| Explore | They go through photosynthesis and cellular respiration Photosynthesis happens in the chloroplasts On average, how long does it take for a seed to grow into a plant? I agree with Katie |
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| Research Question | We want to study how does the amount of paper towel on the bottom of the dish effect how much the seed germinates. We came up with the question cause it is on a topic we a currently learning in class. |
| Predictions | If there is more paper towel sheets, then the seeds will take longer to germinate. This is because the paper towel will block the sunlight which seeds needs to get out of its dormant stage. |
| Experimental Design | 1. Get out 10 petri dishes 2. In dish number 1 place one sheet of paper towel, then for dish number two, put two sheets of paper towel on the bottom of the dish. For dish number 3 add three sheets of paper towel to the dish. And, put 4 sheets of paper towel in dish number 4. In dish number 5, place one sheet of paper towel, then for dish number 6, put two sheets of paper towel on the bottom of the dish. For dish number 7 add three sheets of paper towel to the dish. Lastly, put 4 sheets of paper towel in dish number 8. 3. In dishes 9 and 10 do not add any paper towel 4. Add 3 squirts of water to each of the dishes. 5. Place four pea seed in dishes 1-4 6. Place four buckwheat seed in dishes 5-8 7. Place the top back on each of the dishes. 8. Leave overnight 9. Repeat steps 3, 6, and 7 eight times. Independent Variable: Amount of paper towel sheets Dependent Variable: Seed growth Variables to control: Amount of water, Amount of light, type of seeds |
| Conclusion | One sheet of paper towel was the best for seed growth when compared to 0, 2, 3, and 4 sheets of paper towel. When we put no sheets of paper towel in a dish with 4 seeds, the seeds grew very little. Their final growth was an average of 4 cm. In the dish that had 4 paper towel sheets, the average growth at the end was 7 centimeters. Whereas, the final growth for the seeds that only had 1 sheet of paper towel was 13 centimeters. These results were taken from the buckwheat seeds. We also tested this with pea seeds and had the same results. This is because the paper towel acted like a soil for the seeds. In the petri dish that had 0 sheets of paper towel, the water didn’t have anywhere to go, and it almost drowned the seeds.This was like clay soil. Clay soil has smaller particles, so it retains more water, sometimes making the soil have too much water. In the dish that had 4 paper towel sheets, the paper towel was like sandy soil. It absorbed the water too much. This is most like sandy soil, it has larger particles, so the water drains faster. We found the same thing happened with dishes 2 and 3. Pea seeds and buckwheat seeds use loamy soil, a soil that has medium sized particles, to grow. This type of soil is perfect for most plants, and we found that to be true for our seeds. These findings challenged our prior knowledge. I believe that this was a fair test because we did what we could to keep everything the same. |
| Investigation Theme | WOS |
| Teacher Name | Evelyn Gray |
| School Name | DeWitt Middle School |
| Session | Spring 2021 |