Seed size is definitely an interesting question!  I don't think you need more than one species - most species have a lot of variation in their seeds.  If you compare a species with big seeds to a species with small seeds, you introduce what's called a "confounding variable" - basically, you won't be able to tell if a set of seeds germinate faster because of seed size or just because of what species they are.

If you do decide to use more than one species, you should have a "large seed" and a "small seed" treatment for each one.  For example, you could have "corn with large seeds," "corn with small seeds," "beans with large seeds," and "beans with small seeds."  Obviously that gets more complicated the more species you add - but it does let you test how seed size affects germination rate in more than one species, which is neat!

I would suggest using a species with relatively large seeds, so you can see the difference in size pretty easily.  Something like corn or beans or sunflowers would work well!  So would lots of other species, though - it will be up to you all to decide what plant species you want to grow. 

From the seeds you have to work with, you can pick out the ones that look the biggest and the ones that look the smallest to grow.  Do you have a scale or some way to weigh your seeds in your classroom?  If you do, you can weigh your large seeds and your small seeds before growing them!

Have you made any predictions about what you think will happen yet?  I'm really curious!

Hi team - those are some great ideas for questions!  I think any one of them would work as a project, and wouldn't be too difficult to set up.  Have you done any research yet to see what people know about any of these questions?  

My initial thoughts are that any one of these would work, but I've seen a lot of groups do projects relating to light and fertilizer as part of this theme before.  If you want something more unique, maybe think about temperature or seed size instead!  I think either one would be really interesting to test, and I haven't seen any groups focus on seed size before.  Which one of these questions are you all most interested to learn more about?

Do you have ideas yet for what species you'll use for your experiment?  Do you have questions I can help answer?  Have you started talking about hypotheses or predictions yet (the next step in the scientific method)?  

By the way, I just noticed your group name (Root Runners) and love it!  :)

Hi everyone!  Thanks for taking the time to introduce yourselves.  I thought I should return the favor and introduce myself as well.  :)

My name is Nicole.  I teach biology and botany classes as a professor at a small college in NC.  I really like it here - did you know that the southern Appalachian Mountains has one of the highest biodiversities (i.e. number of species) in the country?  It makes teaching students about plants especially fun!

I like to work with my students on research projects, and am especially interested in interactions between plants and insects (like pollination and herbivory).  I also run our herbarium, which is like a library of preserved plants, and our tree trail through campus.  

Outside of work, I enjoy baking, growing heirloom vegetables, reading, and creative writing (I've written six novels, though none of them have been published).  My husband, five-year-old son, and I also keep chickens and goats, and have a sweet black cat and a box turtle.  

I'm looking forward to working with you on your project!  I think the seed project is particularly fun because there are so many different questions you can ask.  I can't wait to see what y'all come up with for your project!