Daisy Dukes/ Springfield Central High School / SCH_F09_W03

School Level: High School
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Research Information


Research Question
Our research question is to see if we can grow sunflowers (Helianthus oannuus) and and green beans(Phaseolus vulgaris) in different growing mediums, sounds simple? We will try to grow them in potting soil as a control, oatmeal, jello, marbles, and a sponge with half soil. We want to see which plant will grow the fastest under these conditions. We will plant 10 seeds in each pot.

Research Predictions
We predict that for the green bean seeds will grow best in the marbles because it will allow the roots to spread and have more acess to air. But, we are also thinking that the food products (jello/oatmeal) will give the plant different nutrients that will it to grow faster and germinate just as fast. We also predict the same thing for sunflower seed. We are hoping to see a difference but think we may not.

Experimental Design
our expirement is being run in a controlled green house, the temp on average is . The light source is the natural sun, filtered through a white covering on the windows. Each plant has its own pot, all of which are the same size. There are exactly ten seeds in each pot, with the correct amount of soil ( about one centimeter)

Research Conclusions
We have to conclude our project today we have learned that for both plants the one who grew in the soil grew the best so the control worked the best. What we concluded about the Green Bean is that the soil grew the best it grew up to 373mm, the marbles had the secound highest height which was 337.5mm. We think this may have happened because the roots had room to expand and grow they didn't have to fight for water and other important things. The oatmeal with soil plant grew a lot better than what was expected it grew a total of 280.77mm. This showed us that plants can be grown in food and will survive. The spong just started to grow but since we have to conclude our experiment so the total height came to 20mm. These results show us that plants can be grown in different growing mediums and even though right now the soil has grown the best the plants are still able to germinate under different conditions. Concluding the growht of the Sunflower plant was very close to the growth of the Green Bean plant. The plant that was growen in all soil grew the best at a total of 193.77mm. This was the control so we were guessing that this might grow the best. The plant that was planted in oatmeal grew a total of 142.5mm . The plant which was grown in the marbles grew a total of 117.5mm, and the plant which was planted in the sponge grew to 55mm. We have concluded that plants grow best when in their natural states but, can also grow good when planted with a cup of marbles and 1 cup of soil , and when being planted with 1 cup of oatmeal and 1 cup of soil. As the results aren't exactly the same the plants germinate around the same time and around the same height.


Conversations - use this space to communicate about this project


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December 7, 2009 | 6:24 AM | PS team

Thank you
Thank you to everyone taking part in this inquiry. It was great fun to bring the students, teachers, and scientist mentors together online.

There are many unanswered questions about plants----just waiting for young investigators to explore. We hope you are all going away with the confidence that you can take on new scientific challenges.

Best wishes for the remainder of your school year!
Sincerely,
The PlantingScience team
December 3, 2009 | 9:15 PM | trackgirl21  (Team Member)

Updates
We have kept the plants growing.They look bigger as the days go.This experiment so far is going good.
December 3, 2009 | 8:40 AM | emily19  (Team Member)

New Uploads
We have decided to upload our lab reports in conclusion to our experiment. So far not all are up but we will be posting them all soon!
November 26, 2009 | 1:15 AM | Ms. Kim Park  (Scientist/Mentor)

soil additve classification
Hey Daisy Dukes.

When looking at soil components you should use standard classifications. There are lots of sources for this info. The marbles would mimic potting soil additives such as sand and perlite which are used for drainage. The sponge would be analogous to vermiculite which is used to retain moisture. If you have other questions please let me know.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Kim Park
November 25, 2009 | 4:42 AM | emily19  (Team Member)

Background information
When looking into the background information for the materials how would marbles and sponges classify? Because for the food we found the nutrional content but, how would this be relatible to the germination of the plant as a whole?
November 17, 2009 | 9:53 PM | Ms. Kim Park  (Scientist/Mentor)

Conclusions
When drawing conclusions you want to include any errors/problems that were encountered (i.e. nasty jello soil, lack of water for x number of days, loss of specimens). This allows others to better interpret the data and reproduce your experiment. Graphs also help to visually display the data – scientists love graphs and pictures. Overall, I would say you have had a good experience and some surprising results. I have enjoyed the project and hope you take on another one.
Take care,
Kim Park
November 16, 2009 | 1:01 AM | emily19  (Team Member)

