Ocean Acidification-Laboratory Report Title: The effect of Water Composition on the Absorption of CO2 Introduction: Ocean acidification is the

decrease in the pH of the Earth's oceans, caused by the uptake of anthropogenic carbon dioxide from the atmosphere Experimental Question: What are we trying to find out? How? What will happen to the sea water after we blow and it absorbs carbon dioxide (CO2) Pre-Lab Questions: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. What gas are you blowing into the water? CO2 What happens to the gas when you blow it into the water? Its being abosorbed. How are you measuring change in the water during the lab? Color change. How are you measuring the pH of the water tell us? It tells us how acidic the saltwater is. After studying the reactions above, how do you think carbonic acid will affect the pH of salt water? CO2 + H2O H2 CO3 (Carbonic Acid) Increases pH and makes the water acidic.

Hypothesis: Bubbles Protocol What did you predict would happen when you blow into the sea water? Nothing, the water color would stay the same. Hypothesis: Shells Protocol- What did you predict would happen when you put the shells into the vinegar versus sea water? Explain why. I predicted that the shells that were placed in the vinegar would harm the shell and cause some damage to it because vinegar is very acidic. I predicted that nothing would happen to the shells in sea water because naturally shells live in the oceans. Protocol: Briefly explain the protocol used in each of the parts of the experiment. What are the dependent and independent variable? What are the constants? Control: The control of the experiment was the saltwater. 100 mL of saltwater was poured into a 200mL beaker. 4drops of the universal indicator was out into the water and saran wrap was put over the opening of beaker. A straw was stuck through the saran wrap and into the beaker and one of my team members blew into it for 2 min. My group's choice for 2nd measurement was cold water. Everything was done the same except we used cold water. The dependent variable was the pH after 2 minutes. The independent variable was the type of water put into the beaker, and the constants were the amount of water and type of saran wrap used in experiment. Data Table: Sea Water Control Ph Color Experimental A, B, or C Color 0 Seconds 7.5 Aqua 7.5 Aqua 30 Seconds 7.0 Lime Green 8.0 Dark Green 1 Minute 7.0 7.0 7.0 Lime Green 1Min 30 Sec 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0 2 Minutes 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.0

Cold Water

Hot Water Tap Water

8 Green 8 Green

6.5 Yellowish Greenish 7 Light Green

6.5 Yellowish Greenish 6.5 Yellowish Greenish

6.5 Yellowish Greenish 6 Yellow

6.5 Yellowish Greenish 6 Yellow

Data Analysis: (Post Lab Questions) 1. As you blew into the straw, what were you adding to the water and how did that change the pH? CO2 was being blown into the straw, causing the pH to decrease. 2. What did the universal indicator tell us about the water? The pH of the water. 3. What does this tell us about the effects of carbonic acid in ocean water? When carbonic acid forms CO2 enters the ocean, causing the ocean water to become more acidic. 4. Based on the results of your experimental protocol, which factor affects the pH of the water most, temperature salt? Temperature. Conclusion: Was your initial hypothesis correct? Why or why not? Explain. What did you learn abour ocean acidification. My initial hypothesis was correct because vinegar did affect the shells due to the fact that vinegar is acidic. I also predicted that nothing would happen after blowing carbon dioxide into the straw. I was kind of wrong because after blowing into the straw colors were changing, which meant pH was decreasing. What I learned about ocean acidification is that carbon dioxide affects our ocean in a negative way, by harming the ocean life.