| Explore | Plants require nutrients to develop into strong healthy plants. Those nutrients include phosphorus, potassium, and nitrogen. Nitrogen helps plants make proteins to produce tissues, but if there is too much nitrogen, the plants growth may create an abundance of leaves and not flowers/fruit. Phosphorus helps the health of a seedling by transferring energy from one part of a plant to the other. Potassium improves the health of the plant and provides seed resistance. All of these nutrient are vital for a plant to thrive. However, coconut coir does not consist of those nutrients. In order to provide the nutrients, fertilizer must be integrated into the grow medium. |
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| Research Question | What is the effect of fertilizer compounds in the development of heirloom seedling grown in coconut coir, in an urban environment? |
| Predictions | We believe the fertilizer compound with the greater amount of phosphorus will have an average height 40% taller then the control. This is because phosphorus improves seedling health by helping the plant transfer energy from one part yo another. |
| Experimental Design | Our plan is to run four different trials. The control with no fertilizer, one with 4-6-4, one with 4-4-6, and one with 6-4-4. The independent variable is the ratio of nutrients in the fertilizer. The dependent variable is the height and amount of leaves. Our constant variables will be the amount of sunlight, water amount, variety of seed, sample size, and type of container. We will record our data on a spreadsheet and plan to test this experiment multiple times. |
| Investigation Theme | WOS |
| Grade Level | Middle School Students (grades 6,7,8) |
| School Name | Lakeland Christian School |
| Session | Fall 2019 |