Profile

• Time Zone

  Eastern

  
  
• Organization

  Mars Hill University

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  Plant-insect interactions, ecology, pollination, herbivory, and teaching.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  What was the first science experiment you ever designed? How did it turn out?

  
  
• Answer the question you selected for profile question 1 here (300 words):

  When I was in elementary school, my mom showed me how to sprout avocado pits. I immediately wanted to make them grow better, so I ran an experiment with avocado pits in regular water and some in MiracleGro, thinking the ones in fertilizer might do better. They didn't - they rotted and started getting moldy instead! But at least I knew to always grow avocados in regular water from then on.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  Do you have advice for students about preparing for a science career?

  
  
• Answer the question you selected for profile question 2 here (300 words):

  Be curious and ask questions about everything. Don't be afraid to run experiments (even small ones) in your spare time. Talk to scientists about what their job is like and how they got their job. Take science classes with a hands-on component.

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  What is the coolest thing you have discovered or learned about plants?

  
  
• Answer the question you selected for profile question 3 here (300 words):

  I feel like this is a question that has an answer that is always changing. But right now, the coolest thing I have learned about plants recently is that there is a pitcher plant that gets a significant portion of its nutrients and nitrogen from an animal pooping in it - it's a toilet plant!

  
  
• Availability

  I am currently available for mentoring, please send me team match invitations

  
  
• Capacity: How many teams at a time are you comfortable working with?

  2

  
  

Recent Posts

mhsmirandaspring2022 project 4 Nicole L Soper Gorden Mar 27 at 04:45pm

Hey team - I hope you're all well, and your experiment is going great!  I haven't heard anything from you in a while, so I thought I would check in.  How are your plants doing?  Have you been measuring plant heights?  How…

more

Hey team - I hope you're all well, and your experiment is going great!  I haven't heard anything from you in a while, so I thought I would check in.  How are your plants doing?  Have you been measuring plant heights?  How do your treatments compare so far in terms of plant height?  If you have any pictures of your experiment, I'd love to see them!

mhsmirandaspring2022 project 4 Nicole L Soper Gorden Mar 8 at 02:07pm

Thanks for sharing your hypothesis!  Sounds like you have some good ideas for how things will look.  There are some other soil characteristics that can be affected by soil texture, including both water content and nutrients.  You may…

more

Thanks for sharing your hypothesis!  Sounds like you have some good ideas for how things will look.  There are some other soil characteristics that can be affected by soil texture, including both water content and nutrients.  You may want to do a little research about how sand and class affect things things ;)  Otherwise, it sounds like you all are right on track.  I'm looking forward to hearing more about how your plants are growing!

mhsmirandaspring2022 project 4 Nicole L Soper Gorden Mar 3 at 08:36pm

Hi team,

Thanks for the update - I'm excited that your seeds are germinating so quickly!  I always get excited when I see new baby plants starting to grow.  :)  I'm about to start some tomato seeds for my garden this week,…

more

Hi team,

Thanks for the update - I'm excited that your seeds are germinating so quickly!  I always get excited when I see new baby plants starting to grow.  :)  I'm about to start some tomato seeds for my garden this week, and my favorite part is watching them until they germinate.

It sounds like you all decided to go with testing different soil textures for your experiment, which is a great idea!  I'm interested to see what kind of results you get.  From your report here, you may already be noticing differences in your treatments.  Is height the main thing you're measuring, or are you measuring something else about your plants, too?  

I'm curious what you all have as a hypothesis for your experiment - have you made one yet?  I see you have a prediction above (about water and germination), but it doesn't address your question (how soil types affect growth).  Do you have a hypothesis about how soil will affect plant growth?  Which soil do you think will make your plants grow more or faster?  And why?  Explaining why you think your hypothesis is right is one of the most important parts of making a good hypothesis!  It might help to do a little bit of research about the different soil textures you chose before making a hypothesis.  

Good luck, and keep me posted!  I can't wait to hear more about how your plants are growing.  :)