Thank you for all your help with learning pollination and guiding us through our observations. We are finished with our project now.

We are not sure what type of lab we could do inside without access to pollinators or flowers. 

Hello Team!  I see you've summarized your pollinator observations in your report.  You hypothesized that the red flowers would see more visits than the pink flowers by pollinators and you observed that more pollinators visited the red flowers.  Can you think of another experiment you could do to determine how pollinators select flowers to visit (based on color) in the lab instead of outside?

We think the sugar water worked the best because the sweetness of the water acts like the nectar in the flower.

It is great to hear that your experiment worked!  Why do you think the sugar water was the best solution for the pollen tube?

10-27-16, we observed the pollen tubes with sugar water, boric acid, and distilled water. We saw that the sugar water grew pollen tubes the best overall. The snapdragons with sugar water grew the most and actually produced tubes. They didn't change with boric acid or regular water. Cosmos had buds with spikes in the sugar water and boric acid, and had little buds with water.

Today, we started to grow pollen tubes. Our microscope slides are sitting in humidity chambers for 24 hours. We will look for pollen tubes tomorrow. We hypothesize that the one with sugar water will be the most effective.

Pollen Tube Lab

Hypothesis: We think the sugar water solution will work better than a mineral and water one.

Procedure:

1. Make + label humidity chambers.
2. Sprinkle pollen on 3 microscope slides for the 2 types of pollen each tested.
3. For each pollen tested add 1-2 drops of water on one slide, 1-2 drops of sugar water + 1-2 drops of boric acid on separate slides.
4. Place slides in humidity chambers. Check for pollen tubes growth after 24 hours

All of our pollen samples had a yellow color in them like we predicted, but the size range was smaller than what we guessed. Not all of the slides looked the same, but ones of similar species (new and older) had similar characteristics.

We think our original hypotheses fit our observations because the hypotheses were pretty close to what we observed and discovered in the pollen.

Hello Team!  I see you have uploaded an excel file with your pollen observation results as well as a written doc.  You state your hypotheses, but how do your observations fit, or not fit with your your original hypotheses?

Our lab report data has been uploaded so you can check out our observations and conclusions.

My hypotheses are:

1. What does pollen look like?

I think pollen looks like small yellow grains or yellow fuzz on the top of a flower.

2. What is the size range of pollen grains?

I think the size range of pollen is from a fine piece of dust or dirt to a piece of fuzz.

3. Does all pollen look the same or different?

I don't think that all pollen looks the same, and might depend on the plant.

4. If pollen looks different, does the pollen of similar species look the same?

Pollen of the same or similar species probably looks similar because the plants look the same.

Great to hear your hypotheses!  I want you to compare your observations with your hypotheses.  In essence do your observations support or reject your hypotheses?  Let me know how your observations go.

My hypotheses are:

1. What does pollen look like?

I think pollen looks like yellow snow. I also think pollen has a texture of soft fur.

2. What is the size range of pollen grains?

I think the size range of pollen is as small as a dot. Pollen size range also can be one size below a salt grain. Clusters of pollen would be a size bigger than a salt grain.

3. Does all pollen look the same or different?

I think it is different, because I think yellow pollen attracts bees and sweet smells of pollen attracts humming birds. I think it is different  because flower species will not be able to produce more flowers if the pollen is not the same species.

4. If pollen looks different does the pollen of similar species look the same?

Yes, pollen of similar species look the same because only pollen from the same species can reproduce the same species of flowers.

My hypothesis about plants are:

1. What does pollen look like? 

 I think pollen looks like little tiny balls that you almost can't see. They have a color almost like  yellow or white. They have sweet smells and bright colors.

2. What is the size range of pollen grains? 

 I think the pollen grains are as small as sand or salt. They are probably the same size or a little smaller than the sand or salt. I think the sand and salt might be a little  wider.

3. Does all pollen look the same or different? 

 I think they would not look the same because they are different types of  flowers and they cannot mate with a different kind of flower. 

4. If pollen looks different does the pollen of similar species look the same? 

 Yes, I think because they mate with the same species of flowers, and only mate with the same type of flowers. It is not possible for one type of flower to mate with another type of flower.

Nice to meet you too. We are all excited to start this planting science project this year with you.

Hello everyone!  Nice to meet you.  I'm a plant biology professor at New Mexico State University and I will helping you out with your projects! 

Yesterday in science class, we dissected flowers. We learned what the parts of the plants look like and their names. We discovered that the eggs are in the bottom of the flower and they are very tiny. Another thing we saw is the pollen on the top of the flowers.

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