fairfolio
Saved Projects

Effects of Varying Zinc Concentrations on Bioluminescence in Cypridina hilgendorfii

CSEF · 2008 Pharmacology/ Toxicology

Debra C. Chang · Palos Verdes Peninsula High School, Rolling Hills Estate, Los Angeles County

Overview

Objectives/Goals This study determined the effect of varying zinc concentrations on the bioluminescence of Cypridina hilgendorfii, a marine shrimp. The results were compared to my previous year's project that determined the effect of phosphate on this crustacean. The result of the present experiment may be used to find the concentration of a common water pollutant, the metal zinc. Methods/Materials Preserved Cypridina were introduced into zinc sulfate solutions in concentrations of 0.05 g/ 100 mL, 0.1 g/ 100 mL and 0.15 g/100 mL. The Control Group solution was undosed distilled water. For the dosed solutions, 0.05 g of ground Cypridina and 2 mL of zinc solution were placed in a cuvette. Four trials were done per concentration. Digital photographs were taken of each solution in a darkroom, exposing the film at 10, 15 and 20 seconds. Results The results were quantified using AnalySIS software. The program calculated the percentage of the picture that was black. This percentage was subtracted from 100% to determine the percentage of the rest of the picture, which was light in the white-to-blue spectrum. This light frequency was determined for each picture. Conclusions/Discussion With increased concentrations of zinc sulfate, the light frequency also increased. These results contrasted with the results from the previous year's study, where increasing sodium phosphate caused a diminishment of light. Future research can be done to discover why zinc enhanced the bioluminescent reaction while phosphate hindered it. Several possible explanations are presented. Using the significant effect on the amount of light being emitted, it is possible Cypridina can be used as a bioluminescent indicator of water quality.

Summary statement

This project examines the effect of zinc, a common water pollutant, in varying concentrations on the bioluminescence of Cypridina hilgendorfii by targeting the reaction that produces light.

Help received

Thanks to: Mr. Fogle, for letting me use the school darkroom, Mr. Robert Carr and Tracy Drake for allowing me to work with Madrona Marsh; Mr. Deedar Samant, for letting me use the AnalySIS software at the Doheny Eye Institute; Mr. Peter Starodub for guiding me through the research process.

Competition history

  • CSEF 2008 Pharmacology/ Toxicology · Entry S1504

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