| Explore | 1 member of our team has a garden, another member of our team has little experience watering plants. We hope we will gain more experience through this experiment. |
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| Research Question | Our research question is: What type of soil is best for seeds to grow in out of the options below? Soils: Sand soil Coco-coir soil Mulch soil Potting soil |
| Predictions | Our predictions: We think that the seeds (corn seeds and coriander seeds) we chose will grow best in coco-coir soil because it has the most nutrients and plants need lots of different types of nutrients. |
| Experimental Design | We will have eight pots in total. 4 will be for coriander plants, and 4 will be for corn plants. For each plant, there are 4 different pots, each with a different soil. There are 10 - 12 seeds in each pot and they are watered with lukewarm tap water five days a week or as needed. We recorded data based on when our plants germinated and how tall our plants were over the course of the experiment. Our graphs show what day corn and coriander germinated and how tall corn and coriander were over the course of the experiment. |
| Conclusion | Mulch and sand are the best soils for germinating corn, and soil type doesn’t matter when trying to germinate coriander. Our evidence shows that corn grown in mulch and sand germinated on day 8, and corn plants grown in coco coir and potting soil germinated on day 12. Coriander grown in mulch, sand, coco coir, and potting soils all germinated on day 9. Corn grown in sand and mulch germinate faster than corn plants grown in coco coir and potting soil. Coriander grown in mulch, sand, coco coir, and potting soils take around the same time to germinate. When trying to grow corn and coriander plants tall, mulch is the best soil type.Our evidence shows that from day 12-15, the corn seed planted in mulch grew to be the tallest plant. On day 12 it was 8.5 cm, on day 14 it was 12 cm, and on day 15 it was 16.8 cm. For the coriander, the seeds planted in mulch shot upwards on day 8 and 9, making them the tallest coriander plants. Mulch had the right amount of nutrients for corn and coriander to grow, making them the tallest plants. |
| Investigation Theme | WOS |
| Teacher Name | Sarah Ciupek |
| School Name | Ideaventions Academy for Math and Science |
| Session | Fall 2021 |