Katie Milo

Period 2
12/3/15

Salinization Lab
Pre-Lab
1. This lab relates to soil ecosystems and food production because it
helps determine what kind of environments and conditions that plants
and vegetation have the best growth in.
2. Farmers need to know salt concentrations because some species of
plants tend to have higher/lower growth rates in presence of specific
salt levels. Knowing the salt concentrations helps the farmers
determine whether or not to plant certain organisms.
3. Salt buildup is a potential problem in irrigated farm land in the US
because it may stop the plants from getting enough water because the
salt is absorbing it. Also, it may affect continuous growth of the plant
in its process.
4. .005% of salt concentration is acceptable.
Purpose
Our purpose of this experiment was to investigate salt concentrations in
water and their effects of germination on seeds. The independent variable of
this experiment is the salt concentrations. The dependent variable is how
many radish seeds germinated. The control of the experiment is the normal
water with no salt added. I chose my concentration levels to show the
differences in lower and higher concentrations and their effects on growth.
Hypothesis
If a concentrations of salt is present in the water provided for radish seeds,
then growth/germination will be decreased.

Data Table
Petri
Dish

Number
of seeds

Control
1
2
3
4

20
20
20
20
20

Concentrat
ion of salt
solution
(%)
0
5
10
15
20

Number
Germinat
ed

Number
with no
growth

%
germinat
ed

16
0
0
0
0

4
20
20
20
20

80
0
0
0
0

Katie Milo
Period 2
12/3/15

Graphs

Seeds Germinated per Salt Concentration

18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0

Amount Germinated
Control

5%

10%

15%

20%

Katie Milo
Period 2
12/3/15

Seeds Germinated per Salt Concentration

18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
Day 1

Day7
Control

5%

10%

15%

20%

Analysis
1. It seems that with any presence of salt in their solution, comes the
consequence of no growth. The control group had growth, while the
other groups with salt had none.
2. It seems that there was a higher percentage of seeds germinated that
were provided with normal water versus the seeds provided with any
level of salt concentration who had no growth at all and therefore a
lower percentage.
3. My experiment did support my hypothesis.
4. An error that may have occurred during this experiment was adding
too much of the salt solution to our radish seeds. This may be
corrected next time by adding less solution (while still keeping a
continuous amount of concentration for each group) to the seeds.
Another error may be that we added too much salt to each solution.
This may be corrected next time by adding slightly less salt to each
solution. Both of these errors could have affected the growth and
results of the seeds.
5. Increasing levels of salt affects seed growth because its stunts growth,
lowers crop yields, and can eventually kill plants and ruin the land.
Over-irrigation may be the cause for this because usually when salt
goes into the soil, it dissolves the salts that are there. However, when
the water evaporates, it leaves behind the salt that it previously
dissolved. After repeatedly applying water, salts begin to accumulate

Katie Milo
Period 2
12/3/15

in the upper soils(salinization). Also, waterlogging may be a cause by

water accumulation underground and gradually rising up, bringing the
water table with it. Then, when farmers add more water to the soil to
reach the salts in deeper soil, improper drainage causes the salty
water to stay low below the surface and absorb into deep roots of
plants. This lowers their productivity and can even kill them.
6. A method of remediation for salty soil is flushing it, but it is expensive
and wastes water. Another methods includes stopping the process of
growing crops for 2-5 years. Another method would include installing
underground drainage systems, but that is expensive as well.
7. The negative affect of salinization affects farmers supplies and demand
because they are constantly trying to provide more water and
hydration for their soils and vegetation to support their increasing want
for food. With more population, comes the rising need for food and
energy. This results in the farmers continuously trying to create more
food and adding more water to the soil. After adding more water,
unfortunately the salinization increases and salt concentrations in the
soil. This can kill plants or decrease their growth. This leaves farmers
in a situation that prevents them from knowing how much water to add
or subtract from their watering rituals.