Planting Science - Projects: watermelon warriors
You are here: Home / Groups / GHS Henderson WOS Fall 2020 / Projects / watermelon warriors

watermelon warriors

Project by group ghshendersonwosfall2020

Explore Our group already knows the basic needs of plants. light, soil, water (but not too much), and space to grow. In particular, light is very important towards the beginning of a plant's life. Without the sun, plants wouldn't get the necessary food needed to grow, reproduce, and survive. Plants require UV light, typically from the sun, for photosynthesis. During photosynthesis, a plant creates energy that is necessary for its survival. Without light, a plant would not be able to produce the energy it needs to grow and it would eventually die. Light, along with many other factors, can impact the growth and overall health of a plant or seed. The members in this group have studied plants in the past, whether it be in class or in extracurricular activities, and we also understand that plants have several different needs to survive. Different plants and seeds can have varying levels of resilience, some can grow in any condition when others will only go in very specific conditions. Salinity and pH levels in water and soil, soil permeability, type and quality of soil, temperatures, amount and intensity (direct or indirect) of sunlight, and so many other factors. One of the most important aspects of plant life and germination is the type of soil and the location in which they are grown, because this can make or break the growing process of plants. Some plants prefer sandy soil, others require very nutritious soil (possibly with compost or fertilizer). Without the proper soil composition and amounts, the plant may get sick, not produce (flowers, fruit, vegetables, etc), or it may even die.
Research Question How do different types and qualities of soils affect plant growth? How we decided on the questions- We made a list to decide on the questions to investigate, and we decided to work with this topic because it was something we did not know too much about, but that we thought would be interesting and fun to study.
Predictions We will try to grow a watermelon using the seeds from an already grown watermelon, specifically ones that were previously stored in a local seed bank. We will observe how soil quality and type affects the growth of the watermelon seeds, how the environment affects it, and what a watermelon needs to survive. We will also see how the soil will affect its quality of growth and production of the watermelon plant. Through this experiment we predict to see different levels of growth between the experimental groups. It is likely that the seeds grown in better quality soil, including compost and fertilizer, will grow much faster than in soil that is of lesser quality, like clay or sand.
Experimental Design We will need: Watermelon seeds, clay or other pots to contain the plants in, UV lights or sunlight, different types of soil to test our experiment, and water to water the plant with. We will measure the growth of watermelon seeds depending on the variety of soil, it will be over the course of about two weeks. The experiment will be done in school, and Elyce will manage the planting process with guidance from the other team members and the scientist working with our group. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AWrPg9phZw&feature=youtu.be
Conclusion How different seeds shapes and conditions can effect the way the plant grows.
Investigation Theme WOS
Grade Level High School Students (Grades 9,10,11,12)
School Name Griffin High School
Session Fall 2020

LogoWithTags.png

f_logo_RGB-Black_72.png 2021_Twitter_logo_-_black.png icons8-mail-30.png

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

GET INVOLVED AS A TEACHER  *   GET INVOLVED AS A SCIENTIST MENTOR

SUPPORT US!   *   TERMS OF USE

NSF_Logo.jpg This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #2010556 and #1502892. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

Copyright © 2022 PlantingScience -- Powered by HUBzero®, a Purdue project