Introduction
The Topic is “ How will UV light effect freshwater algae?” The two variables that will be using in this project are Natural light and UV light. The type of algae I am using would be a freshwater alga because it would be easier to measure and also would be use to natural light making the algae more interesting in the process of the experiment. I will be placing one of the algae under a natural sunlight and other algae under the UV light. The UV light that will be utilized would be on the algae for 24 hours at a time. This will cause the algae’s health to be stunned because it would be going into a different source of nourishment. I predict that the UV light will weaken the algae greatly. This prediction was predicted because; the algae would be use to one source of light being the sun. When the algae is starved from its nourishment.
Variables
UV light
UV light is light with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light but longer than x-rays. Some of the most frequently recognized types of energy are heat and light. Other types of UV radiation are gamma rays, X-rays, visible rays, infrared rays, and radio waves. The progression of electromagnetic radiation through space can be visualized in different ways. Some experiments suggest that these rays travel in the form of waves. A physicist can actually measure the length of those waves simply called their wavelength. It turns out that a smaller wavelength means more energy. The UV light is divided into three groups “the near ultraviolet, the far ultraviolet, and the extreme ultraviolet. The three regions are distinguished by how energetic the ultraviolet radiation is, and by the "wavelength" of the ultraviolet light, which is related to energy”. Though some ultraviolet waves from the Sun penetrate Earth's atmosphere, most of them are blocked from entering by various gases like Ozone.
Algae
The other variable is algae. Algae’s habitat includes waters over a wide range of salinity as well as various water-atmosphere interfaces. Algae are photosynthetic organisms that occur in most habitats. They vary from small, single-celled forms to complex multicultural forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. Algae are primitive plants closely related to fungi. They exhibit no true leaves, stems or root systems and reproduce by means of spores, cell division or fragmentation. They "live" from excess nutrients in the water and sunlight for growth. Over 17,400 species of algae have been identified. When the algae are underneath the natural light it is nurtured and healthy. The type of algae I am using is a “Scenedesmus” alga. It is a freshwater alga. This alga is green. Scenedesmus is found everywhere as a substitute of the fresh-water plankton.
Process of Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is the process a plant uses to nurture it self. Light is an important factor in the photosynthesis process for the growth of algae. With the process algae grows healthier and more natural. Photosynthesis is how plants use light and water to make sugar. Sugar is created in the green parts of a plant and every animal on earth depends on it. Without plants we would have no food to eat or oxygen to breath Plants absorb a common gas called carbon dioxide, pull water up through their roots and use light to make sugar. Plants use the sugar to grow. Plants give off oxygen as a by-product. The green parts of the plant make the sugar and oxygen.
The two variables being algae and UV light relate to each other because they both are very dangerous to human beings or even living organisms. UV light is dangerous to humans because it can cause skin cancer and regular cancer. That is why scientist has made sunscreen to help block the Uv light from piercing the human skin. UV rays as an effective treatment for many ailments. “However, UV rays have received bad press due to their contributions to the "greenhouse effect." UV intensity is now forecast in population centers daily. National Geographic reported that more than 60 percent of the sun's UV light strikes between 10a.m and 3p.m, increasing the risk of tissue damage”. “In response, people began darkening windows, wearing sunglasses and increasing their usage of sunscreen lotion”. Algae are extremely dangerous and are also very vital to how we live today. The algae are dangerous because oxygen was poisonous to the organisms that populated the early Earth. By producing oxygen, the first algae may have created the greatest toxic waste crisis in history. Algae are used to make dynamite. Plank tonic algae could create a serious threat to the fish population if it were to die off quickly. The dying algae cut off the oxygen in the water, threatening the fish. In small amounts, this type of algae the. The algae are being treated as food for fish;
however, it can get out of control rapidly and choke the pond. Even though string algae provide oxygen during the sunlight hours, it also consumes oxygen from dusk to dawn, canceling out the oxygen-generating benefit. In addition, if you attempt to kill off the algae all at once using herbicide or salt, the resulting effect of the dying algae depleting the oxygen could be fatal to the fish. This means that some specific aspects of the algae could be extremely dangerous. Algae are also a threat to ocean life. Algae can be very vital towards our survival because algae might have some exponents to help save the planet and also help skin cancer caused by UV light. Algae such as red marine algae or seaweed are well known for its medicinal properties. These two would relate to each other because they both have dangerous affects but also can play a vital roll in life. People can learn many things from my investigation. One of the many things they can learn is that algae would not be best under special conditions of UV light. This will reflect on the idea of getting rid of some algae in ponds that could be dangerous to so marine life. This will also teach people that algae can be helpful. It can be helpful by having its own hazard attributes contradict with the hazard from the UV light. This will relate to the environment by knowing wear algae should live if the algae would be used for a good cause. If the algae were in natural sunlight with no UV light interference then it would not interfere or harm the algae’s purpose.
The importance of this investigation is to find out what kind of affect UV light might have on algae. This is important because algae might have an effect when it is done with basking in the UV light. The algae might produce an ingredient to a substance that can cure some type of disease. This investigation will also show how different or complete opposites can affect each other or that can help people in there every day lives. This shows that every thing has an effect on every thing that is unknown to human kind. The algae that are being used in this project would be fresh water algae. This would be a good choice in algae because most experiments use fresh water algae. This will help the environment in a couple different ways. This can help with getting algae out a pond to not make the fish diseased making the food chain a little better. This can also help by making the algae kill some diseased animals or keep the environment clean by eating all the other bacteria. The UV light will affect the algae so the UV light could possibly be used to get rid of unwanted algae in ponds or lakes.
