Info
| Explore | Alfalfa seeds need to be in a certain environment to grow correctly. For example, they grow best in well-drained heavy clay soil. They should also be planted about 1cm deep to give the best results. If you live in a cooler area then its best to plant them during spring but if you live in a warmer... |
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| Research Question | How does the type of soil affect the number of leaves an alfalfa seed grows? |
| Predictions | Our prediction is that if we plant Alfalfa seeds in potting soil, Adri, Nash's, And Ellery's dirt, then the Alfalfa seed will grow best in Adri's dirt. We believe this because Alfalfa seeds grow best in soils that have more clay and by looking at all of our dirt we decided that we think Adri's... |
| Experimental Design | Independent Variable ( What we're testing): Type of Dirt Dependent ( What we're measuring): How many leaves the plant grow The constant variables are the amount of water that we use when we water the plant, and how much light the plants get. Alfalfa seed germinates best at soil temperatures... |
| Conclusion | Claim: Alfalfa seeds will grow best in potting soil and Adri's soil Evidence: In the investigation, the graph shows that Adri's soil and the potting soil both have an average of about 6 leaves which is the highest average compared to Ellerys which is 4 leaves and Nash's average is only 1 leaf... |
| About this Project |
"This team did an overall nice job. There final storyboard showed thorough research, planning and data analysis. They were consistent in posting and communicating with their mentor!" - Evelyn Gray, Teacher The team gave the extra mile to present make a graph and make sense of... |
Updates
Thank you for everything!! Good bye!!!
Thank you! This was a great project!
These are great data everyone! It is really neat to see how much Nash's soil differed from the other three. It looks like most of the data on the first three groups are similar except for trail 3. Since you only looked at three trials (which were not consistent), can you think of a different way to set up this experiment if you had more time, space, and money?
Ok team, it sure looks like you have data to record and analyze! As you all are thinking about your observations, think about other factors that may impact what you saw. You have different soil types (and defined how they are different), but are there other differences that you did not originally think of? Is there anything else that might explain your results? I am excited to see what you all come up with.
I think the reason that the potting soil grew the best was that it is specifically made for planting seeds and plants probably because it also has more nutrients than the soils from our home.
This is our graph from the last day of observation data
this is our quantitative data from our last say of observations
ok
All of the plants are growing except for mine (nashs)
Ok, great job team. Nash, I see your comment that your plants are not growing, so be sure to record those observations. Your plants may emerge soon, or perhaps not at all. If they never emerge, I think you should try to dig out the seeds at the end of the experiment to see if they even germinated.
It is the color of the soil because Nash’s is more sandy and Adri’s and Ellery’s is darker.
Ok, I am seeing some germination! Some of the soil looks drier than others. Is that observation just an issue with the color of the different soil samples, or unequal watering?
Ok, these are looking great and I like your experimental design! Since you stated that the seeds need to be in well drained soils, be sure to not overwater them. You said that you would water every day, which is probably too much. I would only water if the soil surface looks dry (so probably every 2-3 days). This will also help you over the weekend (when you probably cannot water every day). Some points to consider as you make your observations: 1) Be careful as you measure the height of your seedlings. It is easy to crush or break the seedlings when they emerge. You will probably have to measure them in a straight line against a ruler, so be delicate. 2) You have soil from different locations that differ in texture. However, are there other differences between the soil samples that may impact plant growth that you did not consider or test?
We've noticed that the soil has been drying out a lot overnight and we think the cause is the grow lights so we have been watering them daily. We also decided to change what we are measuring to the number of leaves instead of the height so now we won't have to touch the plant. Another thing that we considered was that the plants may grow better in my (Adri's) soil but it might not be because my soil has more clay, it could be because of the type of soil, the amount of nutrients, etc.
Ok, I expect some germination soon!