Info
| Explore | Knowledge of Plants - Vast majority of plants require nutrients, light, and soil to grow - Many varieties - Lots of plants undergo the process of photosynthesis to get their energy Questions - How do we take care of plants/keep them alive? - How does photosynthesis work - How do they take... |
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| Research Question | How does soil ph affect the rate of photosynthesis? We believe this question is relevant, especially to gardeners and plant owners who may want to know how soil ph is affecting their plants health. This question fits into what we already know about photosynthesis as it provides us with... |
| Predictions | Our group's prediction is that the plants exposed to lower and higher ph levels will have lower levels of photosynthesis than a plant in a neutral environment. We think that our prediction will happen because some sources we have read from have explained that when a plant is exposed to either too... |
| Experimental Design | For our experimental design we will first gather materials which will be three single spinach sprout, small pots to put soil in,soil, jars wish is 30cm circumference and 16.5cm tall, cardboard, a marker, hot glue gun, 3 cotton balls, O2 and PH probes and a computer that can record data over 24... |
| Conclusion | In our experiment about how the levels of ph affect the photosynthesis of a plant, we predicted that a spinach plant in a neutral environment would produce more oxygen than a spinach plant in a base or acidic environment, because improper ph levels lead to the denaturing of enzymes, which would... |
| About this Project | The Saucy Scientists worked very well together as a team. This team consisted of vary diverse learners and I saw leadership emerge. They tested something new, which was risky, and required a great deal more research. The students were very positive about the results, especially when the results... |
Updates
Hello Team - it was a great privilege and honor to have been part of your PlantingScience experience. I have been part of this program for over four years as a mentor and liaison but this was the first time that I would meet my students in-person. And that meeting made a difference. I am confident that you will do well, make significant impact in your lives and communities, and have a successful career. You are fortunate to have Mrs Thilmony as your science teacher. She is passionate and hardworking. I am impressed! I wish you all the very best! Stay curious!
Israel
Thank you Josh and Israel for all the help and advice for the experiment and leading us in the right direction when we were going off course, I hope you have a good rest of your year, Thank you and Goodbye.
Hello mentors, just wanted to thank you guys for your time, help, and effort in being our mentors for this project. I learned a lot doing this project and I appreciate what you guys have done for our group. It was a cool experience to interact with real scientists like you guys. Thanks again for everything Israel and Josh, goodbye!
Thank you for mentoring us. Israel and josh. I hope you guys had a great Thanksgiving break. I've learned some things from working with you guys.
Thank you for the nomination Josh. Thanksgiving break was awesome, I hope your thanksgiving was good as well. As far as the conclusion goes, I think that the ellipsis goes away if you click into the info section, and it will show the entire conclusion.
thanks for the help Sam!
thanks for mentoring me and my team Josh and Isreal. Good bye
Thank you and your squad for being inquisitive, and saucy scientists!
Hello mentors, we have posted the conclusion to our experiment about pH and photosynthesis. The data we collected does not support our predictions, and our conclusion explains reasoning as to why we believe it does not. Feel free to ask us any questions about our conclusion and interpretation of the data.
Hi team, I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving break. Your information section looks wonderful but I do have one question: the conclusion ends with an ellipsis (fancy word to describe ..." Do yall think you could finish that sentence to fully interpret your results?
So far y'all have been very proficient with coming up with answers and suggestions. Let me know if I can be of assistance in the final bits of your project. I am nominating yall for a star project and I know that the more flushed out your information sections are the better chance you have at winning!
I am excited to see your results of measuring oxygen, as an indicator of photosynthesis rates, in these plants grown under different pH levels. So, what can you infer from your results? Does it match your predictions? What do your results mean? I am happy to help you work through interpreting the results.
we have finished collecting computer data from the experiment we have not got a chance to photograph and examine out plants from the experiment, but we will send our graph of data we have collected as soon as its completed. we are going to take Israel's advice and study and photograph the root lengths and collect qualitative data from it.
Hello Team - this is awesome work! I am excited to see the results you are getting. Based on ocular observation, there were more leaves, and fresh too, in the spinach in acidic medium. The spinach grown in basic medium have fewer leaves and the shortest root length. Does this observation match your predictions?
I can't wait to see how the results of the photosynthesis measurements.
Great work, team!
What an amazing photo of young scientists!
We will definitely take that into consideration. Thanks for the insight!
We are beginning to dive into our experiment, and have posted our design on the project info. We will begin testing as soon as we get everything completely set up, and we'll keep you guys posted about any questions we have while we conduct our experiment. Also, I would like to thank Israel for the chocolate and gifts he brought on his visit, it was a highly appreciated gesture. Please let us know of any suggestions, advice, or questions you may have about our experimental design as we will be spending all of class tomorrow prepping the experiment, and we'll be looking to start collecting data soon.
