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Hi team!

Great work!

In your data table, are the measurements growth since the last time it was measured or the total length of the sprouts?

Also, what were the condition of the stems and leaves as the experiment went on? Sometimes if a plant is not getting enough light it will grow fast and turn a whiteish color as it uses up it's stored energy.

Hi Kevin,

Over the course of the experiment we learned that the beans getting germinated under colored light did better than the ones under the plain sunlight. Somethings that were experimental errors we had were that some Petri dishes and peas got a bit dry at times and so we could have watered a bit more regularly. We also could have labeled a bit more thoroughly just in case. Thank you for all of you help over the course of this experiment! 

-Joseph

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Dear Kevin,

We have concluded the experiment.

We learned that the green light is the best, then blue, then red, and then normal light. Before, I thought that the normal light would do the best, but actually, it did the worse. The other part about the order of the colored light was all correct.

If I would have done it again, I would try to log more days. There were many days we missed. I will post the hypothesis and the graph. 

Thank you so much for your guidance. You were very helpful.

-Minyoung

Hello,

We learned so much from this experiment. Including the fact that seeds germinate faster with different colored light wavelengths! Thank you so much for your help. We couldn't have done it without you! One thing that I would do differently next time is to do more trials so we can get totally accurate information.

-Nora

Hi team!

Thanks for your updates. Sometimes science takes patience. Another thing to keep in mind is that not all seeds will germinate. There are bad seeds. that's way replicating your experiment is so important. Hopefully adding some more water will help the others bounce back.

Hi Kevin!

This is our 4th time logging the experiment. We missed a few days. It seems like the peas need more water. Some of them shrank by a lot. So now, we're gonna do 30 drops on Tuesdays, and 40 drops on Fridays. The red one is doing the best. The green is the 2nd best. No new peas germinated. For the red, there is a 5cm radicle, 3, and 4 1/2. 

-Minyoung

Hi Kevin,

Today we watered all of the seeds with 30 drops of water. Still, only two of the control seeds have germinated, and the seeds that didn’t look shriveled and dead. The radicals on the seeds both measure 4 cm. All of the seeds were pretty dry so hopefully, the water will help them grow!

-Joseph

    Hi Kevin!

    Today the green light-box grew a little bit more. Some of the other peas from other colors are starting to sprout new radicals from the first radicals. The radicals from the green box measured 6, 4, and 2 centimeters. Today we also changed our watering schedule to 30 drops on Tuesdays and Fridays due to lack of growth and dry dishes.

    August

Hi Kevin! 

Today we watered our peas, they were looking dry so we did 30 drops of water today instead of 20. The blue ones are looking pretty good. Their radicles are 5, 3, and 1/2 cm. One of them is really small (1/2). We don't know why, but we do know that it has been bigger before. So either we measured wrong, or it is somehow shrinking? Do you know anything about that? We are working on our presentation for Friday, and we are almost done!

-Nora

Hi Kevin!

This is our 2nd day observing the seeds! So far, the green one is doing the best, yesterday and today! (I made a mistake). We watered the seeds (20 drops). For the red, 3 out of 4 seeds have germinated. The one that hasn't looks dark green instead of beige. I don't think it will germinate. The radicles of the peas are 1cm, 3 1/2cm, and 3 cm. It is the 2nd best out of the peas. The normal one is doing the worst. How I know it's the best is I add up all the centimeters and see which one is the largest. Green has 9cm, red has 7 1/2cm, blue has 6 1/2cm, then the control one has 4cm.

-Minyoung

Hi Kevin!

Today the green lightbox experienced some more growth, their radicals measuring about 2 1/2, 3, and 3 1/2 cm long. All of the colored boxes are growing faster than the normal dish, but this could be from lack of water or other variables. Today we also watered each dish with 20 drops of water. We will do the same on Friday. 

August

Hi Kevin,

Today the radicals on the control peas measured 2 1/2 and 1 1/2 cm. We watered each set of peas today with 20 drops of water. Still, only two of the control peas have sprouted, but they were pretty dry so hopefully, the rest will germinate now that they got some water.

-Joseph

Hi Kevin!

    Today we checked our peas again. The peas under the green light are now 2 1/2, 3, and 3 1/2 cm. Still, only three have sprouted. I am surprised and happy at how fast they are growing. With the new knowledge, we can now guess that since the peas radicles have each grown one centimeter, the peas may have sprouted on Saturday. Of course we can't be sure, but it seems like it is a strong possibility. Today we watered our seeds. We gave each petri dish 20 drops of water, and we put a drop of water on each pea to ensure that it had enough water. Any suggestions? 

-Nora

Thanks for the updates! Seems like you are on your way to answering your question.

Hi Kevin!

To answer you questions, our prediction is on one of our posts, and we have 4 seeds in each petri dish. We are watering 20 drops of water on Tuesday, and 30 drops on Friday. We have checked on our seeds today, and every petri dish has 3 germinated seeds, except for the control. The control has 2 seeds. The red magna tiles have 2 1/2, 1 1/2, and 1cm radicles. The red and blue have that too. But, for the blue and green, the pea that has not germinated is strangely dark green. I think the reason why it was green except for the red, was because it is the darkest color out of blue, green and normal.

