Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hello! I am a student in the 9th Grade and one of our final projects is a concept paper in research. The topic me and my groupmates decide with is the potential use of Ehretia microphylla in phytoremediation. Our initial plan was to have a in vitro or controlled environment with 3 or 4 pots of soil. One pot is the control group, with no contaminants. The others will be soil with metal contaminants with different concentrations. We most likely are gonna use copper. We want to see if Ehretia microphylla can be used in cleaning up soil.

But we're not sure on how to measure it exactly. I have done some research, but I haven't found anything we can use to measure the amount of metal in the soil, nor see if the plant cleaned the soil or not. Our school is not very high tech, so we probably don't have the equipment for that.

We will really appreciate any suggestions or help in any aspect that I have mentioned. Thank you!

Hello!

Thanks for your question!

Using this paper (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... %20plant's) as a guide:
"Phytoremediation potential of the plants are generally evaluated by determining Bioconcentration Factor (BCF), described as the ratio of pollutant concentration in the plant parts to that in the media, and Translocation Factor (TF), defined as the ratio of elemental accumulation in plant's shoot compared to plant's root."

Thus, measuring the copper content in the soil before and after phytoremediation practice would be a great way to quantify your experiment! You can also look at kits and probes that measure copper - which tend to be quite affordable. This article might be of use too, though it is tailored toward measuring copper in water sources: https://fcit.usf.edu/florida/teacher/sc ... iation.pdf.

You can also try asking a nearby lab if they can volunteer their resources for your project! Here are some tips for finding a mentor: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... tem-mentor.

Hope this helps!