| Explore | We know from our background knowledge that seeds need sunlight, water, and nutrients to germinate. We understand that seeds are the beginning of a plant and have the nutrients inside the seed for early sprouting stages. |
|---|---|
| Research Question | Do seeds sprout faster if they are presoaked? We know that the seeds need water to germinate, so what if the seed is saturated with water before it is ready to germinate? We were prompted to pick from a list of research questions but we chose this one because of our collective prior knowledge. |
| Predictions | The possible outcomes of this research experiment are as follows; 1. The unsoaked seed and the presoaked seed will germinate at the same rate and produce similar/same results to one another. 2. The presoaked seed will germinate far slower and less successfully than the unsoaked seed. 3. The presoaked seed will germinate faster and more successfully than the unsoaked seed. We hypothesize that the presoaked seed will germinate faster and more successfully than the unsoaked seed, we believe this to be the outcome because of our knowledge about how water affects the seed's ability to germinate after planting. We are hypothesizing that the seed will absorb the water and it will be able to kickstart the germination process before being planted. |
| Experimental Design | Our plan for this experiment will go as follows, 1. We will get our materials together, materials include; Water, green pea seeds, fertilized soil, and two containers. 2. We will fill a vessel with water and place ¨Seed A¨ (the presoaked seed) in the water and let it sit for 24/48+ hours 3. We will fill 2 containers with soil, and plant ¨Seed A¨ in one and ¨Seed B¨ in the other, we will place them both under a light that will give them equal amounts of exposure. 4. We will water and observe both seeds for the remainder of our test period, and we will write our observations down. 5. During our test period we will watch to see which seed sprouts first. Once observed it will be documented, and then we will wait until the end of our test period to write out full conclusion. |
| Conclusion | Based on our results and findings, the presoaked seeds did not grow faster than the unsoaked seeds. This means our second hypothesis of the presoaked seeds was correct. Furthermore, the unsoaked seeds grew taller and faster than the presoaked seeds, which further strengthens our second prediction. The reason for this is currently unknown, however a possible reason could have been the presoaked seeds may have been weakened by the excess water, causing the seed to grow less. Further experiments would possibly allow us to find a supported answer. Further experiments with different types of seeds or more seeds would allow for less variation and greater results. |
| Investigation Theme | WOS |
| Grade Level | High School Students (Grades 9,10,11,12) |
| Teacher Name | Hemamali Perera |
| School Name | Sierra Vista High School |
| Session | Fall 2021 |