Info
| Explore |
Work on this next! What do we know about plants from our experiences outside of school? What have we discovered in class and background research? What questions about plants interest us? |
|---|---|
| Research Question | What do we want to test or study? How did we come up with the question(s). How does the question fit what we know about the topic? |
| Predictions | What are the possible outcomes of our study given the variables we are working with? What is our explanation for why and how we think this will happen? |
| Experimental Design | What is our plan? Be sure to include enough detail that another group can replicate our experiment. What variables will we test? What variables will we measure and observe? What variables will we keep constant? How will we record our data? |
| Conclusion | What claim can we make from our experiment? What are possible explanations for our results? How do the data we collected and our reasoning with scientific ideas support our claim? What future experiments could be done to expand on the results of this experiment? |
| About this Project |
The year 2020 has become one of the most challenging years for all school across the globe. For this group of innovative students it was even more so as they found themselves having to work as a team in online working at 3 and sometimes 4 different locations across the globe. Yet these... |
Updates
Farewell and Best Wishes
As this research project is now in the final stages of wrapping-up, we wish to thank everyone who participated in this inquiry; the students, mentors, teachers and others behind the scenes. We appreciate all of your efforts and contributions to this online learning community.
Scientific exploration is a process of discovery that can be fun! There are many unanswered questions about plants just waiting for new scientists to consider, investigate, and share.
After the end of the session, we will be updating the platform and archiving groups and projects, after which time new updates/posts will not be able to be added to projects or groups. You have until Tuesday, November 24, 2020, to post ALL of your updates, comments, and goodbyes. Please come back and visit the PlantingScience Project Gallery anytime to view this project in the future. You can search the Gallery by keyword, team name, topic, or school name.
Good bye for now.
Warm regards,
The PlantingScience Team
Hi team,
I hope that you summarized your results.Could you share them with us and fill the info on the project page?
Looks like you are in the final stages of your projects.
It’s great to see that teams from your school are wrapping up and posting conclusions. Enjoy the final stages of your project, and feel free to post any final comments or questions you have for your mentors.
Analisis:
Over the few weeks that my wisteria seeds were in the bag they did not grow. On the other hand my cucumber seeds that have been in their own bags for just over a week are doing pretty well. The seeds that were closer to the light inside Grew more.
Conclusion:
My wisteria tree seeds were in their own bags for just over three weeks, or just under three weeks somewhere close to three weeks. It did not show any growth and did not show any sign of germination. My cucumber seeds are just over there for the first week, so a week and a half of data and they have sprouted well.
Great, I'm glad that you got the cucumber seeds going so that you could see some germination and compare. Do you have any ideas about why some seeds would take longer to germinate than others? Can you think of a reason why a crop plant (cucumber) would germinate faster than the non-crop plant (Wisteria)?
Dear team,
I hope you are doing well.
As you can see,some seeds germinate faster than others...and you also noticed that there was difference depending on the light source...
Keep doing...
as of today, my cucumber seeds are starting to sprout, and I have noticed that the ones that are closer to the light are doing better than the natural light
for the floating disk lab, I had a question, Does the distance from the light matter for the floating disk lab?
Yes it should make a difference. You just want to make sure that when you are comparing between two treatments that the light is the same for both. You might get more clear results the closer your light is.
we did a floating disk experiment and this is the data we collected:
| Time | baking soda | water + drop of soap- CONTROL |
| 0 | floating a litttle @ bottom | no float |
| 5 | floating a litttle @ bottom | no float |
| 10 | hovering at the bottom | some floating |
| 15 | 2 came up to the top | more floating to the top (6 or 7) |
| 20 | 6 floated to the top | more floating at the top then at the bottom |
| 25 | 9 at the top, 5 completely at the top | 6 floating- (one floated down) they arent fully at the top, hovering at the top |
That's so cool! How many floating disks did you use total for each treatment? Could you explain why the baking soda treatment would have different results?
It is now day six and my seeds that are under the natural light have yet to grow. I am unsure if I am over water them or they just need to breath for 10 minutes or so without the damp paper towel. The seeds under the lamp are doing good, they are sprouting more and absorb all the water I dampen them with.
Ah, I see, so it's the seeds under the artificial light that were developing faster, but now that has slowed down since they have begun sprouting. Can you think of a possible explanation for this?
For my seed lab I am using lemon seeds. I live on the east cost area so right it is changing seasons. We are having a lot of gloomy days. I started my experiment 5 days ago and the seeds that are under the artifical light have absorbed the water much quicker and seem to be sprouting. The seeds under the natural light are barely even absorbing the water.
A lemon tree would be a fun plant to continue growing even after the experiment! That's good that you're already seeing some development in the seeds under natural light. Do you think that the natural light and the artificial light seeds are experiencing the same temperature?
When was the first experience that influenced you to know this is exactly what I want to do, be in the science field.
Thanks for the question Rayna, for me it was when I was an Americorps volunteer working on natural areas restoration. I was removing invasive species and planting native species and I loved being outside and learning about plants, knowing their names, their ecology, and the interesting things about their biology. I wanted to do this as a career because it was something I was passionate about, I could do it well, and the world needs people working on helping plants and natural areas. I wanted to be a scientist because I wanted to work on the unanswered questions in the field, and be one of the people who helps move the field forwards.
Hey, so my seed looks pretty mcuh the seed looked like yesterday, I have noticed that just in one day the root has actually grown alot longer. I also noticed that the there is a new stem growing from the pod under the lamp, just so you know the original stem have grown and left the that pod but now, there is a new one forming.
