Conversations - use this space to communicate about this project
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April 25, 2011 | 7:49 AM |
Dr. Catrina Adams
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. Please come back and visit the PlantingScience Research Gallery Archive anytime to view this project in the future. You can search the Archive by key word, team name, topic, or school name. Good bye for now. Warm regards, The PlantingScience team |
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April 19, 2011 | 8:08 AM |
jojo333
(Team Member)
Re-Question hermaphrodite plants (those with egg-producing and sperm-producing reproductive structures) than male-only plants. In the ferns we are working with there arent females and males but hermaphrodites and males. |
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April 17, 2011 | 6:40 PM |
zzzbuttercup
(Student, The Powerpuff Girlz!!♥ - CH_S11_F10 · -1)
I'm having a hard time understanding the last sentence of your research predictions. May I suggest some corrections. Hermaphrodites are the females, correct? (I never heard that term before) |
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April 15, 2011 | 8:01 AM |
cricket88
(Team Member)
Last day in the lab -Today is the last day for us to collect our data. For the next week we will be working on our final presentation. -As we went through the project I keep a record of the suplies we used and our procedure, and have posted them. -Also I keep a Journal of all the days we worked in the lab & have posted them. |
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April 14, 2011 | 8:06 AM |
jojo333
(Team Member)
we looked over our data and found out that in the large and small dishes one set will have more males while the other will have more hermaphrodites. the meduim one both set has more males. i think that we will look at doing percentages, i think it will help our results. i think its important to count them when theyre mature so you can get a better count of them because some may not be mature yet and also its easier to see the difference between the males and hermaphrodites. |
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April 12, 2011 | 7:36 PM |
Dr. Sharon Klavins
(Scientist/Mentor)
So what do you think? Interesting results! I'm not sure I quite understand why you think your hypothesis isn't supported - you definitely don't have the same ratios of males to hermaphrodites in different treatments. Could you try looking at the percentages rather than the raw numbers? It's always cool to see the swimming sperm. That also lets you know that your gametophytes are mature. Can you think why you'd want to be sure that your gametophytes are fully developed when you count them? I look forward to seeing your images and finding out your interpretations of what you observed. What is a reasonable explanation for what you have seen? |
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April 12, 2011 | 8:19 AM |
sunshinesforever
(Student, The FERN-inators - CH_S11_F04 · -1)
Question Hey ya'll, how do you make sure your counting is accurate? |
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April 12, 2011 | 8:14 AM |
cricket88
(Team Member)
What I did in the lab today Today I took pictures of the petri dishes, and I will post them next class. |
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April 12, 2011 | 7:58 AM |
jojo333
(Team Member)
April 12, 2011 Today we went into the lab and counted the males vs female. not all of the spores have germinated yet but we saw swimming sperm in each plate and we fertilized them. we have all the total counts in the data file if you would like to go over the data. if you have any questions please let me know. thanks |
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April 12, 2011 | 7:52 AM |
dacano
(Team Member)
todays observations that we have counted the females and males. we have started the fertilization. |
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April 7, 2011 | 7:49 AM |
jojo333
(Team Member)
Observations April 7, 2011 When we went to look at the spores under the microscope i noticed that the smaller amount in the dishes had more germination but they also had more infection in them. The Larger amount in the dishes had little if any germination but almost no infection. The medium dishes had some germination but not as much as the smallest, as well as some infection. |
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April 4, 2011 | 8:19 AM |
jojo333
(Team Member)
On thursday we will probably be able to see if what sex is of the spores. We counted the numbers of spores and each petri dish has about he same amount in them. |
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April 4, 2011 | 8:08 AM |
dacano
(Team Member)
pictures we also took some pictures on a camera, but have not yet been able to get them from the teacher. once we get the pictures we will upload them. |
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April 4, 2011 | 8:04 AM |
dacano
(Team Member)
todays observations today we went under the microscope and got the spores counted. we also found that some are starting to germinate. will keep you posted |
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April 1, 2011 | 5:23 AM |
Dr. Sharon Klavins
(Scientist/Mentor)
Sounds as if we're on the same page! Thanks for helping me make sure I understand - it can be challenging when the only way to communicate is by e-mail! At this point, I'm guessing we're just waiting for the spores to germinate and then for the plants to develop, which will take a week or so. Until then, just let me know if you have any questions at all - I'm happy to chat about pretty much anything related to science :) |
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March 31, 2011 | 7:38 AM |
dacano
(Team Member)
Understanding There should have been about 240 spores per 1 ml. We will be testing the effect of crowding on the sex expression in C-ferns. We are predicting that there will be more hermaphrodite plants than males. We will count how many spores there are that germinate then when they are mature we will count the hermaphrodites vs the males. |
