Info
Explore | In the photosynthesis process the reactants are carbon dioxide and water. The products are oxygen and glucose. In cellular respiration the reactants are glucose and oxygen and the products are glucose and carbon dioxide. If the seeds are fresh then seeds can grow as little as 1 day. |
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Research Question | Does the type of seed affect how fast the seed germinates? |
Predictions | If the type of seed is "corn" then it will grow quicker. |
Experimental Design | We will be using the bottle's edge method. We will be using 7 different types of seeds per person. We will also be using water, soil,bottom of a plastic drink container, paper towel, and the light from the room. We will be changing the type of seed and we will be keeping the time that is... |
Conclusion | What claim can we make from our experiment? What are possible explanations for our results? How do the data we collected and our reasoning with scientific ideas support our claim? What future experiments could be done to expand on the results of this experiment? |
About this Project |
This team did a great job of planning their project and communicating with their mentor. When they were planning their project, they realized that their original research question could not be done properly and so they pivoted to a new research question. They also communicated their results... |
Updates
As this research project is now in the final stages of wrapping-up, we wish to thank everyone who participated in this inquiry; the students, mentors, teachers and others behind the scenes. We appreciate all of your efforts and contributions to this online learning community.
Scientific exploration is a process of discovery that can be fun! There are many unanswered questions about plants just waiting for new scientists to consider, investigate, and share.
After the end of the session, we will be updating the platform and archiving groups and projects, after which time new updates/posts will not be able to be added to projects or groups. Please come back and visit the PlantingScience Project Gallery anytime to view this project in the future. You can search the Gallery by keyword, team name, topic, or school name.
Good bye for now.
Warm regards,
The PlantingScience team
Hi team,
Great job! Thanks for being such a great group.
Angela
Thank you so much for your help. We appreciate you a lot, have a great day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It’s great to see that teams from your school are wrapping up and posting conclusions. Enjoy the final stages of your project, and feel free to post any final comments or questions you have for your mentors.
Here is my explanation. If you use corn then it will germinate the fastest. Many plants were close with two days but corn germinated in one! The day after planting the corn it had already germinated. This happened because the corn grows best in warmer temperatures. If we kept the corn growing then it would have reached 37 inches. Corn grows very slow in 50degrees or lower. The other plants did not grow as fast because they cannot grow as fast in cold temp.
Hi Taryn,
Thanks for the update. So your hypothesis was that corn would germinate the fastest, and it did. And you think it is because it grows well at room temperature? Do the other species not grow well at room temperature?
I would also encourage your team to consider the effects of different species. Different species have different DNA and different genes that tell them when to start to grow. You might also want to tie that in to your explanation.
Good work!
Hi Teams and Mentors! First thank you so much for helping us out in this project. Today students began to update you with their explanations/conclusions for their investigations. Tomorrow, we begin spring break. My intention was originally that we would be done at this point, however, we are going to be wrapping-up after break. Please feel free to add any feedback on their conclusions, and they will view it when they return.
Thank you again!
Why do different seeds germinate at different rates?
Hi Taryn,
That is a great question! After working with seeds and observing their growth for some time, do you have any ideas why different species germinate at different rates? In some cases, scientists have thought it could be due to seed size. In some cases that might be true, but we also need to consider temperature/climate, and genetics of each individual, too.
This link might help a bit: https://extension.psu.edu/seed-and-seedling-biology
There are also a ton of scientific papers about the topic! Those might be harder to skim and read through, but check out a few of the titles here: https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C39&q=different+species+seed+germination+rates&btnG=
Hi Maddie,
Thanks for the update. That's a pretty sweet looking graph! It's a little hard for me to read it, but I think it says corn germinated first and then some other species germinated last. I can't tell exactly which species are written along the bottom, sorry. Very nice! Is that result in line with what you expected to happen? Is your hypothesis supported?
Yes! We have measured the plants today which is the last day. Our prediction was actually correct, the corn germinated the fastest. The corn was also 7 inches!
After coming back from the weekend, we found our plants have grown a lot over the past 3 days and they have actually started to become real plants and have started to grow leafs.
Hi Maddie,
That is so exciting! Isn't it amazing what little seeds can do? :)
Are you taking measurements or making comparisons between your treatments yet?
Keep me posted!
So all of our seed have germinated and some have even started to grow as well.
Hi Taryn,
All of your seeds have germinated! wow! That's pretty neat. Did they all germinate at once? Do you see any differences among your treatments?
What kinds of things are you recording and measuring?
We just sent some pictures to you of the germination process. We also used buckwheat, soybeans, peas, ryegrass, fabacae, alfalfa, and poacae.
Hi Taryn,
Wow, that's a lot of seeds! Sounds great.