That's good progress!
hey, so I have discussed it with Miss Cost, about my seed lab and I will be continuing the current seed lab and I will plant cucumber seeds. other than that my seed lab is going great I have seen minimal to no growth, is there a way for me to help seed up the lab other than heat?
my seed is showing no growth but I have used the cucumbers seeds as well as the wisteria seeds.
Good to hear that you are trying a different kind of seed. From gardening, I know that it is a good idea to make sure that your cucumber seeds stay above 70 degrees F in order for them to germinate quickly. Other than that, just make sure that they stay moist! It'll probably take a week or more to germinate.
my seed in natrual sunlight is doing pretty well I would say, because the pod that has a black stem is already starting to grow roots. I was really unsure at first when the black stem appeared I thought that this seed was not going to grow, but after observing it for 3 days, everyday I could see little roots starting to grow from the bottom of the pod/the end of the black stem which I thought was mold, honestly. The second seed placed in natrual light is just starting to grow ans begining to sprout in a week, I think it's because I didn't place it in the direct beam of sunlight. Or the fact that this particular seed was covered completly by the wet paper towel, whereas the other seed was covered partically. My seeds in the artifical light, as you can see the stem and the roots have completely seperated from the seed and it is growing on it's own with a leaf growing on top of the stem. Whereas, the other seed is just begining ot sprout but I think the problem here is the same as the seed placed in the natrual light. That this particular seed was covered completly by the wet paper towel, whereas the other seed was covered partically.
Sounds like you have some good ideas about why the seeds are growing at different rates. Do you think that it would be the same if the seeds were covered in soil / half covered in soil?
I have a question too, What made you guys want to be a scientist, and why? What areas are you guys studying right now or researching/making a project right now? I'm always curious about this!
Hi Amber,
Regarding your question-I have started just like you, with biology section in Elementary School, and I was "infected" by biology, especially plants. I studied molecular biology, finished my PhD in plant mol.biology and now I am working as a senior research associate at the Faculty of Biology. I investigate the interaction of plants with benefical bacteria isolated from rhizosphere (around the roots) of another plants. So, something like probiotic for plants. Those bacteria may help plants to grow (better) under normal and stress conditions.
Hi Amber! That's a fun question to answer... I became a scientist a little later in my career. I became really interested in plants through natural areas restoration--I did this as an Americorps volunteer after college, removing invasive species and planting native species. I really loved being outside and learning about plants, knowing their names, their ecology, and the interesting things about their biology. I wanted to do this as a career because it was something I was passionate about, I was good at it, and the world needs people working on helping plants and natural areas. The big thing I needed to do to achieve this was getting research skills. That's why I went to graduate school and got a Master's degree. While I was doing the Master's degree, I got even more curious about bigger picture questions in plant biology like how we came to have such a diversity of plants across the world and why some parts of the world have more diversity than others. That's why I started my PhD, which is what I'm doing right now. I study a group of plants that has become very diverse in East Africa (Tanzania), and I sequence the DNA of these plants to figure out how the species are all related, sort of like making a family tree that shows how and when new species were born. I also use their DNA to figure out how healthy their populations are today so conservation can protect them better. I do a lot of field work collecting plant specimens in Tanzania, then I extract their DNA and sequence it back in the lab here in Chicago.
Hey so one of my lab mates result was around the same as mines, Nicks and Rayna. That the seed placed in the sunlight grew faster 2-3 days faster then the one in the artifical light.
day 12; both seed samples have sprouted. the lamp seeds more than the natural light seeds, but both have sprouted. the seeds under the lamp grew at a much quicker rate than the natural light seeds. the amount of water differed due to human error, so that could have effected the natural light seeds growth rate. giving the natural light seeds a few minutes to come in contact with oxygen proved to help the growth of them.
now day 11 and the seeds are both (seeds under the lamp and under the natural light) growing, I water them daily and make sure there is not vent or fan near them. The seeds under the natural light seem to benefit much more when I water them after I let them breathe (or come in contact with oxygen). The seeds under the natural light have began the sprout.
seeds are the same on day 10. The seeds under the natural light are showing some sprouting but not much. I am letting the seed breathe for 3 minutes each time before I water them. The seeds under the lamp are not growing as fast as they used to but still growing.
It is day seven now and the seeds under the natural light are doing better. I let them breathe for 8 minutes without the towel so they could dry up a little and it seems as that helped. The seeds under the lamp have not grown in a day not sure if I put too much water yesterday by accident.
My plant looks the same this weekend, I checked it everyday. However, I am noticing that my seed growing in natrual sunlight looks more like an actual plant, the roots are much longer and the stem is much thicker and overall it is just doing better. Whereas, my seed in artifical light looks smaller and more fragile. What I mean is that the seed's roots are so tiny compared to the one in natrual sunlight, the stem is so much thinner and it is not growing that much. Like my seed in natrual light the black stem is fading away and there is a big leave growing from the pod.
Hey for my seed lab I am using wisteria tree seeds, I am in the New England area, and I started my experiment on Sunday of this week. I can see slight condensation while my seed is fully covered with a damp paper towel. Other than that there is no major change in the seed itself.
You will have to be patient with those seeds! With their tough outer hulls, Wisteria seeds can take about a month to sprout. Can you think of anything you could do to the seeds to speed up germination?
I can keep the seeds warm as well as get some seeds that will grow faster if that is what you would prefer. I am still recording data for the seed.
I'd like to get your teacher's input on whether you should get another kind of seeds, and Zivko's. My thought is that it would be better to find another kind of seed to plant so that you can get results before the end of this unit. However, I would continue to germinate your Wisteria seeds and measure them, and you could compare them to another kind of seed.
sounds good