Bsma Tolfree
Unit 1 Individual Project
Scientific Method
May 1, 2011

OBSERVATION: During the winter, you spread salt daily on your driveway to melt the snow. In the springtime, when the lawn begins to grow, you notice that there is no grass growing for about three inches from the driveway. Furthermore, the grass seems to be growing more slowly up to about one foot from the driveway.
QUESTION:
I wonder if the grass growth is inhibited by salt?
INTRODUCTION:
Salt is a chemical compound (NaCl), or Sodium Chloride. Sodium Chloride has many uses in everyday life, such as in our bodies, in our food, and on our road ways. Having two elements, Sodium and Chloride, each have a number of jobs to do in our bodies. Salt is found in many of our foods naturally, from fish to vegetables, as well as being used for cooking and at the table. Also salt is used all over the world when it snows to prevent slip and falls and car accidents by it being sprinkled on sidewalks and road ways to melt the ice. When salt hits water or ice it lowers the freezing point in an effect known as freezing point depression and melting it in the process. According to (greenergreengrass.com) salt can also affect the pH of soil and can create an unsuitable environment for grass and plants to grow.
HYPOTHESIS:
The grass that gets exposed to more salt will not grow as much as the grass that gets exposed to little or no salt.
PREDICTION:
If the grass is exposed to salt then it will not grow as fast as the grass that is not exposed to salt at all.
CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTAL METHOD: Ten patches of grass (1ft x 1ft) will be tested. At the beginning of the experiment we will start with ten patches of grass all which are 1ft x 1ft, and two inches tall. Every other day for seven days I will salt eight of the ten patches of grass. Two patches of grass will be salted with three grams of salt, two patches with six grams, two patches with nine grams, and two patches with twelve grams of salt. Leaving two patches that will not be salted at all. Each of the patches will receive the same amount of water and sunlight every other day as well. After seven days I will measure each patch of grass and record the results.
RESULTS:
After seven days I measured each of the ten patches of grass with a ruler. The two patches of grass that were salted with twelve grams of salt measured at zero inches, the two patches that were salted with nine grams of salt also measured at zero inches. The two patches that were salted with six grams of salt measured at two inches, the two patches that were salted with three grams of salt measured at five inches. And the two patches of grass that were not salted at all measured at seven inches.

CONCLUSION: Based on my results, my hypothesis is correct. The grass that was exposed to no salt grew the fastest and had no issues in growth, it measured in at seven inches. As with the grass that was exposed to the salt had little or no growth and had issues with growth. Some of them died off and measured less then what we started with. The results suggest that salt does have some affect on the growth of grass. There could be more testing done on this specific observation by using different controlled variables or different types of grass. With using different types of grass you will have to determine if it needs more or less water, and what nutrients they can hold to withstand the exposure to salt. Maybe we can find a deicer that won’t affect our lawns.

REFERENCES:
Be careful, Rock salt can damage your lawn (Dec. 2010), www.Greenergreengrass.com www.ncagr.gov/cyber/kidswrld/plant/nutrient.html Biology: Life on Earth with Physiology, Audesirk, Audesirk, Byers, Edition 9, Pearson