We had a little malfunction on our pictures. The seeds did not end up showing up on the photos (obviously). We will send them again, thank you.
We actually have just updated our question. We realized that the freshness is not a 100% sure process to figure out. So, we changed it to, "Does the type of seed affect how fast a seed germinates?" We were also wondering, how do we know when a seed is germinating?
Hi Maddie,
No problem changing your question; I think that's very fair given that you don't know the age or conditions of the seeds you have.
So you'll be testing different seeds and their germination rates? I think that sounds very reasonable and like a great idea, too. What seed types will you be using? How will your group treat the seeds?
Keep me posted!
We actually have just updated our question. We realized that the freshness is not a 100% sure process to figure out. So, we changed it to, "Does the type of seed affect how fast a seed germinates?" We were also wondering, how do we know when a seed is germinating?
Hi! I am wondering how you will determine which seeds are fresher than others? The seeds we are using, do not have dates on them.
Yes! We actually are checking to see if they are fresh or not by putting them in a cup full of water overnight. If they float to the top then they are not fresh. If they sink to the bottom then the seed is fresh.
Yes! We actually are checking to see if they are fresh or not by putting them in a cup full of water overnight. If they float to the top then they are not fresh. If they sink to the bottom then the seed is fresh.
Taryn,
I have never heard of that... that's pretty interesting! I have read about doing a germination test on a few seeds on a damp paper towel in a ziplock back in a drawer, for example. The process takes a couple of days (however long it would take for germination to occur naturally, given what species you're testing).
You can read more about that and seed storage time guidelines here: https://www.johnnyseeds.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-JSSSharedLibrary/default/dw913ac4d0/assets/information/seed-storage-guide.pdf
Hello
Hi Cooper!
Has your team figured out how you will determine whether your seeds are fresh? Or which are the freshest?
Have you thought of other ideas you might want to test if you can't determine the freshness?
Hope you had a good weekend!
Hi Students and Mentors - I have adjusted our schedule. We will be planting our seeds/setting up our experiments on Wednesday. I wanted to add time for additional correspondence. We will be checking the forums each school day. Thank you for everything!
We love science and we are so exited to do this project! We also just learned how germination works. Okay now I have a question for you. Which kind of seed germinates the fastest? Is a seed always living? How do we know when germination happens? tehehehe
Hi Maddie,
Seeds all germinate at their own rates. Have you ever looked at and compared the recommendations on the backs of seed packets? Some seeds germinate in 1 or 2 days while others can take weeks! Seeds are generally considered to be alive; isn't that amazing! The embryo lives in there until conditions are just right for that species and then it will grow. Some embryos might not be viable; those seeds that don't sprout might not be alive for those reasons.
What have you learned about germination in your class? When will you know it happened? (Think about what the seed will look like!)
Hi Team!
I'm Angela, your scientist mentor for this project. I'm excited to work with you and provide advice as you work through your experiment.
I am currently a researcher at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, PA. I work with students to understand population genetics of rare plants and evolutionary relationships of eggplant relatives. I earned my PhD at Oklahoma State University, where I focused on milkweed evolution.
In my free time, I love to go hiking and camping with my husband, Kevin. I also enjoy walking and playing with my dog, Mattie, an energetic mutt (though she looks mostly like a boxer!).
Looking forward to 'meeting' you all! Tell me a little about yourselves and feel free to let me know about any questions you have, anytime.
hey I'm Maddie, I play softball and basketball. I am a catcher and a post. I love chicken nuggets and i like math.
hey I'm Maddie, I play softball and basketball. I am a catcher and a post. I love chicken nuggets and i like math.
hey I'm Maddie, I play softball and basketball. I am a catcher and a post. I love chicken nuggets and i like math.
hey I'm Maddie, I play softball and basketball. I am a catcher and a post. I love chicken nuggets and i like math.
hey I'm Maddie, I play softball and basketball. I am a catcher and a post. I love chicken nuggets and i like math.
hey I'm Maddie, I play softball and basketball. I am a catcher and a post. I love chicken nuggets and i like math.
hey I'm Maddie, I play softball and basketball. I am a catcher and a post. I love chicken nuggets and i like math.
hey I'm Maddie, I play softball and basketball. I am a catcher and a post. I love chicken nuggets and i like math.
hey I'm Maddie, I play softball and basketball. I am a catcher and a post. I love chicken nuggets and i like math.
Hi Evelyn,
Thanks for the update! No problem at all, I look forward to hearing more tomorrow or whenever you all have time.
Angela
Hi! I was hoping we would have time to propose questions today, but we ran out of time because of good discussions!! Tomorrow, we will post our questions!!
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