| Explore | For our experiment, there were five aspects that are important to plants that we could have tested; Sun, soil, water, nutrients or Carbon Dioxide. We chose different types of water because it interested us to know what would happen if you water the same type of plants with different types of water. Because of this we decided that our question would be, Do different types of water affect plant growth? We want to know this because it is possible that farmers or gardeners would want to use different types of water that are more efficient and effective. Water is very important to plant health and growth so this is beneficial. Our sources were: https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/food_supply/student_materials/1090#:~:text=Plants%20need%20water%20to%20grow,cannot%20grow%20food%20without%20water.%22 https://extension.wvu.edu/lawn-gardening-pests/news/2021/03/01/how-plants-use-water Water is very important to plants. Without water plants cannot undergo photosynthesis or any of their other essential functions. We knew the importance of water to plants and wanted to test different waters to see the difference in height. |
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| Research Question | The Effects of Different Types of Water on the Height of Radish Plants is what we want to study. We know a little bit about the importance of water to plants and a little bit about the different types of waters. Our research question is Do different types of water affect plant growth?. |
| Predictions | I think that if we water the plants with Alkaline water, then they will grow taller. I think this because the higher pH balance and added minerals in Alkaline water could help the radish plants grow taller. |
| Experimental Design | Materials/Supplies: 20-30 Radish Seeds 1 large store bought bottle of Alkaline water 1 large store bought bottle of filtered spring water 1 large bottle of tap water Enough soil to fill 12 small seed cups (1 large bag in case of accidents is good) Standard 1 inch rulers Butcher’s twine (for measuring droopy plants) LED grow lights (plain white are fine) Moisture meter Colored pencils Notebook and pen or chromebook (for recording observations) Labels for plants. Procedure: Gather your materials Label seed cups by what kind of water they will receive. Fill seed cups with soil until there’s 1 cm of space at the top. Don’t pack it tightly but place it under very slight pressure. Water each seed cup that is filled with soil with 5-8 mL of water. Use colored pencil to mix the wetter layer of soil at the top into the dry soil at the bottom. Add 1-2 more mL of water if necessary. SOIL SHOULD NOT BE SOAKING WET! Use a moisture meter to check different areas in each seed cup. Make sure you have checked every seed cup. The arrow should ideally point to the green or “moist” zone. If it does not, add more water or replace some of the wet soil with dry in their respective situations. Create a small 1 cm hole in the middle of the soil with a colored pencil. Place Radish seed in every hole and cover gently with a thin layer of soil so that you cannot see the seed but it is still a thin layer. Place all seed trays under the plain white LED grow lights. Water the different Radish seed trays daily with 5 mL of the different types of water. Record notes and observations on plant growth daily. Repeat this for 4 days. If there are weekends or some days in between it is not ideal but okay. |
| Conclusion | The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effects of different types of water on Radish plants by watering three different trays of Radish plants with separate types of water; Alkaline, Spring, and Tap for 4 days. There were noticeable differences between the different trays. The Tap watered plants height average was 10.02 cm. The Alkaline watered plants height average was 10.71 cm. Finally, the Spring watered plants which grew the tallest height average was 11.28. The hypothesis that plants watered with Alkaline water would grow the tallest was not supported. This experiment was done over a short period of time and with only a few different types of water. The experiment could be improved by watering Radish plants with more types of water and measuring their growth over a longer period of time. The next thing about this topic that could be studied would be applying the same experiment to different types of plants such as corn and beans or testing different brands of Spring water against each other. |
| Investigation Theme | WOS |
| Teacher Name | Shawn Kessler |
| School Name | Kavod Charter School |
| Session | Fall 2023 |
| About this Project | This group did a nice job of communicating with their mentor and documenting their progress through the investigation. -- Jennifer Hartley, Liaison |
