Planting Science - Projects: Wisconsin Fast and Furious Plants
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Wisconsin Fast and Furious Plants

Project by group hthsrochefall2017

Explore For this experiment, we are focusing on a specific plant variety: Wisconsin Fast Plants, plants closely related to mustard and wild cabbage vegetables. Here is what we know about Fast Plants from outside of school: 1. Fast Plants germinate. 2. Fast Plants grow roots. 3. Fast Plants take in water. 4. Fast Plants absorb light energy. 5. Fast Plants grow flowers. 6. Fast Plants produce pollen. 7. Fast Plants grow seeds.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________What we have discovered in class and background research: 1. Fast Plants grow shoots and leaves at first through cotyledons. 2. Fast Plants need constant fluorescent light. 3. Fast Plants need a constant water supply. 4. Fast Plants grow seed pods. 5. Fast Plants have a lifespan of around 40 days, from germination to withering and dying. 6. Fast Plants begin producing flowers and reproductive structures at around 11 days of regular growth. 7. Fast Plants perform photosynthesis, like all plants, in two stages: the light dependent and light independent reactions.___________________________________________________________________________________________________________Questions about plants that interest us: 1. What is the effect of fluorescent + UV light vs. just fluorescent light on Fast Plant growth? 2. What is the effect of plant watering patterns on Fast Plant above-surface biomass? 3. What is the effect of humidity level on Fast Plant above-surface biomass?
Research Question 1. Our research question is, "What is the effect of humidity level on Wisconsin Fast Plant above-surface biomass?".___________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. We came up with this question by reading articles about how humidity affects plants and through information we learned on the Fast Plant website. By doing this, we learned more information to pique our interest and formulated the question of how increased humidity affects Fast Plant above-surface biomass.____________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. This question fits with what we know about the topic in that we know how humidity is the amount of water vapor in a certain area. Since we know water is so vital to plant growth and survival as a source of electrons for photosynthesis, we can connect the need of water to the need of humidity and question the pros and cons of having a higher humidity level for growing Fast Plants.
Predictions Our alternate hypothesis for the possible outcomes of our study given the variables that we are working with is that a more humid environment will have a negative influence on Fast Plant above-surface biomass. On the other hand, our null hypothesis is that there will be no significant difference in above-surface biomass between Fast Plants grown in a standard-humidity environment and Fast Plants grown in a more humid environment. We think that the plants in a more humid environment will have less biomass because a more humid environment could have too much water compared to a normal humidity environment. Vital plant systems and processes, such as absorbing water through roots, can be hindered when in a more humid environment. Because of this, we believe that a more humid environment will have a negative impact on Fast Plant above-surface biomass.
Experimental Design Hypotheses: Alternate - A more humid environment will have a negative influence on Fast Plant above-surface biomass. Null - There will be no significant difference in above-surface biomass between Fast Plants grown in a standard-humidity environment and Fast Plants grown in a more humid environment._____ Independent variable: Humidity level Levels - Normal humidity level(level of surrounding environment), high humidity level_____ # of Trials - 12 for each group_____ Control - Normal humidity level group_____ Dependent Variable: Above-surface biomass of Fast Plant after 10 days of growth - in grams(measured wet)_____ Operational Definition of Dependent Variable: Measure the wet, above-surface biomass of the Fast Plant on a scale in grams._____ Constants: 1. Tank space (size, depth ~ standard 5 gallon), divided equally between groups 2. Light source (40W cool white fluorescent bulbs, always turned on) 3. Type of soil (Standard potting soil) 4. Growth vessel (Styrofoam quadrants)_____ Data recording - Raw data table comparing control group biomasses (g) to experimental group biomasses, Summative data table, Graph____________________________________________________________________________________ Materials:_____ Consumable Materials - 1. 24 Wisconsin Fast Plant seeds___ 2. 1 roll of plastic wrap___ 3. 6 Styrofoam quadrants (2” * 2” each)___ 4. 1 roll of aluminum foil___ 5. 3 handfuls of small-to-medium size rocks___ 6. 1 bag of standard potting soil___ 7. Standard tap water___ 8. Osmocote fertilizer - about 60 pellets___ 9. 1 bag of soil topping_____ Equipment - 1. 1 standard 5-gallon tank___ 2. 1 plexiglass separator (19.5 cm * 25 cm)___ 3 .1 plexiglass lid (19.5 cm * 19.75 cm)___ 4. 1 beaker___ 5. 1 sprayer___ 6. 3 40W fluorescent light bulbs___ 7. 1 stand on which to hold light bulbs___ 8. 1 pair of scissors___ 9. 1 plastic bowl_____ Facilities - 1. Biology room - Wisconsin Fast Plant growing area___ 2. Tech lab___ 3. Research lab________________________________________________________________________________________ Procedure - 1. Assemble experiment materials.