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
Hey,so it has been 10 days since I first planted my seeds, I am noticing that all of my seeds are growing really well even that one seed that the stem is black, it actually have grown alot from Monday. I'm notcing that my seed in the artifical light is growing so much better then my seed in natrual sunlight, because the ones under the lamp is actually starting to grow leafs where as the one from the sunlight is still sprouting. It's actually really weird to oberve how soybeans is growing because the stem of all of my beans are sprouting in the weridest shape possible, Like there is one that sprouted from the end of the seed but then it started to grow in the middle (this was placed under the lamp), I have another one (Placed in sunlight) that is already growing a tiny little new stem from the orginal stem it sprouted from!
Hi team,
I hope you are well. I see that you performed exciting experiments with seeds, and I hope that you will have great results to share.
A Group Question: How do scientists get funds for the experiments?
Good question, Nick. As a graduate student, getting funding makes up a big part of what I spend my time working on. I apply for numerous grants in small amounts (typically $1000 to $5000) and I am lucky to get about 1/4 of what I apply for. Added together, the grants I am awarded fund my research. They grants typically come from societies that focus on plant science or conservation. For scientists who aren't graduate students, they often will apply for large grants from government agencies (in the US, the National Science Foundation is perhaps the biggest) or foundations. These grants are usually in the 100's of thousands and above, and they provide multiple years of funding. They often cover lab expenses, field work expenses, can fund students to join the lab, and various other things like publishing expenses and going to conferences to share research. It's so important that scientists can communicate about why their research is important for society, because this is how we get grants funded!
Hi sorry for the late response, but I think if there is little to no water used it could cause the plant seeds to dry off and die, because seeds are already dry and I think too much water can cause the seed to rot?
Good! Without enough water, some seeds will not die, but rather will just stay dormant. It would usually depend on if they started out with water and the seed broke dormancy and then the water dried up.
Hi so for my seed labs I am using soybeans, I live in the north and like the tempature is really cold and most of the days it's cloudy. I just started this experiment on the 12 of october and it has been 7 days and I have just saw this morning that my soybean in natrual sunlight is sprouting, you can see a tiny and short stem sprouting from the tip of the soybean. For the one in artifical light I can see a little stem in the soybean pod but it is not bursting out.
Also for the past seven days, like Nick I can see condensation on the syran wrap that I have covered my containers with. More condensation on the one in sunlight but a little bit on the one in the artificall lamp. I sandwiched my seeds in bewteen 4 pieces of really wet paper towels. (2 on bottom and 2 on top) I was wondering should I remove the paper towels on top of my seeds or not?
It's not bad to take the paper towels off once your seeds have germinated, that way they can get sunlight. When your seeds are still germinating, for most seeds, they like to have contact with soil (or in this case, wet paper towel) on all sides in order to germinate.
Hi Zivko,
I am asking students to sign in later today. They have a test first so stay tuned
Hi Zivko and Diana, do you think that Nick should find another kind of seed for this experiment? Wisteria seeds can take more than a month to germinate.
Hey, So I checked my seeds today, and I seems like all of them are growing, I removed the paper towel on top/covered only part of my seed because I feel like it restricted my seeds from getting the light it needs to grow. The cool thing I found was that the one sprout that was placed in the sun, which stem was black is actually growing as well. Which I found to be super cool, it is getting really cold where I live right now so I'm concerned with how tempature is going ti act.
How interesting, I wonder what the black stuff on the stem is. Is it going away as the seedling grows? How many seeds do you have and how many of them have germinated?
I just opend the wet paper towel on top to have a look at my seeds (I am growing 2 in each) and the one of the seed placed in sunlight, the sprout, is actually black. I don't know what is wrong with it maybe mold? but the other seed in the sunlight and 2 other placed in the artifical light is growing really well and it is starting to sprout.
Hi my name is Amber, and I am a student at WMA. I have a questions for you, Dose the amount of water affect plant growth? Do we need to water our seeds everyday or no?
Hi Amber,yes,the amount of water affects the plant growth.You do not need to water every day,but you should check if the seeds are wet or not.
Hi Amber, could you make predictions about what you would see if your seeds had too much water and what you would see if they had too little water?
Hi everyone! I'm Nora, one of your scientist mentors. I'm a PhD student, I live in Chicago, IL and I do my research on Tanzanian plants. The reason why I wanted to become a scientist is that I can learn about plants and learn new skills all the time. Sharing what I learn and sharing skills are just as important a part of being a scientist-- a big reason why it's such a fulfilling career!
Group Question: we are in differient parts of the world will that be a factor in our data?
Hello, my name is Nick and I am a student at WMA. A question i have for you is, What was your most enjoyable part of your scientific career?
Hi team,
I want to say thanks for being a part of PlantingScience project. For this session, I am serving as your liaison.I hope that we will find appropriate scientific mentor for you, but you can ask me anything and I will be happy to answer to your questions and provide some help if you will need it. I am Senior Research Associate-post doc, at University of Belgrade, Serbia, and I am interesting for plant response to different stress as well as for plant microbe interaction.
Welcome to your PlantingScience project page!
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