Anna Swenson

Mrs. Norris
AP Environmental
16 September 2014
LD50 Lab
Whenever a snow storm is coming, saline solution is applied to the roads to prevent the
forming of ice. Then after the snow melts, the salt solution runs-off the roads and onto roadside
vegetation. How does this saline solution affect vegetation and at what concentration is the most
harmful? To duplicate the scenario, an application of salt solutions of different concentrations
will be applied to radish seeds. The hypothesis of this experiment is, if salt solution is added to
radish seeds, the radical root growth with slow. The control group of the experiment will be a
solution of 100% water. The independent variable is the amount of salt of each solution and the
dependent variable is the radical root growth and the percent of germination. This lab is
performed by Anna Swenson, Caroline Corrigon, and Jared David.
To perform this experiment, one will need 6 small jars, a graduated cylinder, distilled
water, a concentrated salt solution (12.0 grams of table salt with one liter of distilled water), 6
petri dishes, 60 radish seeds, tape for labeling the jars, and paper towels. Label the first jar 100%
salt solution and fill the jar with 20 mL of the salt solution. Then pour 10 mL of distilled water
into each of the other 4 jars leaving one empty. From the 100% salt solution jar, pour 10 mL of
salt solution into jar number two. Now there should be ten mL of salt solution in jar number one
and 20 mL of 50% solution in jar number two. Then add 10 mL of jar number two to jar number
three and repeat the steps all the way to jar number five. Then dispose of 10 mL of salt solution
from jar number five so 10 mL remains. Then in the last jar add 10 mL of distilled water, no salt
solution. Label the petri dishes with the same titles as the jars of salt solution. Cut a paper towel
square, put it in the jar getting it wet, then lay it in the petri dish and add 10 radish seeds. Tape
the petri dish shut and repeat for the five other jars. The ended r81.5esult should be 6 petri dishes
with ten radish seeds in each one.
Class data and Personal Data of Radical Root Growth
Concentration
of Salt
Solutions
Mean
Radical
Length
Mean
Radical
Length
Mean
Radical
Length
Mean
Radical
Length
Mean
Radical
Length
Mean
Radical
Length
Mean
Radical
Length
Mean
Radical
Length
Average
Control 81.5 mm 78 mm 89.7 mm 121.8
mm
35.3 mm 72.5
mm
41 mm 19.5
mm
67.41
mm
12.0 34 mm 100 mm 29.5 mm 35 mm 49 mm 7.6 mm 42.5
mm
.7 mm 37.29
mm
6.0 78.5 mm 82 mm 55 mm 99.7
mm
0 mm 50.8
mm
45 mm 12 mm 52.88
mm
3.0 135.5
mm
72 mm 68.5 mm 105
mm
52.1 mm 48.5
mm
71 mm 8.5 mm 70.14
mm
1.5 82.5 mm 40 mm 100.7
mm
110.6
mm
47.1 mm 79.3
mm
45.5
mm
45.5
mm
68.9 mm
.75 87.8 mm 26 mm 118.6
mm
83.34
mm
50.7 mm 56.1
mm
79.3
mm
15.5
mm
64.67
mm
Group
number
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Class and Personal Data of Radical Root Growth
Concentration
of Salt
Solutions
%
Germin
ated
Seeds
%
Germin
ated
Seeds
%
Germinat
ed Seeds
%
Germina
ted
Seeds
%
Germinated
Seeds
%
Germinat
ed Seeds
%
Germin
ated
Seeds
%
Germ
inated
Seeds
Avera
ge
Control 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
12.0 80 40 40 60 70 50 90 40 58.75
6.0 100 90 80 100 0 100 100 90 82.50
3.0 100 80 80 90 80 100 100 80 88.75
1.5 90 100 100 100 70 100 90 100 93.75
.75 100 100 100 90 100 100 80 90 95

The data above shows the relationship of salt solution and its negative effect on
germination and radical root growth. The data, as a whole, showed that at a 100% saline solution,
the radish seeds did not germinate nearly as well as the petri dishes with 100% water. The data
did show that a small fraction of salt in the water for plants is not bad. One can assume this
because the salt would provide energy for the plant. Salt is mineral and all plants need minerals
as well as water but, in such a large abundance the plants are negatively affected. So each time
salt is poured on a road for a snow storm for peoples protection the run-off is stunting the
growth of vegetation effecting the ecosystem as a whole. Food chains are affected because of the
lack in growth of producers (plants) which then effects the herbivores which then effects the
carnivores. So when one part of an ecosystem is effected by humans the circle of life is
disrupted. In relating back to the hypothesis, this data proves the hypothesis correct because by
doing the difference in radical length the salt solution did, in fact, slow the root growth in a
majority of cases. In the future, to decrease experimental errors one group should perform the
test multiple times because some errors could have occurred in the typing of class data,
measuring of the root length or the conversion of centimeters to millimeters.

Work Cited
Norris, Mrs. "LD50 Lab Direction." LD50LAB. AP Environmental Science, n.d. Web.
<https%3A%2F%2Fdocs.google.com%2Ffile%2Fd%2F0B1zpG8NfJrpVLWduYVNJUlB5LUE
%2Fedit>.
"Writing Lab Reports and Scientific Papers." Writing Lab Reports and Scientific Papers.
Iowa State University, n.d. Web. 03 Sept. 2014.
<http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/genbio/maderinquiry/writing.html>.