Green Bean Plant
We tried to get as much of the plants to come back to life but we encountered a problem and our control plant has died we only have 2 plants growing and in the data table the height has gone down and the reason why it shows this is because many of the plants have died. But, the height of the plants didn't really go down. What should we do and how should we conclude this?
November 13, 2009 | 4:10 AM | Ms. Kim Park  (Scientist/Mentor)

EFS
Emergency Flower Service;
Seedlings are sensitive to overwatering and underwatering, more so than adult plants. If you know you are going to have long stretchs when no one is around to water then drip irrigation systems need to be set up. These can be made from plastic bottles and tubing. I've include a website to help with te details.
This one is similar to the "Aqua Globe" but not as expensive.
http://www.yougrowgirl.com/garden/dripsystem.php
I'll look for more ideas with pictures for you before the holiday break.

As to immediate action: gently water plants and the turgor pressur in the plant should return. What is turgor pressure? Turgor pressure is a force exerted outward on a plant cell wall by the water contained in the cell. This force gives the plant rigidity, and may help to keep it erect.

Let me know how things are doing.
November 11, 2009 | 12:40 AM | emily19  (Team Member)

Updates
We threw away both the green bean and sunflower Jell O growing plants. But, recently we haven't had class and been able to water our plant for around 4 days we noticed that the sunflower plants started to droop and some look as if they are dead we are unsure how to handle this do you have any ideas?
November 5, 2009 | 10:22 AM | Ms. Kim Park  (Scientist/Mentor)

new data
Hey Daisy Dukes!
I think you made a good choice to throw out the jello soil. You may have to do the same with the sunflower jello.
November 5, 2009 | 2:04 AM | emily19  (Team Member)

Charts
We have recently uploaded more information and charts on our experiment
November 5, 2009 | 1:40 AM | emily19  (Team Member)

Conclusions
We decied to throw away the jello plant because it has been smelling up the greenhouse and the soil was muddy and no growth was occuring.
November 3, 2009 | 3:36 AM | Ms. Kim Park  (Scientist/Mentor)

What's happening with Helianthus?
Hi Daisy Dukes!
I love the pictures!
I see you're getting good growth from your beans, but what about the sunflowers?
If you are getting smelly, wet soils you may not have proper drainage for each of the plants, or you are overwatering.
If you have any questions please let me know. I am happy to help.
November 2, 2009 | 5:05 AM | emily19  (Team Member)

Growing Accident
On October 28, 2009 our plants got left out over night in the classroom we didn't see any effect that this had but, we thought it would be good to mention this since our experimental design was to have our plants grow in the greenhouse. So far we see more activity each day in our experiment.
October 26, 2009 | 10:30 AM | emily19  (Team Member)

Observations for the Green Bean Plants
It has been one week today on October 26, 2009 since we planted our plants.
We observed our results and saw that some plants started to germinate.
Green Bean Plant Results:
The plants that are planted in the food ( jello and oatmeal) seem ti smell almost like a rotten food sorta smell. The seeds planted in the jello and dirt havent grown at all and we are seeing that the soil is very muddy and, won't dry out we came to conclusion this was because of the jello and, how its a moist food.
The plants in the dirt for some reason also havent germinated but we do see some green emerging from the soil.
The plant in the oatmeal is aslo emerging we so far see 3 stems that look to be comming from the surface.
The plant planted in the sponge so far shows no activity or growth production.
The plant planted with the marbles show ermination and lots of green stems seem to be emerging. We think this is because of the space and air the roots will have to grow.
October 20, 2009 | 3:08 AM | emily19  (Team Member)

More information on project
The plants will be grown in the greenhouse. We will be watering them everyday school day which is Monday through Friday. There is no way we can get to them on the weekends so we will make sure to substitue the water the plant's wont be getiing will be given to them on Friday. We will also put some kind of plastic covering so that the condensation will occur and the plants will get some type of water. We have just plated all 10 plants on Monday October 19. We will test the two questions at the same time by measuring and comparing each plant to another while we will be also measuring the germination time of each plant under the certain types of growing conditions.
October 16, 2009 | 10:14 PM | Dr. Peter H. Raven  (Scientist/Mentor)

