Part 1
acidic (pH)
Qty
1
1
3
5
1
1
1
acidification
Per Student
Personal flotation device
Rubber boots (or waders)
Protective gear
Consumables
Buffer solution: high pH
Buffer solution: low pH
Water, distilled
basic (pH)
Qty
1
1 pr
1 set
Qty
100 mL
100 mL
1L
neutral (pH)
WhatisthepHatdifferentsectionsofanaturalwatersystemandisthereavariationinthepH?
TaketimetoanswertheWhatDoYouThink?question(s)intheLabReportsection.
Background
ThepHofawatersystemdependsonvariousnaturalconditions
andtheinteractionofhumansintheenvironment.Itisimportantto
understandthepHbecausetheaquaticlifecanonlybesustained
withinanarrowpHrange.
MostaquaticlifedependsonwaterthathasapHrangebetween5and9.WaterwithpHoutside
thatrangeisunabletosustainlife.
Rainwaterhasanaturaltendencytobeslightlyacidic.Rainfallaccumulatesinnaturalwater
systemscausingaslightacidification.Rainfallthatpercolatesthroughdenseforestlitterand
bogsalsohasatendencytobemoreacidicbecauseoftheinteractionoftherainwaterwiththe
organicmaterial.Inothersituationswherechalkandlimestoneareabundant,thewaterhasa
tendencytobemorebasic.Thisisaresultofthewatermixingwiththecalciumcarbonatefound
intheseregionstomakecalciumhydroxidewhichisabase.
Throughoutnature,acidsandbasesareabundantandtheyarecontinuouslyneutralizingeach
otherallowingournaturalwatersystemstoremaininthe59pHrange.
Youwillcollectsomewatersamplesfromdifferentpartsofanaturalwatersystem.Inthelab
youwilluseapHSensortomeasurethepHofeachwatersample.
SAFETY REMINDERS (COLLECT)
Wear a personal flotation device (life jacket) when collecting water samples for this activity.
Wear clothing that is appropriate for the outdoor part of this activity.
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Procedure Outline
IntheCOLLECTpartofthisactivity,collectwatersamplesfromdifferentpartsof
awatersystem.IntheLABpartofthisactivity,usethepHSensortomeasurethe
pHofcollectedwatersamples.CalibratethepHSensorbeforeyouuseitto
measurepH.
[]
COLLECT
[ ]
1.
Beforegoingout,cleanthesamplebottlesandrinsethemwithdistilledwater.Labelthe
firstsamplebottleSITE#1.LabeltheothersamplebottlesSITE#2,SITE#3,SITE#4,
andSITE#5.
[ ]
2.
Gotoacollectionsite.RecordthefollowingforthesiteintheReport:
date
time
sam
pole
collecte
waterbo
location
weather conditions
3.
Usethesamplingpoletofillthecontainer
withwater.Fillthecontainerfromapointas
farfromshoreaspossible.
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
4.
Repeatthepreviousstepsforcollectingwatersamplesatfourmoresites.
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LAB
[ ]
1.
ConnectthepHSensorDINplugintoAnalogChannelAontheScienceWorkshop
Interface.ConnecttheBNCplugtotheBNCconnector.
2.
SetuptheequipmenttocalibratethepHSensor.To
calibratethepHSensoryouwillneedthefollowing:wash
bottle,distilledwater,threebeakers,buffersolutionsof
highpH(e.g.pH10)andlowpH(e.g.pH4),pHSensor.
3.
Put100mLofthehighpHbuffersolutioninonebeaker.
Put100mLofthelowpHbuffersolutionintoasecond
beaker.Put100mLofdistilledwaterintothethirdbeaker.Putdistilledwaterintothe
washbottle.
[ ]
1.
Connectthesensortotheinterface.StartDataStudioorScienceWorkshopandopenthefile
asfollows:
DataStudio
S06 pHof a Stream.DS
ScienceWorkshop (Mac)
S06 pH of Water
ScienceWorkshop (Win)
S06_PH.SWS
ThefileopenswithaDigitsdisplayandaTabledisplay.Thesamplingoptionsaresetto
measurethepHoncepersecond.Datarecordingissettostopautomaticallyafter30
seconds.
2.
Usethebeakers,buffersolutions,andwashbottletocalibratethepHSensor.
E. Do the Experiment
1.
PutthepHElectrodeintothewaterinoneofthesamplebottles.MeasurethepHofthe
water.RemovethepHElectrodeandrinseitwithdistilledwater.
2.
Repeatthepreviousstepsfortheremainingwatersamples.
[ ]
1.
ExamineeachrunofdataintheTabledisplaytodeterminetheaveragepHvalueofeach
sampleofwater.RecordtheaveragepHvalueofeachsample.
2.
RecordyourconclusionandanswerthequestionsintheReport.
Record your results in the Lab Report section.
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____________
WhatisthepHatdifferentsectionsofanaturalwatersystemandisthereavariationinthepH?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
[ ] Analyze the Data
1.
UsetheTabledisplaytodeterminethemeanofthepHforeachsampleofwater.
2.
RecordthepHvalueforeachsampleofwater.
Time
Location
Weather Conditions
pH
1.
Howdoesyourhypothesis(answertoWhatDoYouThink?)comparewiththeresults?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
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[ ] Questions
1.
BasedonthepHdatayourecorded,couldthisstreamsupportaquaticlife?Whyorwhy
not?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
2.
WhatfactorsdoyouthinkmayinfluencethepHofthewaterinthestream?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Complete the following:
VOCABULARY
acidic (pH):
acidification:
basic (pH):
neutral (pH):
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