| Explore | Collectively, we knew about the healing benefits and cooking properties as well as basic things mentioned in grade school. |
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| Research Question | Are apples susceptible to disease if we inoculate them; following the steps of the potato soft rot procedure |
| Predictions | The apple will not be susceptible to soft rot because it has a different immune system than the vulnerable potato. |
| Experimental Design | 1) We will acquire our materials. Which will be two potatos, an apple, plastic bag, toothpicks, and damp paper towels. 2) First we dampen the paper towels and then rap it around the potato. We will seal it into a plastic bag and get rid of the air inside. Then we will put the plastic bag into a dry and cool environment. Then we will wait a week for the soft rot to form. 3) After a week we will take the liquid from the plastic bag and put it into a small container. We will take a toothpick and dip it into the liquid, and poke the apple in four different locations. One at the top and bottom and one on both sides. We will do the same to the second potato 4) We will then rap them in damp paper towels and put them in separate plastic bags, then store them in a dry and cool environment, for another week 5) After the week is over we will check on the apple and potato and see if they are both infected by the soft rot diseases. |
| Conclusion | Our hypothesis was correct --the apples did not rot when inoculated. The apple has a different immune system set up that succeeded in protecting itself from soft rot. Our evidence that was found to support our conclusion includes: the only smell on the apples was the residual innoculum in the sealed bags. As well as, the apples kept their color and firm feel. To expand on this experiment, we could keep the potato as the control group and experiment on sweet potatoes or other vegetables that have a similar structure to the potato.The conclusion on potato soft is that this infection only infects potatoes. The following examples are some variables that could have messed up our experiment: we could have innoculated the potatoes incorrectly, causing them to not become infected and taking away our control group; the apples could have been soft for a different reason if they had were susceptible to disease before we purchased them. |
| Investigation Theme | PGST |
| Grade Level | High School Students (Grades 9,10,11,12) |
| School Name | Mercy McAuley High School |
| Session | Fall 2019 |