fairfolio
Saved Projects

Does Pollution Positively or Negatively Affect the Health of Purple Sea Urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus)?

CSEF · 2006 Environmental Engineering

Laura J. Botzong · Palos Verdes High School, Palos Verdes Estates

Overview

Objectives/Goals The purpose of this experiment was to determine whether purple sea urchins are healthier in a more polluted or in a less polluted environment. It was hypothesized that pollution positively affects the health of purple sea urchins. Methods/Materials In order to test this, two colonies of purple sea urchins were randomly selected: the first colony was located near a storm drain, and the second colony was located far away from any storm drains. Sea urchins from each of the colonies were tested for population number, individual size, and time it took and individual urchin to right itself from an upside down position. Results It was determined that purple sea urchins living in a more polluted habitat were fewer in number, smaller, and took longer to flip over than those in a cleaner habitat. Conclusions/Discussion The hypothesis was proven false; in conclusion, purple sea urchins are healthier in a less polluted environment where their food sources can thrive.

Summary statement

The correlation between the amount of pollution in the habitats of purple sea urchins and the health of the urchins in each habitat was tested.

Help received

Mother helped test urchins

Competition history

  • CSEF 2006 Environmental Engineering · Entry S0803

Resources

Related projects

Closest projects by meaning, across every fair and year in the corpus.

Browse more like this

Source: California Science & Engineering Fair public projects

Save projects to your library

Sign in with Google to keep track of projects you find interesting, organized into folders. An account also raises your daily allowance for “Has this been done?”, and lets you create a key for the MCP server with a much higher limit than anonymous use. Browsing stays public.

Continue with Google