist paper towels- one with tap water and one with vinegar. Spray the beans daily so they will sprout. If you have a window available, you may put moist paper towels in a baggie and put the beans in between the baggie and the paper towel so that the students may see the growth. Throughout the week, collect water samples- rain, tap, puddle, and pond to test the pH. A science teacher may have litmus paper available to easily test the pH. I just use very inexpensive litmus paper from the pool store!
If the water samples have a high pH number, they are very acid. If the water samples have a low pH number, they are not very acid (they are alkaline). You may demonstrate testing the pH with vinegar, lemon juice, and water before the students begin this activity.
Activity Duration:
30 minutes to plant beans and start plant journal
Observe and record results for 10 days
30 minutes to test pH of rain, tap water, puddle water, and pond water
This activity involves two mini lessons. Please see Teacher Notes for approximate times.
Each day observe both of your seeds.
Record your observations in your journal. (Draw a picture and write a sentence.)
Next we will be studying how rain/acid rain affects plant life. We will need about 8 clear plastic pop bottles, 2 bags of dirt, and some bean seeds.
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