Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments

Chapter 23. Soil and Water Pollution Testing

Equipment and Materials

You’ll need the following items to complete this lab session. (The standard kit for this book, available from www.thehomescientist.com, includes the items listed in the first group.)

Materials from Kit

• Goggles

• Centrifuge tubes

• Hydrochloric acid

• Pipettes

• Reaction plate, 24-well

• Sodium borate solution, 0.1% w/r to boron

• Turmeric reagent

Materials You Provide

• Gloves

• Desk lamp or other strong light source

• Paper towels

• Specimens (see text)

• Water, distilled

Background

Soil and water pollution takes many forms. It may be chemical or biological. The source may be natural—as, for example, when heavy metals leach from a crumbling rock face or scat from wild animals contaminates an apparently pristine mountain ...