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The Effects of Wildfire Smoke on Vegetation

CSEF · 2026 Earth & Environmental Sciences (Track 2) (Junior Division)

Angelica Hluchan

Overview

My experimental question was: Does wildfire smoke affect the health and growth of vegetation and how? I chose this project because I want to know how we can protect our plants before, during, and after wildfires. My hypothesis was: If I were to leave a plant trapped with smoke it would probably lose its color, wilt, and die. If I were to leave a plant without smoke it could get over heated in the sun, and it would lose its color. I made this prediction based on my research, and what happened in different experiments. In my project the independent variable was the amount of smoke. The dependent variable was the plant's appearance. Here are the procedures: 1) Place two plants in direct sunlight. 2) Burn mulch and twigs to create smoke. 3) Capture smoke in one bin. 4) Place the bin with smoke over a plant. 5) Add ¼ cup of water to each plant daily. 6) Observe and record plants' appearance daily for 3 days. In my experiment, on the first day both plants did not really change. They had only shrunk about half an inch. On the second day both plants had started to lose their color and the leaves started wilting. On the last day of my experiment, there was a big surprise. Both plants had started growing again and gaining their color back. This is how my hypothesis connects to my experiment. In my hypothesis, I stated that the plants would lose their color and wilt. On day two of the experiment that's exactly what happened. I reject my hypothesis because I said that the plants would wilt and die. In the experiment the plants did wilt but eventually they started growing again and they did not die. In my experiment I would do a few things differently. I would not leave the plants in direct sunlight. I would also test different plants to see if anything different would happen.

Competition history

  • CSEF 2026 Earth & Environmental Sciences (Track 2) (Junior Division) · Entry J-09-03

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