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My partner and I finally have an idea and our teachers said it was pretty good. We want to test the effects of electrolytes on an invertibrate organism. Our teachers suggested daphnia and hydra.
Does anyone have any suggestions of invertibrate organisms that we can use for this experiment? Also any ideas or suggestions about the project and procedure in general?
Thanks,
Alex
Invertibrate organisms to test electrolytes on: any ideas?
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goalmachine
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MaryB
- Former Expert
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donnahardy2
- Former Expert
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Testing electrolytes
Hi Alex,
What is the purpose of your experiment? What problem are you trying to solve? An answer to these questions will help you pick the right organism and design the experiment.
For example, if you are trying to determine the effect of increasing salinity in the California Delta, you might select an aquatic organism that is a food source for fish. In this case the Daphnia would be a suitable organism. If you are investigating a method to control hydra in your Rainbow trout hatchery, then hydra might be a good choice. If you want to become rich selling food to aquarium owners, then brine shrimp would be a good choice. So, what question do you want to answer with this project?
For your science fair project, you will need to design a controlled experiment. Which electrolytes will you be using? Sodium chloride (NaCl) is the most common electrolyte, but there are many other electrolytes available to use. How will you control the concentration of electrolytes? Is there a test you can use to verify conditions are controlled? And then, the most important question (and Mary has already asked you this), how will you measure the results? One possibility would be to count the change in numbers of organisms per unit volume of water over time. You need to find a result that can be measured.
Once you identify the organism you will be using, then find out how to take care of the animals until the experiment starts. You will want your test subjects to be in identical, optimum condition at the start of the experiment.
Electrolyte concentration can be measured by conductivity measurements, so use the keyword "conductivity measurements," to search for more information.
I hope this helps. Let us know if you need additional information.
Donna Hardy
What is the purpose of your experiment? What problem are you trying to solve? An answer to these questions will help you pick the right organism and design the experiment.
For example, if you are trying to determine the effect of increasing salinity in the California Delta, you might select an aquatic organism that is a food source for fish. In this case the Daphnia would be a suitable organism. If you are investigating a method to control hydra in your Rainbow trout hatchery, then hydra might be a good choice. If you want to become rich selling food to aquarium owners, then brine shrimp would be a good choice. So, what question do you want to answer with this project?
For your science fair project, you will need to design a controlled experiment. Which electrolytes will you be using? Sodium chloride (NaCl) is the most common electrolyte, but there are many other electrolytes available to use. How will you control the concentration of electrolytes? Is there a test you can use to verify conditions are controlled? And then, the most important question (and Mary has already asked you this), how will you measure the results? One possibility would be to count the change in numbers of organisms per unit volume of water over time. You need to find a result that can be measured.
Once you identify the organism you will be using, then find out how to take care of the animals until the experiment starts. You will want your test subjects to be in identical, optimum condition at the start of the experiment.
Electrolyte concentration can be measured by conductivity measurements, so use the keyword "conductivity measurements," to search for more information.
I hope this helps. Let us know if you need additional information.
Donna Hardy