Hello Sam and team! I had the opportunity to understand your experimental set-up on Friday during my visit. I think you have a good plan. One recent thought about your experiment is that the effect of pH will be felt more by the roots than by the leaves, therefore, if possible, after the last day of your data collection, you can also carefully uproot the spinach leaves and observe the roots. You may measure the root length and integrate it with your photosynthesis data. Have fun with your project.
PS: you are welcome and I really enjoyed my visit.
Hello Team! It was nice meeting some of you on Friday during my visit. It is rewarding to put names to faces! I am excited to see your projects as they come along this week. I am available to respond to your comments and questions. Have fun, y'all!
Yo squad,
Just checking in with yall, have you started to dive into investigating your question? I am excited to see what you hypothesize as well as how you'll design the experiment! I'll be tapped in this upcoming week if yall have any questions
Thank you for the feedback Josh and we have decided on a more solid question, based on our original so it relates more to what we have been discussing lately. the Question is how does Ph affect the rate of photosynthesis?
Hi squad,
This is wonderful. I think there is a lot of potential with this question which is solid. I am excited to see y'all fill in your predictions and experimental design sections above in your project info section. A question for y'all: when do you meet for class? I think that will help Isarael and I be ready to check for updates to provide you with more timely responses.
Hello mentors, our group has been researching the topic we discussed on how Ph affects spinach plants and we had a few questions the first question is what nutrients do spinach plants need to thrive and why do nutrients thrive in different Ph's?
Yo saucy scientists,
When it comes to spinach plants and how they grow, they need different types of nutrients and varying concentrations to stay healthy. These include things like nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, and other minerals like iron and zinc.
From my brief research before responding to y’alls question is appears that certain nutrients dissolve more easily in water depending on if the water is acidic or alkaline. I think is question is feasible to investigate. Let Israel or myself know if you have further questions when you get further into the coming up with y’alls experiment design.
Thanks for the feedback Israeli, and yes we were careful with our disposal of the moneywart. As a group, we are beginning to brainstorm ideas for a test of our own. A question we thought of was how does changing soil ph levels effect plant? Do you think this is a reasonably testable question?
Hello mentors, our group recently conducted another experiment testing photosynthesis in the light and the dark, using a different method this time. This time, we used aquatic plants, specifically Moneywart plants, in a phenol red solution. The phenol red solution changes colors based on ph levels, which change when either oxygen or carbon is released. Our actual results were rather surprising though, and opposed our predictions. We predicted that the solution with the aquatic plant in the light would change dark pink or red, and that the solution with the aquatic plant in the dark would turn yellow. These predictions would be disproven, as neither solution changed color after an entire day. Now we are testing the carbon dioxide and oxygen levels of the plants with probes to see what is happening with the experiment as the results with the phenol red solution were inconclusive. The original experiment requested we use Elodea instead of Moneywart, however we didn't have any access to Elodea, could this be what affected the results of our original experiment?
I am sorry to read that your experiment did not turn out well, as planned. Don't we all face that very often, even as scientists? It also gives us an opportunity to learn new information about the experiment and the plants you are using. I don't know for sure what may have caused the unexpected results, here is what I find about the plant. Elodea, for example, has thin leaves, while moneywart (from the images I see online) has thick leaves. Secondly, it uses different systems for photosynthesis (we call it photosynthetic pathways) depending on whether it is growing in water or on land.
In any case, please dispose the moneywort carefully as it is considered invasive (weed) in the United States. Good luck!
To add on to what we said about our experiment yesterday, we got our data on the Moneywart plants from the probes, and that data does support what we know about photosynthesis. It shows less CO2 in the light and more in the dark, and more oxygen in the light and less in the dark. I'll put a table into the files to show you our findings.
Hello Team! This is a very interesting result which demonstrates the process of photosynthesis. There are two stages of photosynthesis: light dependent and light-independent stages. As it reads, the light dependent stage, requires light, which is used to break water into hydrogen (H) and hydroxyl (OH) groups. The OH groups eventually forms the oxygen, which is the byproduct of photosynthesis. The oxygen is also the reason why the leaf discs float in water, indicating that photosynthesis is occurring in your experiments. CO2 is only used during the light independent stage/reactions.
So, your findings are accurate, indicating that more oxygen is produced in the light (light dependent stage/reaction) and more CO2 is the dark means that leaves are using the gas molecules for the light independent reactions. I hope this explanation validates your thinking and findings. Exciting!