___ 2. Wrap plastic wrap around the plexiglass separator to secure division between the control group and experimental group.___ 3. Insert the separator through the middle of the tank.___ 4. Cut two sheets of aluminum foil that are around 12” wide.___ 5. Put one sheet of aluminum foil into each side of the tank, pressing each sheet flat and folding the sheet edges up to create a box shape to store the Styrofoam quadrants.___ 6. Cut any excess aluminum foil to make the box neat and rectangular.___ 7. Take out the Styrofoam quadrant sections for each group.___ 8. Shovel in the standard potting soil into the Styrofoam quadrants, taking care to leave a little bit of space before the soil reaches the top of the quadrant cells.___ 9. Take 24 Fast Plant seeds and put them into a shallow plastic bowl.___ 10. Carefully put one Fast Plant Seed into the center of each quadrant cell, 12 for the control group and 12 for the experimental group.___ 11. Take soil topping and sprinkle a little bit onto each seed.___ 12. Fill the sprayer with water and spray all Fast Plant Seeds 3 times to give the seeds sufficient water for germination.___ 13. Transfer 1 Styrofoam quadrant section of Fast Plants to the experimental group part of the tank to be the experimental group and transfer the other Styrofoam quadrant section of Fast Plants to the control group part of the tank to be the control group.___ 14. Apply all rocks around the experimental group Styrofoam quadrant section.___ 15. Fill the beaker with water.___ 16. Pour water from the beaker along the outside of the Styrofoam quadrant sections around ⅓” high for the control group and ½” high for the experimental group.___ 17. Spray water along the sides of the experimental group section to promote humidity.___ 18. Apply the plexiglass lid on top of the experimental group’s side of the tank.___ 19. Take photos and notes of the seeds at their present state.___ 20. Transfer the tank under the constant fluorescent light stand for the Fast Plants to grow.___ 21. For the next 9 days, use the water sprayer and beaker to water the Fast Plants and maintain the experimental group’s humid environment. Take photos and notes of growth and other observations in each group.___ 22. On the 10th day since planting, use biomass scissors to collect the above-surface section of each Fast Plant.___ 23. Measure the above-surface wet biomass of each Fast Plant from each group on a scale that measures to hundredths of a gram.___ 24. List the biomass for each plant onto a raw data table comparing control and experimental group biomasses in grams.
Conclusion The results show that the higher humidity level experimental group Fast Plants had less above-surface biomass than the control group Fast Plants. The control group Fast Plants had an average biomass of 0.556 g, while the experimental group Fast Plants had an average biomass of only 0.088 g. This data does align with our expectations as stated in our alternate hypothesis: “A more humid environment will have a negative influence on Fast Plant above-surface biomass.” This was supported not only because the experimental group had significantly less above-surface biomass, but also in that the experimental group had less surviving plants, with there being 11 fully growing plants in the control group and only 8 in the experimental group. However, the extent that the control group plants grew more biomass than the experimental group plants did surpass our expectations; the initial expectation was that the control group would have only around twice as much biomass as the experimental group. However, even though the only variable considered in the experiment to have affected Fast Plant biomass was humidity level, other variables could have played major roles in decelerating the growth of the plants as well. Although our intention was to simply alter the humidity on one side and do nothing else, our results were likely skewed due to circumstances unaccounted for. Because we closed the lid on the humidity group, less CO2 could have entered the tank, preventing photosynthesis to occur at a fast enough rate to keep the plants growing at their typical rapid pace. Another possible affecting variable was algae: competing plants had started to grow in the water on which we had allowed the Styrofoam quadrants to float. This could have caused CO2 to be used up more quickly from an increased number of photosynthesizers in the tank section. Because of this, our conclusion is that the data do support our alternate hypothesis that a more humid environment will have a negative influence on Fast Plant above-surface biomass but that there were other variables possibly affecting experiment results, so a definitive statement of support cannot be made yet. To ascertain whether humidity was an important contributor to the experimental Fast Plants’ low average biomass, a future study that can be conducted would be to have a separate tank for each group so that the two groups could be placed in different-humidity environments and still have the same level of CO2 availability, as there would not be any lid present to restrict CO2 availability to the experimental group. In addition, in a future study, we could analyze the effect of algae growth on Fast Plant above-surface biomass to further explore the relationship between algae and Fast Plants.
Investigation Theme WOS
Grade Level High School Students (Grades 9,10,11,12)
School Name High Technology High School
Session Fall 2017

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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.

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