Planting Science - Projects: The Bonsai Gardeners
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The Bonsai Gardeners

Project by group nebuzzellspring2019

Explore Plants are a source of food and they are alive.We discovered that plants are eukaryotic organisms and they reproduce by pollinating. Although, we want to know what percentage of the world's plants live underwater and what percentage live on land.
Research Question How do different types of plants respond to being grown upside down?
Predictions If we grow Peas, Alfalfa, Ryegrass, and Nasturtiums upside down, then the pea plants and nasturtiums will turn right side up faster than the alfalfa and ryegrass, because they are more vine-like plants and can move easily.
Experimental Design Materials: Plant Seeds 2 Peas 2 Alfalfa 2 Ryegrass 2 Nasturtiums Soil 8 planting pots Water Fishing line Plastic Wrap Paper Clips Ruler Safety: Don’t eat the plants Don’t let them fall on you Don’t let the materials get in your eyes or your mouths Procedure: 1 - Fill each cup with soil. 2 - Put pre-germinated seeds through the hole in each cup and into the dirt, planting them. Label each plant based on the type of seed. There should be 2 of each kind. 3 - Water each plant to begin with. 4 - Put plastic wrap over the top of four of the cups, each containing one of the two types of each seed, and put those cups top-down so that the pea plant is right-side up. 5 - Poke paperclips into the rim of the other four cups, tying those paperclips to the ceiling with the fishing line. This will hang the plants upside down while still allowing you to water them easily. 6 - Record the heights of the plants each Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, as well as watering them. Record this information in a table.
Conclusion I thought that if our group hung half of our plants upside down, one of each type, (nasturtiums, ryegrass, alfalfa, and peas,) then the pea and nasturtium plants would grow better upside down than the alfalfa and ryegrass, but a bit worse than their right side up counterparts. I found out that both the peas and nasturtiums didn’t grow upside down at all, and instead the ryegrass grew best. Therefore, my hypothesis was incorrect. My data showed that almost all the plants reacted negatively to being hung upside down, as the only upside down plant that hadn’t died by the end of the experiment was the ryegrass, which was 20 cm upside down and 12.5 cm right side up, showing it was the only plant that grew better upside down. It also showed that, after germination, several plants would have a growth spurt, and later die, after being suspended upside down. Take the pea plant for example - after growing to 2.25 cm when hung upside down, it died within a mere 2 days, when it hadn’t grown at all when right side up. Finally, it showed that the nasturtiums do far better growing right side up. The right side up nasturtiums grew to 33 cm, while the upside down ones didn’t sprout at all. Turning our plants upside down after they had germinated, or turning them all upside down at the same time although they grew at different rates, may have affected our experiment. It also may have been affected by our inconsistent watering schedule. If I were to repeat this experiment, I would’ve hung the different plants at different times, and start with pre-germinated, equally sized seeds.
Investigation Theme WOS
Grade Level Middle School Students (grades 6,7,8)
School Name Nottingham School
Session Spring 2019

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NSF_Logo.jpg This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #2010556 and #1502892. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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