-Minyoung

Here is the picture of the red one! It's kind of hard to see.Displaying IMG_2254.jpg

Hi Kevin!

Today we recorded our first data for our project. I am in charge of collecting data for the green lightbox. The peas in the green box had pretty average-sized radicals. They were 2 1/2, 2, and 1 1/2 cm long. The red box experienced the most growth. 

August

Hi Kevin!

To answer you questions, our prediction is on one of our posts, and we have 4 seeds in each petri dish. We are watering 20 drops of water on Tuesday, and 30 drops on Friday. We have checked on our seeds today, and every petri dish has 3 germinated seeds, except for the control. The control has 2 seeds. The red magna tiles have 2 1/2, 1 1/2, and 1cm radicles. The red and blue have that too. But, for the blue and green, the pea that has not germinated is strangely dark green. I think the reason why it was green except for the red, was because it is the darkest color out of blue, green and normal.

-Minyoung

Hi Kevin,

Today was the first day we measured the seeds. I measured the control seeds. Two out of the 4 peas germinated with the radicals measuring 2 cm and 2.5 cm. 

-Joseph

​​​​​

    Hi Kevin!

    When we measured and checked our experiment, the peas put under the blue light had radicles that were 2 1/2 cm, 2 cm, and 1 1/2 cm. Three of the four peas sprouted. Our watering schedule is 20 drops of water on Tuesday, and 30 on Friday. Any suggestions? What do you think so far?

 -Nora

Thanks for the updates and new picture. I like how the enclosures turned out. Make sure to check the seeds have water.

Any guesses on which one of the colors will be best for growing the plants? Also, how many seeds do you have per petri dish?

Hi Kevin!

Today we are starting our experiment! We cut paper towels into the petri dish, and then we put 40 drops of water. We are putting 4 peas in each petri dish, then putting green, red, or blue magna tiles. The other one, we are using no magna tiles, to see if the color of light affects germination. We are putting them right next to the window. I wonder how will it go! I think tomorrow, the one without the magna tiles will germinate, and the day after tomorrow, the green, then blue, then red.

-Minyoung

Hi Kevin,
Today we put the soaked peas in the Petri dishes. They are near a window so enough light should be able to get through the magnetiles. While putting the peas into the Petri dishes I didn't have many challenges. We will be sure to update you again soon.
Thanks
Joseph

    Hi Kevin!

    We just finished setting up our project, we used magnet tiles to cover up three of the four petri dishes. We used, blue, green, and red magnet tiles. We used peas soaked in water for 24 hours. We used 20 drops of water on a paper towel on our petri dish. We labeled the dishes with the date, the amount of water, the amount of peas, our section, and the color of light we are putting the petri dish under.

    Thats what we have done! Any suggestions?

    -Nora

Hi Kevin!
Today we put our experiment in place. We didn't encounter many challenges though. We covered the area around the petry dishes with different colored magnetiles and gave them equal exposure to sunlight. I predict that the seeds will look the same but will germinate at different speeds. 

Thanks, August

 Hi Kevin, 

The variables that we chose for our project are:

    1) The independent variable we chose for our project is to change the light shone on the seed as it germinates. We will do this by using different colored magnet tiles.

    2) The dependent variable we chose is how fast the seeds germinate with different colored lights shone on them.

    3) The controlled variables we chose are the seeds and the amount of water. 

 What do you think? Any suggestions?

  -Nora

Here are the steps we went through to set up.

1. We set up the petri dishes with paper towels.

2. We got out the peas we are going to use for the experiment.

3. We set up the magnetile structures, to change the color of light on the seeds. (we still need to add the roof).

That is where we got to today.

Hi Kevin! 

    In our experiment, our research question was if the color of light affects germination. We are using soaked peas. We are using red, green, and blue magna tiles and flashlights. We are also using normal light. Our hypothesis is that the normal light will do the best because plants need sunlight, and that is the closest thing to it. Then we think green, blue than red will germinate faster.

-The Plant Pioneers

    Hi Kevin! 

    This is a picture of our experiment setup. We haven't soaked the peas but we will on Thursday. We are making the sun shine through the magnetiles, changing the color of the light. Do you have any suggestions or observations?

    From,

    August

    Hi Kevin!

    We have been experimenting with different questions for our experiment. We chose to experiment with the color of light a plant has shone on its environment. Does this sound good to you? Do you have any suggestions?

    Thanks,

     The Plant Pioneers

Thanks team for the good updates. 

As you were doing these experiments, what was the question you were asking? Having a good clear question is a good way to start an experiment because it can guide how we plant the experiment and measure the results (but things don't always work that way!).

