Info
| Explore | Germination is the process in which a plant grows, roots, and sprouts. Germination starts with imbibition, it occurs when a dry seed absorbs water and begins to swell. Water softens the outer layer of seed. Then it uses its stored food supply to fuel the beginning of growth. The root sprouts... |
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| Research Question | How does the amount of sugar in the water affect the rate of germination? |
| Predictions | If the amount of granulated sugar in the water increases, then the rate of germination will take longer. We think this because it will take longer and more effort for the plant to break the extra sugar down. |
| Experimental Design | Using the buckwheat seed, we will put 10 seeds in separate trays. Fill one tray with water and, then the next with water and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Lastly, we will put 1 teaspoon of sugar in another tray. We will label the seeds in the tray. After 1 week we will measure the growth of each seed... |
| Conclusion | Claim: The seeds with no sugar in their water germinated faster than the seeds with sugar in their water. Evidence: In our experiment the seeds growth average with 0 tsp of sugar in their water was 6.324 cm. The seeds growth average with ½ tsp of sugar in their water was 0 cm. The seeds growth... |
| About this Project |
The team had great communication with the scientist mentor, being also able to produce nice graphs to show their experimental outcomes, as well as to explore possible reasons that might be behind their observations. |
Updates
This is the evaluation
Some sources of error that occurred in my experiment:
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The movement of seeds. We had to change paper towels since our paper towels were turning green and slimy which meant we needed to transfer the seeds. This affected the experiment because if the seeds were growing we could have damaged the root hair or stems.
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Over watering. This affected the experiment because we probably killed the seeds by drowning them or the water made the paper towel moldy along with the seeds.
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Moldy seeds. The overwatering most likely caused the seeds to become moldy which killed them. This affected the experiment because it killed off seeds which caused us to have less seeds to take data about.
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To much sugar. This affected the experiment because it probably took away some of the seeds nutrients to germinate.
What would you do differently next time?
Somethings that I would change next time would be less water, less sugar, and not moving the seeds around. I would change the water to 5 ml instead of 10 ml because hopefully it would not make the seeds and paper towel moldy which would end up making the seeds healthier. I would change the amount of sugar from ½ - 1 tsp of sugar to ⅛ - ¼ tsp of sugar because in the article I read it said a very small amount of sugar could help the plant grow better but ½ - 1 tsp of sugar was probably to much. Finally, I would change not moving the seeds around because if the seeds were growing when we moved them then we could have damaged them which caused them not to grow.
How confident are you in your trials?
I am somewhat confident in my results. I am strongly confident in my trials because I did do 10 trials like your supposed to. I am only somewhat confident in my attempt to minimize errors and my use of scientific concepts because I tried hard on them but I just think they are good not great. The only thing is I am only a little confident on my results being confirmed since what happened in the experiment was the opposite of what was expected. In the articles that we read it said that sugar is good for a plant and it would help it grow so we expected that but instead our seeds died and got moldy as well as the paper towel so our group was surprised by that.
Thanks for sharing your final evaluation, team. You did a nice job of outlining different potential factors that may have influenced your experiment. Indeed, it would be interesting to try the experiment with different concentrations of sugar, to see if there was a point at which the sugar no longer affected the germination of the seeds. The mold growth is a tricky one to avoid!
Thank you for helping us with our experiment. We had a great time and we learned a lot and had a lot of fun. Stay healthy and have a great year!
Excellent work, team!
Hi team!
I really enjoyed working with you this semester on Planting Science.
I think you have done a nice job in terms of your conclusions. Indeed, as water moves out of the seed when it is placed in sugar or salt water, that can prevent it from taking in the water needed to germinate. As you note, the moldiness of the seeds is also likely to have contributed to their lack of germination. Sometimes the same thing will happen to seeds in the soil outside, especially if it has been a very wet spring. This can prevent a crop from sprouting.
I am glad you were able to participate and that you enjoyed the process! Science can be hard work but I find that the excitement of testing and learning new things is what drew me to this career. I hope you have a healthy and happy rest of the spring semester.
Sincerely,
Cathy
Once Again Thank You, I want to retry this experiment at home with different measurements and I will use your tips and tricks to help. -Nevaeh
That sounds like a great idea, Nevaeh!
Farewell and Best Wishes
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. You have until Tuesday, April 25, 2021, to post ALL of your updates, comments, and goodbyes. 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, this is Nevaeh I just wanted to thank you for helping our group and answering our questions it been really nice to work with you so thanks. :)
The y-axis on our graph is showing how long the seeds got in centimeters. We noticed that the seeds with sugar water were very moldy. Since water in the seeds would be going out, the seeds would dry up. Also, we put our conclusion in with our claim, evidence, and reasoning.
I posted my conclusion under the info section. What do you think of the conclusion? Were these the results you expected? Thank you for working with us through this whole experiment! I had a lot of fun working with you and my team!!
Hi team,
Thank you for sharing your data! Can you tell me a little bit more about the y-axis of your graph--what part of the germinating seed are you measuring, and what units are you using to display your measurement?
Did you notice anything about the seeds with the sugar water beyond the fact that the seeds did not sprout? One thing that happens as seeds are placed in sugar or salt water is that water will move out from the seed as opposed to moving into the seed. What effect might that have on germination, if water is moving out of the seed?
Nice work, team!
Sincerely,
Cathy
This is our graph displaying our data.