Info
| Explore | Alfalfa seeds need to be in a certain environment to grow correctly. For example, they grow best in well-drained heavy clay soil. They should also be planted about 1cm deep to give the best results. If you live in a cooler area then its best to plant them during spring but if you live in a warmer... |
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| Research Question | How does the type of soil affect the number of leaves an alfalfa seed grows? |
| Predictions | Our prediction is that if we plant Alfalfa seeds in potting soil, Adri, Nash's, And Ellery's dirt, then the Alfalfa seed will grow best in Adri's dirt. We believe this because Alfalfa seeds grow best in soils that have more clay and by looking at all of our dirt we decided that we think Adri's... |
| Experimental Design | Independent Variable ( What we're testing): Type of Dirt Dependent ( What we're measuring): How many leaves the plant grow The constant variables are the amount of water that we use when we water the plant, and how much light the plants get. Alfalfa seed germinates best at soil temperatures... |
| Conclusion | Claim: Alfalfa seeds will grow best in potting soil and Adri's soil Evidence: In the investigation, the graph shows that Adri's soil and the potting soil both have an average of about 6 leaves which is the highest average compared to Ellerys which is 4 leaves and Nash's average is only 1 leaf... |
| About this Project |
"This team did an overall nice job. There final storyboard showed thorough research, planning and data analysis. They were consistent in posting and communicating with their mentor!" - Evelyn Gray, Teacher The team gave the extra mile to present make a graph and make sense of... |
Updates
Thank you for everything!! Good bye!!!
Thank you! This was a great project!
These are great data everyone! It is really neat to see how much Nash's soil differed from the other three. It looks like most of the data on the first three groups are similar except for trail 3. Since you only looked at three trials (which were not consistent), can you think of a different way to set up this experiment if you had more time, space, and money?
Ok team, it sure looks like you have data to record and analyze! As you all are thinking about your observations, think about other factors that may impact what you saw. You have different soil types (and defined how they are different), but are there other differences that you did not originally think of? Is there anything else that might explain your results? I am excited to see what you all come up with.
I think the reason that the potting soil grew the best was that it is specifically made for planting seeds and plants probably because it also has more nutrients than the soils from our home.
This is our graph from the last day of observation data
this is our quantitative data from our last say of observations
ok
All of the plants are growing except for mine (nashs)
Ok, great job team. Nash, I see your comment that your plants are not growing, so be sure to record those observations. Your plants may emerge soon, or perhaps not at all. If they never emerge, I think you should try to dig out the seeds at the end of the experiment to see if they even germinated.
It is the color of the soil because Nash’s is more sandy and Adri’s and Ellery’s is darker.
Ok, I am seeing some germination! Some of the soil looks drier than others. Is that observation just an issue with the color of the different soil samples, or unequal watering?
Ok, these are looking great and I like your experimental design! Since you stated that the seeds need to be in well drained soils, be sure to not overwater them. You said that you would water every day, which is probably too much. I would only water if the soil surface looks dry (so probably every 2-3 days). This will also help you over the weekend (when you probably cannot water every day). Some points to consider as you make your observations: 1) Be careful as you measure the height of your seedlings. It is easy to crush or break the seedlings when they emerge. You will probably have to measure them in a straight line against a ruler, so be delicate. 2) You have soil from different locations that differ in texture. However, are there other differences between the soil samples that may impact plant growth that you did not consider or test?
We've noticed that the soil has been drying out a lot overnight and we think the cause is the grow lights so we have been watering them daily. We also decided to change what we are measuring to the number of leaves instead of the height so now we won't have to touch the plant. Another thing that we considered was that the plants may grow better in my (Adri's) soil but it might not be because my soil has more clay, it could be because of the type of soil, the amount of nutrients, etc.
Ok, I expect some germination soon!
Hi Mr. Louis, We have come up with a couple questions we are thinking about investigating.
