| Explore | Not many of us have worked with plants outside of school, and none of us have had any extensive experience. A member of our group has done some gardening work, and has previously worked with Wisconsin Fast Plants in middle school. We have discovered from research that Wisconsin Fast Plants actually grow very quickly, when compared to other plants, and they also need very little space. They are relatively easy to take care of, and do not need much special attention. Our group was interested in how to make plants germinate and sprout more quickly, which is why the use of the vortex machine was fascinating; the vortex machine helps strip the seed of its seed coat. If a fast and efficient way of making plants germinate more quickly is found, it will pose major benefits to the large farming industry in the United States. |
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| Research Question | Research Question: Does vortexing of Wisconsin Fast Plant seeds affect their growth rates? We are studying/experimenting to see if the growth of Wisconsin fast plants are affected by a "vortex" treatment performed on the seeds prior to planting. Our vortex treatment consists of using a vortex machine to vibrate a group of seeds together in a test tube. We decided on this experiment after asking ourselves, "how would seeds react to being vibrated?" We know that seeds have an outer covering that the roots and stem have to break through when germinating and sprouting. Therefore, we hypothesized that a "sanding" treatment to the seeds, performed by the vortex machine, would wear down the seed coat and allow the plants to germinate more quickly. |
| Predictions | Our hypothesis is that if Wisconsin fast plant seeds were vortexed with sand, then those seeds would grow faster than if they had been vortexed with only other seeds, which would grow faster than seeds that had not been vortexed at all; however it is possible that the seeds may grow at different rates, or, indeed, that some may not even sprout at all. All seeds have a protective outer covering, called the testa. Our experiment tests whether giving seeds the vortex treatment would wear down their testae, thus making it easier for the plant to break through the covering when sprouting. Because silicon dioxide is harder than the actual seeds are, vortexing with laboratory sand would impose more strain on the testae than other seeds would. |
| Experimental Design | Our plan is to record information on when the fast plants appear above the soil. Three groups of 12 seeds, one group previously vortexed, another group vortexed with sand, and another group with no vortex treatment, were planted. One of each group was planted in each of 12 film canister. A time-lapse camera was set up in order to more accurately pinpoint when the plant reached the mark. Independent Variable: whether the seed was exposed to the vortex machine Dependent Variable: plant sprouting rate Constants: light intensity and amount, watering frequency and, air conditions, temperature, soil (in the same pot) We will record how long it took for each plant to sprout. |
| Conclusion | The average time it took for the seeds to sprout did not vary greatly between the different groups, and the range of the sprouting times was slightly less than three and a half hours. Furthermore, 4.5 seeds from the control, 5.5 from the seed vortex, and 2 from the sand vortex group sprouted first of the other plants in their canister, leaving only a difference of one between control and seed vortex and, despite the authors’ supposition that it would sprout first, sand vortex lagging behind. Therefore, the hypothesis was not supported by the observations; vortexing the seeds did not have a positive influence on time it took to sprout, as the two experimental groups took an overall longer time to sprout than the control group. Several factors may have affected the integrity of the experiment. Mainly, a combination of human error and natural variability in the materials slightly altered the constants of the experiment. For example, the composition of the soil in each canister was not uniform because there were different amounts of each component in the potting mix bag, and the amount of soil that went in each canister was measured visually, not by making sure that they each had the same mass. In addition, soil density was slightly different because the pressure on the canisters was exerted by an irregular human hand. Also, since the wicks that were used were reused from a previous experiment, it is possible that some were not as effective as they could have been. Their sizes were also not uniform, perhaps drawing up more water for some canisters than for others. The unexpected outcome of the experiment may be because the seed coat is thick enough to withstand some outside forces. In the real world, the data collected from this experiment could mean that seeds are not greatly affected by vibrations in the earth, including earthquakes and other natural disasters, or by human-induced circumstances such as being transported in trucks. |
| Investigation Theme | WOS |
| Grade Level | High School Students (Grades 9,10,11,12) |
| School Name | High Technology High School |
| Session | Fall 2016 |
