| Explore | Germination of fire beans under the influence of different ranges of water hardness |
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| Research Question | To what extent have different ranges of water hardness to water fire beans an effect on the growth rate of the plant? |
| Predictions | The usage of different ranges of water hardness to water the plant will have an effect on the growth rate of the fire bean. The condition of the 3 plants will be different to the control-group plant. |
| Experimental Design | Materials: 4 jars without lids fire beans fertiliser paper towels ruler tab water destilled water supplements: calcium carbonate test strips to estimate ranges of water hardness Method: 1) Take 2 paper towels and fold/roll them as small as possible for them to fit into the 4 jars separately 2) Assign each jar a number to tell them apart (f.e.#1, #2, #3, #4) 2) Put 7 fire beans in each of the 4 jars between the glass wall of the jar and the paper towels so that you can observe them grow 3) Water jar #1 with beans with 150ml of normal tab water (control group) 4) Water jar #2 only with 150ml of distilled water (low hardness group) 5) Mix supplements with 150ml of distilled water so that the range of water hardness is between 8,4 to 14 dH (1,5 to 2,5 mmol/l) 6) Water jar #3 with exactly this medium range of water hardness 7) Mix again the supplements with 150ml of distilled water so that the range of water hardness is > 14 dH (> 2,5 mmol/l) 8) Water jar #4 with exactly this hard range of water hardness 9) Wait 24-36h to see the first results 10) Make sure to let the paper towel stay moist regularly, obviously only with their assigned range of water hardness 11) After you have awaited the first results, measure the different lenghts of the plants every 2 days in each jar 12) repeat step 11 until you can fully compare the different lenghts of the plants |
| Investigation Theme | WOS |
| Grade Level | High School Students (Grades 9,10,11,12) |
| School Name | Klosterneuburg International School |
| Session | Fall 2018 |