The Dose Makes the Poison: Testing the Environmental Impacts of Pollution

Biological assays, or bioassays, are powerful tools that allow scientists to determine the effects of a given substance on living organisms. In this inquiry-based lab, students plan and perform a plant bioassay to determine the environmental hazard of common point and non-point source pollutants. The results are analyzed using averages, standard deviations, and TC50 calculations, integrating STEM.