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March 30, 2011 | 1:54 PM |
Dr. Sharon Klavins
(Scientist/Mentor)
Checking my understanding Hi everyone, It sounds as if you have a great project lined up. I'd like to make sure that I understand your hypothesis and experimental design. It sounds as if you are testing the idea that there is an effect of crowding on the sex expression in C-ferns and that you are predicting that there will be more hermaphrodite plants (those with egg-producing and sperm-producing reproductive structures) than male-only plants. It sounds as if you are setting up six Petri plates, two each of three different sizes and are then going to count the numbers of male-only and hermaphrodite plants when they reach maturity. I know getting the same number of spores per drop can be tricky, but it will be important that each of your plates has roughly the same number of spores. This sounds like a great experiment and I look forward to hearing your results! |
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March 24, 2011 | 7:17 AM |
dacano
(Team Member)
Hypothesis In the smaller area there will be more males than females. in the medium are will have around the same amount of males and females. In the largest amount there will be more females than males. We think this because the females let off the hormone that causes the sorrounding spores to be male. If they are closer the more males bacause they are close to the female but the further away, the more females becuase they are spread out more. |
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March 24, 2011 | 7:09 AM |
jojo333
(Team Member)
Our Procedure 1. We wll gather our materials. 2. We will put the agar in each petri dish. (we will have two dishes of each size) 3. Then we will put two drops of fern spores in the specified area. 4. Then we will put the lids on each of the six dishes. 5. We will count up the original number of spores in each dish and record our data. 6. We will put them all in the bag with the moist paper. 7. We will count up the number of spores that actually germinated. 8. We will count up the number of male and female spores. We ill record our data. (If changes are made, we will update it as soon as possible) |
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March 24, 2011 | 6:46 AM |
jojo333
(Team Member)
Materials Materials: Fern Spores Petry Dishes Agar Moist Paper Towel Water Gallon Sizes Bag Microscope |
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March 24, 2011 | 6:33 AM |
cricket88
(Team Member)
Final Question We have decided to go with our first question: -Does the concentration of spores determine if they will be male or female? |
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March 22, 2011 | 6:24 PM |
Dr. Sharon Klavins
(Scientist/Mentor)
Hello! Hi everyone! It's great to see the potential research questions that you have developed for your project! I think all of your original questions are good - can you tell me a little bit about why these two particular questions interest you? I'm not quite certain I can answer the question you asked yesterday about what you should know about ferns without knowing a little more information from you. Is there something specific that is confusing or doesn't make sense? I'm happy to help in any way I can. I look forward to finding out which research question you select and hearing about your experimental design! Cheers, Sharon |
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March 22, 2011 | 7:53 AM |
cricket88
(Team Member)
Narrowed-Down Questions We have decided to experiment with either of the following questions: -Does the cositration of spores determin if they will be male or female? -If there is no light will it effect the spores that germinate? |
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March 22, 2011 | 7:20 AM |
jojo333
(Team Member)
Question we are concidering Testing 1. Will more spores germinate when they are closer? 2. Does the concentration of spores determine if the spore will be male of female? 3. Does the amount of water change th likely hood of spores that will germinate? 4. If there is no light, will it effect the number of spores that will germinate? |
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March 21, 2011 | 7:02 AM |
dacano
(Team Member)
Marquis I am Marquis, i am in the group of killer instinct and i am ready to learn more about ferns. |
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March 21, 2011 | 6:58 AM |
jojo333
(Team Member)
Kelsey I am Kelsey, a memeber of Killer Instint. I am glad to be able to have you as our mentor. I do not know every much about fern and am excited to be able to do this expirement. My group has gone over the life cycle of the ferns and understand it for the most part. We will have to create an expirment that deals with ferns, do you have any ideas as to what we should be expirmenting? Is there any information that we should know about ferns before conducting an expirement? thanks. |
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March 21, 2011 | 6:50 AM |
cricket88
(Team Member)
Wesley I'm Wesley, I'm in the 9th grade and I am a team member of Killer Instint. |
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March 7, 2011 | 1:35 PM |
Heather
Welcome! I am happy to welcome you to this community of plant researchers. Your team has the opportunity to be mentored by a scientist to help you develop and perform your own research project. The mentor's role is to encourage and guide you through the scientific process of discovery. The more you share your ideas and research information online, the more your mentor can help. Your scientist mentor for this project will be Dr. Sharon Klavins from University of Wisconsin-Platteville. Please introduce yourself and post some possible research topic ideas to get a conversation rolling. These resources are available to help you get started: Thinking Like a Scientist / Working Like a Scientist Designing Experiments Guide to Using A Spreadsheet Best wishes as you start this scientific journey. We are all pleased to share this experience with you. Have fun! Sincerely, The PlantingScience team |
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