Have you wondered what the green stuff you see in rivers is? Well, we will try to grow them in our own lab.
Things Required:
Clear, glass jar
Pond water (collect from a lake, pond, or an aquarium that needs cleaning)
Pond plant (may be found at a pet store or lake)
Directions:
Add the water to the jar. Place the plant in the water. Place the jar near a window that receives direct sunlight. Examine the jar after 7 days and then after 14 days.
This Is What Happens:
The colour of the water becomes increasingly more green.
Science Behind It:
There are 30,000 different kinds of algae. Many are green due to the abundance of a green pigment called chlorophyll. Algae make their own food, as do other plants, by a process called photosynthesis. The necessary requirements for this reaction are carbon dioxide, water, light and chlorophyll. Algae grow in their sunny, watery environment producing more and more cells that contain the green chlorophyll. As the number of these cells increases, the water becomes greener in colour.
Some algae are brown and some are red. It is the abundance of red algae that give the water in the Red Sea its reddish colour.
