What is the impact of vegetation on the greenhouse effect and climate change?
8-7258
8th Grade
Nativity Catholic School
Archdiocese of San Francisco
2024 San Mateo County Office of Education STEM Fair
Abstract
What is the impact of vegetation on the greenhouse effect and climate change?
My project is about how vegetation can reduce the earth's temperatures which leads on to reducing climate change and the possibility of the greenhouse effect. I chose to do this project because it is important to know what increases the greenhouse effect and climate change and to know how to limit it. For my experiment, I used two of the exact same pots covered with plastic wrap to represent a greenhouse. Both of the pots received the same amount of sunlight and water everyday. The only difference between the two is that in one of the pots I put in a plant to represent life with vegetation and in the other pot I only put soil to represent life without vegetation. I checked the temperature of the pots everyday and compared the different temperatures. After a while I noticed that the pot with vegetation had lower temperatures than the one without, this means that vegetation has an impact on earth temperature, over time this might lead to climate change. My experiment has proven that a world without vegetation would have really high temperatures and that my hypothesis was correct. Therefore, over the years the earth could get warmer, we would get less ice, snow and water. The heat would also get too intense and impact biodiversity such as plants and animals, which can affect our life and the way we live. Doing this experiment has taught me why planting plants and keeping trees is so important for the environment and our lives.
Purpose Statement
I want to do this project because it will help me better understand our Earth’s environment. With my project I am trying to discover what vegetation does on the greenhouse effect and climate change, and try to find out what causes it to happen. In this project I want to prove that an environment without plants has a higher temperature than an environment with. The results from my project will add to what is already known about the impact of vegetation on the greenhouse effect and climate change by showing that vegetation has a positive impact on the greenhouse effect. The information gained from my project will help others because it will encourage people to plant new trees and take care of the vegetation around us.
Hypothesis
My hypothesis states that the impact of vegetation on the greenhouse effect and climate change is that vegetation reduces the greenhouse effect. Vegetation provides cooling through evaporation of rainfall collecting on leaves and soil. Plants consume carbon dioxide, which is a significant greenhouse gas, during the process of photosynthesis; this can effect climate and weather patterns. If there was no vegetation there would be a huge increase in greenhouse gas emissions. Vegetation reduces the greenhouse effect and prevents higher temperatures by absorbing and dissipating heat through processes like transpiration and photosynthesis.
Experimental Procedures and
Materials
The independent variable in my experiment is the plant, the dependant variable is the temperature and the control variables are the same type/amount of soil, the same sun exposure, the same amount of water, the same type of jar, and the same heat bulbs.
All of the materials that I will need for my experiment will be two jars, soil, one plant, two heat bulbs, plastic wrap, water and a thermometer.
Experimental Results
These are my two pots, one with a plant and one without. The plant is a succulent.
They both had the same sun exposure, amount of water and soil.
This is the thermometer that I used to check the temperatures of the pots.
Experimental Results
| Temperature in pot with vegetation in Fahrenheit | Temperature in pot without vegetation Fahrenheit |
Day 1 | 69.6 | 69.6 |
Day 5 | 70.3 | 70.6 |
Day 10 | 70.5 | 71.1 |
Day 15 | 70.3 | 71.3 |
Analysis of Experimental
Results
My objective doing this project was to prove that vegetation has an impact on climate.
After I have collected data and made some observations for 15 days, I learned that an environment without vegetation has higher temperatures than environments with plants and trees.
My experiment showed a difference of temperatures that goes between 0.3 to 1 degree fahrenheit between the two pots.
These results helped me respond to my hypothesis because it is what I had anticipated.
Conclusions
My conclusion of the experiment that I have done proves that my hypothesis is true, vegetation has an impact on the greenhouse effect and climate change. My experiment proves that the pot without vegetation had an increase in temperature and causes a higher chance of global warming. The plant that I have used is a succulent, after checking the temperatures of the pot it was in every week I have noticed that its temperature is lower than the one in the pot without vegetation. A new question that I have thought of while doing this project is: are there different types of plants that reduce greenhouse gases more than others? Another question I had is: are there other solutions to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases that do not include any type of vegetation? If I was able to continue my project to answer the first question, I would do the same experiment but with different types of plants to see the difference.
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank my mom for helping me get the supplies I needed for my project. I would also like to thank amazon, ace hardware, and my dad for providing the material that I needed. Lastly, I would also like to thank my mom and my friend, angelina for reviewing my slideshow.
Bibliography and
Sources
Using trees and vegetation to reduce heat islands
Knight, T., S. Price, D. Bowler
EPA
october 31, 2023