Explore |
Plants require water to germinate and grow; water is required for photosynthesis.
Preliminary research revealed soaking seeds in water (rather than just watering them) promotes germination. Research also showed soaking in peroxide promotes germination. Question that interests us about plants: under what conditions do seeds best germinate? |
Research Question |
Will soaking seeds for different periods of time in water and a water and peroxide mixture result in more efficient germination? We came up with the question through internet research. |
Predictions |
B.B.- predicts that the hydrogen peroxide soaking in the 24 hour period will be the most successful
A.L.- predicts that the plain water in the 12 hour period will be the most successful
K.M.-predicts that the peroxide in the 12 hour period will be the most successful
G.S.-predicts that the peroxide in the 12 hour period will be the most successful |
Experimental Design |
We will soak 5 seeds in 2 cups water for 12 hours, 5 seeds in 2 cups water for 24 hours, 5 seeds in 2 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide for 12 hours, 5 seeds in 2 cups of water and 1 tablespoon of hydrogen peroxide for 24 hours, and we will not soak 5 seeds. We will then put the seeds in petri dishes to observe the rate of germination. The variables we will be testing is length of time the seeds have been soaked and the type of solution they are soaked in. The variables we will keep constant are amount of light, amount of water applied to paper in dishes, and the types of petri dishes. We will record our data in a data table, as shown in the attachments section. |
Conclusion |
Soaking seeds in water for 12 hours or in a water/hydrogen peroxide mixture for 24 hours promotes better seed germination than when they are not soaked at all. Soaking seeds in water for 12 hours promoted seed germination the best. Therefore, the claim that we can make is that soaking seeds can promote germination under certain circumstances. A possible explanation for the results is that soaking seeds promotes germination. The data sets for the seeds soaked in water for 12 hours and in the mixture for 24 hours showed better seed germination (greater sprout growth in cm) than our control seeds, which supports our claim that soaking seeds promotes germination. Future experiments to expand the results of this experiment could include testing this same design with other types as seeds, as well as increasing the sample size of seeds and adding more time intervals to test. |
Investigation Theme |
WOS |
Grade Level |
Undergraduate Students |
School Name |
Wright State University |
Session |
Spring 2017 |