Looks good, a bit more informatiom?
Looks like your ready to go. Can you give us a bit more information about the conditions you'll place the seeds in while conducting your research? Watering regime, temperature, light conditions-please share your experimental design with us? How are you able to test the two questions at the same time? Did you happen to see the items under the "Resources for Science Investigations" section under the Student tab at the top of the page (Designing Experiments and Guide to Using A Spreadsheet)? We look forward to seeing your data! All the best. Thanks - Peter
October 16, 2009 | 6:58 AM | Ms. Kim Park  (Scientist/Mentor)

research project
Everything looks great! I am looking forward to your findings. Keep me posted. Kim Park
October 16, 2009 | 1:50 AM | emily19  (Team Member)


Measure:
We are going to measure the germination rate of each plant we will be planting under the certain growing conditions. We are measuring which plant will grow and germinate the fastest and once they grow we want to see what will grow the fastest we will measure the height cm/days. The stems is what we will measure. A ruler will be used to measure the plants stem.
October 16, 2009 | 1:42 AM | emily19  (Team Member)


Thanks for the advice on how many seeds to plant we came to conclusion that we will plant 10 seeds in each pot to make sure that we will have a plant that is able to germinate.
October 13, 2009 | 7:42 AM | Ms. Kim Park  (Scientist/Mentor)


Hi Daisy Dukes.
I am looking forward to working with your team on the project.
I agree with everything Ms. Boyd suggested, and would like for you to consider increasing the number of seeds planted in each medium to a minimum of 5-6 seeds (10 would be even better). Let me know how things progress.

Kim Park
October 13, 2009 | 1:08 AM | Dr. Amy Boyd  (Scientist/Mentor)


By the way--I'm not your official scientist/mentor, Ms. Parks. I'm another mentor in the program who just happened upon your project and was interested. I'm sure you'll be hearing from her soon.
Best wishes,
Amy Boyd
October 13, 2009 | 1:06 AM | Dr. Amy Boyd  (Scientist/Mentor)

growth mediums
You've got an interesting research question here--what a wide assortment of growth mediums you're going to test! Have you thought about what you expect to find? Which ones do you think will work best? worst? and why?
As for your question about whether or not to mix them with soil: I think I'd recommend that. Your results may not be as dramatic but may be more interesting, as your plants might be more likely to survive but with different kinds of growth and health.
October 12, 2009 | 10:30 PM | trav34cardinals  (Student, FLAMING TULIPS - SCH_F09_W06 · -1)


i think your experiment will go GREAT u guys have a fantastic idea)
October 12, 2009 | 10:13 PM | petalpusher  (Team Member)

expirement design questions
we are unsure whether or not to do half soil and half a different medium, or just 100% a different medium, please tell us what you think
October 11, 2009 | 4:21 AM | emily19  (Team Member)

Ideas for our experiment.
Our group is thinking about designing an experiment to see at what rate a plant will germinate and grow fastest in. We have decided we are going to plant the seeds of two different types of plants under certain growing conditions. We will have our control be a 2 seeds, which will be planted, in just soil. We have come up with the idea of doing a half soil and half of something else. We would like to plant our plants in half soil half oatmeal, half soil half jello, half soil and a sponge, half soil have marbles, and there are other things we are currently looking into. Our plants will be grown in the greenhouse all with the same amount of light and water. We are still looking into what we would like to plant and what we would like to have the other half’s be. We are hoping to see that there will be something that plants can be grown in that will make them germinate faster than just soil.
October 6, 2009 | 5:21 AM | PS team

Hello
I am happy to welcome you to this community of plant researchers. Your team has the opportunity to communicate directly with a scientist who will help you focus your ideas as you develop your research question and experimental design.

Your scientist mentor is Ms. Park from Oklahoma City Community College. Please introduce yourself and post some possible research topic ideas to get a conversation rolling.

Best wishes as you embark on this scientific journey. We are all pleased to share this experience with you.
Have fun!
Jennifer Potratz
and the PlantingScience team




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