    Dear Kevin, 

    This week we prepared some Petri dishes for germination. We soaked peas, alfalfa, and nasturtiums in H2O for 24 hours. We put them in Petri dishes with paper towels, labeled the dishes, and then put them on the tray and waited. We observed them every day, and on the 2nd day, the alfalfas germinated. On the 4th day, the peas germinated. And so far the nasturtiums have not germinated. We measured the radicles and made a data table to keep track of everything. We started the experiment with the alfalfa and peas on Monday, and the nasturtiums on Tuesday. We also did an experiment with unsoaked peas. So far nothing has changed with them. We have been watching BrainPop videos and learning more about plant growth and seed anatomy. I was wondering if you did any similar experiments to this when you were in middle school

    From, Nora

The week has ended with a lot of growth. Each section has a set of petri dishes with peas, alfalfa, and nasturtiums that were started on Monday, March 1. Surprisingly, the alfalfa germinated in a day. Currently, peas and alfalfa have germinated in each class. Predictably, the nasturtiums have yet to germinate. We have been learning how to collect the data and will be gathering data Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays. 

In addition, we have studied about the parts of seeds and plants and how seeds are dispersed. We have also learned about pollination and how the seeds are produced.

Next steps for the teams will be to come up with their research questions and design the experiments. Each section meets three times a week and will be posting regularly on their progress.

Thank you to all the mentors who have been communicating with the students. It is very exciting to get a response from you! One mentor responded within minutes of a student's post and he was thrilled! It means a lot to us to have you involved with our projects.

Jeff

Dear Kevin,

    This week we prepared some petri dishes for germination. We are working with alfalfa seeds, peas, dried peas, and nasturtiums. We are writing observations everyday. So far, the alfalfa and the peas germinated. The nasturtiums and the dried peas didn’t. The alfalfa sprouted on the first day, and today, it sprouted leaves! We measured the radicles too. Today, (March 5th,) the radicle of the peas are 20-25mm. We watch brain pop videos too. Today we watched one, and learned that perennials are plants that reproduce a lot and live a long time.

- Minyoung

    Dear Kevin, 

    This week we prepared some Petri dishes for germination. We soaked peas, alfalfa, and nasturtiums for 24 hours in H2O. We observed them every day and recorded data. The alfalfa germinated after only one day, while the peas took a little longer to germinate. The nasturtiums have yet to germinate. We made a data table in which we recorded all of this information as well as how long the radicles were in millimeters. 

    From, 

    August

Dear Kevin,

    Here is a list of things we did this week. First, we soaked all the seeds in water for 24 hours. After, we put the seeds in Petri dishes. Then we labeled them. After we put them on a tray and waited. We observed them every day we were in school. Then the alfalfa seeds germinated. After, about two days later, the peas germinated. We measured the radicals. Then we made a data table of the table we collected throughout the week.

    -Joseph

Nice to meet all of you!  And lots of good questions!

How did I get into science? My family would go camping a couple times a year (I lived in the city), and I always loved hiking in the woods. When I started college, I thought I wanted to be a park ranger and started to learn about how to identify the different plants, birds, and animals. And that got me thinking about why there were different kinds of plants. And that's when I started to study ecology. 

My favorite plants are carnivorous plants! There a lot of different ways that plants can trap animals and that is just cool!

    Hi! My name is August and I am 12 years old. Here is a little bit about me: I love to read, I like sports, and I like gaming. I am afraid of heights, I have a pet dog, and science is my favorite subject. My street recently became a slow street, so I have many more opportunities to get outside and play around. I also love to bike, and I even once biked up Mt. Tam. It was an incredible view!

    Here is a little bit about me as a scientist: I am very interested in plants and biology. I am curious about how plants initially get to where they grow. I have lots of big plants in my room. I love to do experiments and demonstrations, although I need to work on drawing diagrams in my notes and using color. I also love to grow and harvest edible plants. I have a small herb garden in my backyard as well as lettuce and a lemon tree. I have loved plants since I was younger, and I look forward to working with you and learning knew things. 

   I am wondering how you got into science and your interests in plants. What is your favorite field of science? What is your favorite kind of plant? I hope you learned a little bit about me, and I look forward to getting to know you better in the future. 

    From, August

    Hello, my name is Joseph. I am 12 years old and I am in the 6th grade at San Francisco Friends School. I enjoy sailing and playing guitar. I don’t like eating mustard or bananas. 

    I like learning and exploring the periodic table and the elements which are on it. I also find it fun to learn about space and what is out there. For example, the exoplanets that are super far out. Or the rover that NASA just put on mars. 

    I am really excited to get started with the seed and plant germination project and to meet you! What do you like doing?

-Joseph

     Hello! I am Nora, I am 12 years old and a 6th-grade student at the San Francisco Friends School. I love climbing, cooking, baking, sleeping, reading, and candles. But I dislike ketchup, avocado, tomatoes, unorganized places, and gross smells.

    In science class, I enjoy making diagrams, models, posters, and big projects. I love plants, I currently have 7 in my room. I would love to know more about plants that don’t need much water to survive. I would also love to learn about plants that need a lot of water to survive.

    In conclusion, I love hands-on work in science and a variety of different things in my life. What were you interested in 6th grade? What inspired you to get involved with science? I hope to learn more about you in the coming weeks!

    Nora