1. How does the type of soil affect how the plant grows?
2. How does the amount of soil affect how the plant grows?
3. How does the amount of fertilizer affect how the plant grows?
We are leaning towards the type of soil, but we would like to know what you think.
Great questions! All of these would be great to test for your experiment. Here are my answers:
1) It depends on the type of plant, but generally yes the soil type is important. Some require well drained soils (like sand), while others like rich organic soil, and others a more silty loam. Most plants you will probably grow on your own would do well in a high organic material potting mix. It would be pretty easy to get sand, silt, and potting mix for this experiment.
2) Generally speaking, the more soil there is there more the plant can grow and extract nutrients and water from the soil through their roots. Many plants do not need soil per se (most can be grown hydroponically, without soil), but more soil generally equals more water and nutrients.
3) Fertilizer provides nutrients to the plant, but you need to be careful that you do not add too much. Too little fertilizer will cause the plant to grow poorly, and too much may kill the plant. So, it is important to add the correct amount.
Yesterday we had an agronomist talk to us about what they do and I was wondering, Have there been any rare or uncommon types of diseases that you've seen on plants before? Or what do you think is a common disease for fruit plants?
Hi Adri, great questions! Just like how humans get sick, plants get sick too, and there are millions of different pathogens of plants. So, it is hard for me to pick one specific instance. There are some invasive diseases (from other places) that are coming through the US right now impacting our corn and rice, which is a big deal because those are valuable crops. There is a disease called Panama Disease that is killing all of our bananas, which will probably go commercially extinct in the next 10-15 years. Also, all of our citrus (lemons, limes, oranges, etc), are getting killed be a disease called citrus greening. We will probably the first generation of Americans to experience a plant-disease related loss of food items since the 1940s.
Each plant has their own common diseases, so I guess the answer to your second question depends on what sort of fruit you are asking about. Tomatoes always have diseases, specifically Septoria Leaf Spot (a fungal disease) and Bacterial Leaf Spot (a bacterial disease).
we learned that food goes through many processes and machines before it gets to our table. For example for Cocoa beans get turned into a liquid chocolate before it gets hardened as chocolate and then gets packaged to then get shipped to our tables.
Great to hear Adri! Most of our packaged foods are processed in some form before we eat them. Can you think of a packaged food that is not (or, at least, minimally) processed before we eat it?
would eggs be an example?
Do u like sports
Hi Nash, yes I do, but I am not good at too many of them. I ran track and played soccer in high school, but that was 20 years ago. I do play on a recreational kickball league, and that's pretty fun! I also have a fantasy football team, but I missed my league's draft this year and I have the worst team. I haven't won a game yet!
Sorry I typed it twice, it wasn't sending
Hi everyone! My name is Lou Hirsch, and I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Plant Pathology at the University of Kentucky in Lexington, KY. I study microbes that make plants sick, and adapt university science lab experiments into middle and high school class excises. Other than work stuff, I play on a terrible adult league kickball team and I am also a scuba instructor. I am excited to help you all out with this project, and let me know if you have any questions!
Hi, I'm Adri, a few things about me are that I do cheer, I have 3 brothers, and I have a weiner dog named oreo. In my free time, I like to hang out with friends, sleep, or go shopping. I also love to go to my school's football or basketball games to hang out with friends.
Hi I'm Nash i play football, basketball and lacrosse. I have two older brothers and a dog.
Hi I am Ellery, I have an annoying brother and a cat. I play softball for two different teams. Hangtof and the Diamond Catz. I also play school volleyball. I have nothing else to say :| I don't like to do very many things :|
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Hi All, I am Wanderson. You also can call me Wander. I am a Ph.D. student at The Ohio State University. I have been involved with agriculture my whole life. I grew up on a farm, studied high school in an agricultural boarding school, did a BS in agronomy, and now I am doing a Ph.D. in Agronomy. I will be the liaison for the group. Your mentor will communicate with you all soon. Feel free to start introducing yourself if you haven’t done it already. I am looking forward to learning more about your project.
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