| Explore | Pepper seedlings are pretty easy to look for, as they have different characteristics than other plants. It takes anywhere from a week to a month for a pepper seed to germinate. Once the sprout is above the soil, it has 2 green leaves at the top of the stem. The leaves are narrow and pointy (they are called “seed leaves” or cotyledons). Within a week or so, more leaves continue to grow, but these leaves are called “true leaves” because they look like tiny pepper leaves. The rest of the leaves that the plant grows are also called “true leaves”. A lot of plants and trees like sand. For example, palm trees and tropical plants such as cacti, sedum, lamb's ears, purple coneflower, coreopsis, lavender, or euphorbia species. Some plants don't need sand to grow but pepper plants can have sand and it won’t harm them. Peppers also love sand. In fact, they grow better in sand than soil. Sand helps drain the water faster and easier than soil, making sand a good factor to have for pepper plants. Sand has many distinct differences from soil. Sand is a loose material that is made out of tiny grains of rocks and minerals, while on the other hand, soil is a loose layer that covers the surface of the planet. Sand is on the ocean floor while the soil covers most of the land other than deserts. Sand will change the drainage in the soil, a small amount actually affects how many nutrients are in the soil. Growing most plants in sand take a little more effort than growing them in soil. Sand has very low fertility and has some organic material, while soil has a lot of fertility and organic matter. Additionally, sand does not hold nutrients or moisture very well. Plants with more elaborate, deep growing rooting system will grow well. |
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| Research Question | How does the amount of sand in the soil affect how tall the seed grows? |
| Predictions | The variables are all sand, no sand, or half sand, half soil. My prediction is that all sand is going to make the plant tallest because one of our sources stated that pepper plants thrive in sand. Also, a pepper plant likes a well drained, loamy soil and sand provides that. |
| Experimental Design | INVESTIGATION PLAN: Pot #1: 2/3 cup of sand Pot #2: 2/3 cup of soil Pot #3: 1/3 cup of sand, 1/3 cup of soil MATERIALS LIST: 3 small pots 6 red bell pepper seeds altogether for each trial (18 for 3 trials) Water Growth light or window Sand Garden soil Temperature around 70 degrees fahrenheit Piece of tape Pencil Measuring cup Ruler INSTRUCTIONS TO PLANT THE SEED: *Before we planted the seeds we grew them in petri dishes for 4 days because pepper seeds take longer to grow* 1. Place 3 small, empty pots next to each other on a windowsill or under a growth light 2. Place a piece of tape of each pot 3. Write your group name on the tape on each pot. Label the first one 1, the second one 2, and the third one 3. Label pot #1 sand, pot #2 soil, and pot #3 half soil, half sand. 4. Measure 3 cups of sand and pour into pot #1. Measure 3 cups of soil and pour into pot #2. For pot #3, measure 1.5 cups of sand and 1.5 cups of soil and pour into the pot and mix evenly. 5. Using your finger, dig a small hole in all three of the pots, that is 1/4 of an inch deep in the center of each pot. 6. Grab 2 red bell pepper seeds and place both of them in the hole you made for pot #1. 7. Grab 2 red bell pepper seeds and place both of them in the hole you made for pot #2. 8. Grab 2 red bell pepper seeds and place both of them in the hole you made for pot #3. 9. Cover all three holes with some of the material that is in each of the pots. 10. Water each pot evenly until the top layer of each pot is moist. DO NOT OVERWATER! 11. Water the seeds every 1-3 days if the top soil is dry. If the top soil is wet, do not water. 12. Make observations and measure with the ruler the height of the plant and observe the color of the sprout. 13. Repeat this process 2 more times so there will be 3 trials CONSTANTS: Red bell pepper seeds, small pot for each, two seeds per hole, 1/2 of an inch deep, 1 inch of water every week, they will grow under a growth light, and water them every 1-3 days depending on if the top soil is moist or not. |
| Conclusion | CLAIM: The half sand, half soil plant grew the tallest. EVIDENCE: The half soil, half sand plant is 3.9 cm, compared to the all soil plant which is 3 cm, and the all sand plant as 2.5 cm. It was the first plant to sprout and each plant in each trial sprouted. Also, they were the only ones to grow four leaves. REASONING: This shows that half sand, half soil is the best soil combination to have the tallest pepper plant because it had the tallest plants out of our two other soil types (all sand and all soil). Also, all of the half sand, half soil plants grew in each trial. They also grew the fastest, growing almost an extra centimeter taller than the other plants. The half sand, half soil pepper plants grew four leaves, making it taller, compared to only two leaves that the others had. |
| Investigation Theme | AFW |
| Teacher Name | Evelyn Gray |
| School Name | DeWitt Middle School |
| Session | Spring 2022 |
| About this Project | This team showed a lot of interest in their project! They were determined to set up a good experiment, used their mentors suggestions and asked a lot of good questions. - Evelyn Gray, Teacher
The team were consistent with their communication. For every step they took, they kept a good communication with their mentor. Great presentation of their results. - Wanderson Novais, Scientist Liaison |
