Project Information
Many students think of the scientific method as a step-by-step process that all scientists follow in order. But real research is rarely so neat and tidy…it is really more of a research cycle or spiral because things you learn in one step can change your ideas about what you’ve already done or about next steps.
It is OK to change your thinking! We encourage you to go back and edit things you write in this section at any time as your ideas change. Just remember to explain your changes in your updates feed.
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Title | The Dark Four |
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Alias | msasdkesslerfall2018project3 |
Access | public [View public profile] |
Created | 20 Sep 2018 |
Owner | MSASD Kessler Fall 2018 |
Explore | 10/30 - Radish seeds need a moist soil enviorment but you can't over water it. You need to water is every other day but you can't over water it. Watering it everyday can lead to the plant possibly dying. You also have to plant the seeds an inch to half an inch apart in order for the roots to spread effectively. We're going to continue exploring and researching other ideas for maximum growth. |
Research Question | For our independent variable, we are testing the amount of water that we put into our plants. We're going to see how the water is going to effect the plant growth. We think that a little more water will grow faster but if we add too much, that could kill it to. If we don't add enough water, that could also kill it. We need to find out how much water to put in for maximum growth. |
Predictions | Working Hypothesis: If you water the pearl millet seeds a medium amount of water, then it will grow to its max height possible. Hypothesis: If we water the pearl millet seeds 40 mL of water, then it will grow to its maximum height. |
Experimental Design | 1. Germinate seeds using a paper towel, water, and a plastic bag and wait until tiny sprouts grow, water if necessary Germination Process Steps: 1. Take paper towel around 30-36 centimeters long. It depends on the bag size. 2. Fold it in half and put it in the bag. 3. Take 10 mL of water and wet the paper towel. It shouldn’t be soaking wet. Add more water if necessary. 4. Take the paper towel out and open it so it’s laying on the table. 5. Place the seeds in a row. You should have 40 seeds to germinate. 10 extra just in case some don’t turn out well. 6. Wait until they germinate. This should take from 1-2 days. 2. Get 6 water bottles preferably of all the same height and brand 3. From the top down, count 6 indented lines and on the 6th one, this is where you cut the water bottle in half. 4. The lid and the bottom of the bottle should be separated now. 5. Flip the half with the lid upside down and add dirt to it. Make sure the cap is closed. 6. Take a push pin and stab 3 holes in a circle along the bottom. This should be towards the cap. You are pushing the holes into the plastic, not the cap of the bottle. The 3 holes should go around the bottle and there should only be 3. 7. Place the half you just filled into the corresponding bottom half of the bottle you cut it from. Make sure it is still upside down and the cap is facing towards the bottom of the bottle. You should have 6 bottles like this. 8. Label the bottom of the bottle with the amount of water. There should be two 20 mL labeled, two 40 mL and two 60 mL. 9. Plants the seeds, 1 in each hole. 5 seeds per bottle. Make sure the holes look like the dots on a die. 4 on the outer edges and one in the middle. Make sure they are deep in there so it doesn’t uproot. You should use 30 seeds in total. 10. Water your plants every day according to the amount the bottle says. Use a graduated cylinder to measure amounts of water. The holes should rain excess water. If necessary, open up the cap at the bottom half way if there is too much water and it can’t drain through. 11. Check in on your seeds every day and water them. Also, use the centimeter to measure the height of the plant. Check with a moisture meter if you would like. |
Conclusion | Unfortunately, our hypothesis was not correct. But, that’s okay because a hypothesis will not always be correct. Turns out, the bottles with 60 mL did the best when we assumed it would be the 40 mL. We thought that 40 mL would be your “medium amount” of water but it turns out that 60 mL of water would do better. We didn’t think that the 60 mL bottles would do so good because everyday, it seemed like we were literally drowning the seeds. The top of the soil was literally a pool of water it took some work to get it down. The moisture meter even said that the soil was wet when you actually want it to be at moist. The averages for 60 mL always went up per day even when we had to replant them because they uprooted. The averages say 20.5, 24.5, 28.8 and 30.5. Each day it went up. Even the qualitative data said something. These plants were the only ones who started sprouting leaves. The chart even proves it. The line continues to go up while as the other ones had to slant down at one point. We saw that the progress in the 40 mL bottles was better on the first 2 days. The height continued to go up until we had to replant all the seeds in every bottle. Even then, the 60 mL bottles continued to grow more than the 40 mL bottles. We wonder if 40 mL bottles had enough water. We thought that 60 mL was too much but turns out that it was actually just enough. I wonder if we watered the plants at 50 mL, would it do better? 60 mL overflowed the bottle so what would 50 mL do? Our data supported the fact that the 60 mL bottles did better. We thought that the 40 mL would do the best just because it had moist soil and that is where we wanted it to be at. The data also shows us that the averages continue going up. On the last day, the averages on the bottles were 15.5, 24.5, and 30.5. Clearly, the 60 mL bottles had the tallest plants and were the only bottles that were growing leaves. |
Investigation Theme | WOS |
Grade Level | Middle School Students (grades 6,7,8) |
School Name | Magnolia Science Academy San Diego |
Session | Fall 2018 |
About this Project | The students of group 3 always try their best to explore scientific points and use to make predictions as per their observations. |