| Explore | We have not learned anything in class about plants. Plants Come In All Shapes, sizes, and colors. Plants need water and sunlight to grow. Can you make a hybrid plant (two plants mixed)? Can you make a venomous plant? One that would make a human sick but not kill them. |
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| Research Question | What is the least amount of water we could give to the corn with it growing just as well or almost as well as the control? |
| Predictions | We think that a plant with under 3/4 of the recommended water will not grow as well as the control. We think this because they have a recommended amount of water for a reason. |
| Experimental Design | 48 Corn Seeds 16 pots 16 ¾ full cups of soil Metal or plastic Ruler 4 ¼ in. of water per week 4 ½ in. of water per week 4 ¾ in. of water per week 4 1 in. of water per week Soil for all plants For our experiment, we want to test how much water corn seeds actually need. Our first step will be putting the soil and seeds into the pots. The seeds will be planted 2 inches deep for all 16 pots. Once that is done we will water them half of what they are going to get on. Our next step will be measuring the water and labeling the pots. 4 pots will get 1 inch of water per week, 4 pots will get ¾ inch of water per week, 4 pots will get ½ inch of water per week, and 4 pots will get ¼ inch of water per week. The pots will be labeled; C (for control), ¾, ½, and ¼. Next, we will measure each plant and record its height in a google spreadsheet. This will continue until the end of the project. |
| Conclusion | Prediction: We think that a plant with under 3/4 of the recommended water will not grow as well as the control. We think this because they have a recommended amount of water for a reason. Conclusion: Our prediction was supported by our data. The ¾ inch of water had the most growth. The average height was 27.9 cm at the end. The control group had an average plant height of 25.1 cm. The ¼ inch of water had more growth than the ½ inch of water in height. This was because the ¼ inch group had fewer taller plants. The ½ inch of water must have had bigger root systems than the ¼ inch of water because the average weight per plant was higher by 0.3 grams. The heaviest plants were the ¾ inch of water, we think this is because they grew better so their roots grew better too. The roots are what gave the plant most of its weight. So, when a plant has more developed roots it weighs more. The control group was the second heaviest plant group. This was not expected. We all expected the control group would weigh the most and grow the tallest. We probably made a mistake. Two possibilities are that we didn’t give the control the right amount of water or we gave the ¾ inch too much water. So, our prediction was supported and we learned a lot about plants. I wonder why the 1/4 inch group had more height and less weight than the 1/2 inch group? |
| Investigation Theme | WOS |
| Teacher Name | Rebecca Buzzell |
| School Name | Nottingham School |
| Session | Fall 2021 |