Planting Science - Projects: Neature Lovers
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Neature Lovers

Project by group mhsschellingspring2022


Info

Explore We were interested in how creatine would affect the growth of plants. We knew that creatine was used by humans to increase muscle mass. And wondered if the plants would use the creatine in a positive way to increase mass. We wondered if the plant would store more water or if it would produce...
Research Question How do different molarities of creatine effect the mass and height of cherry belle radishes?
Predictions We predict 0.88 molar water creatine solution will produce the radishes with the most mass, and tallest shoot height.
Experimental Design In our experiment we put 20 seeds into water to germinate. Then took 10 of the germinated seeds and planted them individually into an eight by eight by seven centimeters deep pot. We planted the plants one and a half centimeters into the soil. Each plant received the same amount of light 12 hours...
Conclusion In conclusion sodium is not good for young seedlings. Our creatine had electrolytes in it and that contained sodium. The sodium dried out the seedlings and killed them. We didn't get to answer our initial question because the sodium had such a negative effect on the plants.
About this Project

The group stayed focused and positive despite several set backs, and maintained very frequent online correspondences throughout the project. They were able to extract valuable information from their project despite unexpected results.
-- Julie Gan, Scientist Mentor

This...

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Get to know your team’s scientist mentor, who will encourage and guide you through the scientific process of discovery. The more you share your ideas and research info, the more your mentor can help. You may also hear from a scientist mentor liaison who will be helping all the teams in your class.
PlantingScience Staff
updated the project info
PlantingScience Staff
said

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. 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

PlantingScience Staff
joined the project
Julie Gan
said

Hi Neature Lovers, 

I am so proud of the conclusions that you all reached! Science is about discovery, and it is clear to me that you guys have discovered something you weren't aware of before. There is a lot of trial and error in science, and things almost never go the way we expect it to. You guys did great in adapting to that! I hope you all had fun with your experiments because I really enjoyed following your progress! Have a good rest of your semester! 

Best, Julie 

Dylan
updated the project info
Dylan
updated the project info
Tate
said

Hello Julie,

Our experiment was not a failure, because now we know that creatine is poor for plants growth. We know that the Sodium dried out our plants. We know that we should not use any fertilizers for our future plants that have excessive amounts of sodium. Next time we will either use creatine without electrolytes. We have come to the conclusion that the electrolytes dried out the plants because of the sodium that is involved with it. If we were to do it all over again. We would simply change what brand of creatine we used. With this change I believe the experiment would turn out much better. 

Sincerely, the Neature Lovers.

Dylan
updated the project info
Julie Gan
said

Thanks, Dylan! 

It looks like the sodium is present as sodium chloride (NaCl), which is table salt. That along side all the other additional ingredients like the 1000mg electrolyte blend, and the likely inaccessible K and Mg, probably dried out the plant because of osmolarity. Most plants can't survive in brackish environments (salty water), and having so many other components in the soil would create too much of an imbalance between the plant osmolarity and soil osmolarity, so it probably prevented the roots from taking up water. This is why it is important to anticipate such issues when planning an experiment! It is also important to do ample prior research before starting! Have you looked into the effects of potassium citrate and magnesium citrate on plants? What would you do differently next time now knowing this information? 

We live and learn, and it's always a process! As long as you have an important takeaway from your experiences this time, then it's time well spent :) 

Julie 

Dylan
uploaded IMG-1492 1.jpg in project files
Dylan
said

Here is the picture

Dylan
said

Julie Gan
said

Hi Dylan, 

That is a lot of sodium! It can't be pure sodium since sodium by itself is highly reactive. It is most likely a salt and maybe in mg rather than g. What does the ingredient list say? If possible, can you take a picture of it? 

Julie 

Dylan
said

The creatine has 100g of sodium in 2 scoops and we used about 4 scoops to create the 0.11 molar solution.  

Julie Gan
said

Hi Dylan, 

It is indeed a sad day. When my plants die or are doing badly, I also hurt for them. I'm sure that you all have done the best you can for your plants! What do you think is the cause of death? Could it be the creatine? The sodium might form salts which would be bad for plants, especially vulnerable seedlings. Do you think the molarities were too high? Now that you've concluded the experiment, it's time to think back to see what could have been done differently, and with supporting evidence, what you think happened. Let me know what your takes are :) 

Julie 

Dylan
updated the project info
Dylan
said

Julie, today is a very sad day.

Our plants are dead. All of them except Zane and Zeb. These 2 are the ones that didn’t get any creatine. It is really sad. We killed Zane and Zeb today and measured the mass of all the plants. Got anything to say?

- the creatine is a mix of creatine and electrolytes, containing good for the plant substances like sodium, potassium, and magnesium. 

  • Dylan 

Tate
uploaded image_67202817.JPG in project files
Tate
uploaded image_16852737.JPG in project files
    Tate
    said

    I don't know why the picture is upside down. But all of the plants have basically died, besides the plants that used regular water. 

Julie Gan
said

Thanks for uploading the image Tate! Your seedlings are looking good! 

What type of creatine are you guys using? Do you think some other components of it might be adversely affecting the seedlings? I look forward to your update on Monday :) 

Julie 

Dylan
said

Hello Julie, 

Project #1 is done we took the plants out of the soil but there was only one plant and there wasn't much to observe. Ex#2 is doing good I wonder if the creatine is killing the radishes, Tyrone is perpendicular to the soil and I think he is dead. We had to create a new way to cover the plants so I engineered a little thing and put saran wrap over it. We watered them today again 10 mL. I am excited to come back after the weekend just hoping they don't die. We will let you know monday morning how they are looking. 

-Dylan 

Dylan
updated the project info
Dylan
updated the project info
Tate
uploaded image_50400001.JPG in project files
Dylan
said

Howdy Julie, 

We have recorded measurements for all of our plants again today. Tyrone is not looking good because he is perpendicular to the soil. We didn't bottom water the plants today in hopes the soil dries out a little bit. Tomorrow we plan on checking on the plants and filling in the blue boxes on the planting science website. We gave each plant 10 mL of the designated water. That is about what is new. We had 70 degree weather last week. And today it snowed. How is the weather in Canada? 

-Dylan Heiderscheidt

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