No worries Israel, the homecoming game went great, we beat Anaconda 46 - 0! Glad you are back, and thanks for checking in.
WOW! That is amazing! Go team!!
Hello mentors, our team just wanted to share our findings in our latest experiment on photosynthesis, which was about the effects of light and dark on photosynthesis. We used leaf discs again in this experiment to see the difference in how light would affect the discs rising vs how the dark would. We found that like last time, the discs in the light rose, and the discs in the dark did not after a twenty five minute period. After recording this data, we switched the cups place, putting the one that was previously in the light into the dark, and putting the one in the dark into the light. As expected, the discs in the light rose, however we were surprised to find that the discs that were previously in the light, now in the dark, were still afloat. We checked them again the next day and they were still floating. We asked our teacher about this, and found out that this is because the discs are no longer infiltrated with the solution. Thanks for listening to our findings!
Thank you Sam for sharing your team's findings on the effects of light and dark on photosynthesis with leaf discs. It's great to see your dedication to your experiments and your commitment to understanding the processes involved in photosynthesis.
Y'all's observation that the leaf discs in the light rose while those in the dark did not, and the subsequent switch of the cups is quite fascinating. It's a prime example of the dynamic and complex nature of biological processes.
Hopefully, these preliminary experiments are generating additional questions that you will be able to test in further experiments!
Hello Sam and team,
My apologies once again for the silence. I was sick and I am just recovering and catching up on work. One important information to remember is that the leaf discs float because they produced oxygen in the early stages of photosynthesis. Therefore, leaf disc floating is an indication of oxygen production, hence, photosynthesis. Oxygen is formed when light energy (absorbed by chlorophyll pigment) breaks down water into hydrogen and oxygen. For this reason, leaf discs in darkness cannot absorb light energy and break water molecules. I hope this explains the results you obtained from the experiment.
Hello Team - just checking in with you all. I hope your homecoming game went well. Did you beat the rivals? I am sorry I have been a bit silent for a while. I have been traveling lately and had just returned back to work at Bozeman. I am fully back and ready to promptly respond to all of your questions. Take care!
Hello Israel, recently we completed a lab experiment investigating how CO2 affects the photosynthesis by using leaf discs. We learned that CO2 is needed for photosynthesis to occur. In the experiment we tested three different solutions, two of which contained CO2, and one that was just normal distilled water. One solution contained sodium bicarbonate, and we added CO2 to the other one by breathing into it. By the end of the experiment we had learned that CO2 was very important to photosynthesis. As a group we were wondering what other things besides CO2 and light are nessasary for photosynthesis to occur?
Hi Sam, my name is Josh and I am another mentor for y'all's group. My apologies for not introducing myself earlier - I will post some more information about myself later today.
There are two major requirements for photosynthesis and I must give you and your team props for your solid observations regarding carbon dioxide's role. Imagine you did your experiment again but this time conducting with a plant in soil instead of using leaf discs in water. What essential item might be missing?
Let me and Israel know what y’all think could be the other important item needed for photosynthesis. We are looking forward to y’all discussing and coming up with a thought together!
So excited to see that your experiment is going very well... Josh and I are eager to hear of your thoughts to his question. Think of it as looking at the photosynthesis equation. Other than carbondioxide, what else is on the left side of the equation? Take care!
Hi Josh is it true that pineapple makes melatonin?
Hi Tuff, Israel here, you mentor. Yes, pineapple, cashews, and several other tropical fruits can help increase melatonin concentrations in the body, which helps people sleep better because of its effect on circadian rhythm (that is, your body clock). Where did you get that information?
Hello Israel and Josh,
Hi I am Melanie. I like Tik Tok and I like to spend time with my family and friends. I have a sister that just graduated boot camp. She is heading to the Navy and I heard that she's going to Greece in December.
I'm 15 and my birthday's on Valentines Day. I'm a sophomore and I play Volleyball. I'm from a small town in Montana and this summer I went to a few water parks with my family and friends.
I know that plants grow by water, I love to take pictures of sunsets because there so pretty when I go out with my family. I like to take pictures of my food sometimes before I eat it.
My big sister made me a promise when we were little girls. She promised me that when she gets her own car she would take me out to McDonalds for some ice cream and go to the movies. She definitely did promise me we got ice cream and went to the movies like she said. I also love spending time with my big sis I love her a lot and it was just hard to let her leave after her graduation but we were so excited when we saw her when it was done we were all crying. I like preppy things and like to watch preppy stuff on Tik Tok like get ready with my videos i like them and i like skin care also, i kinda like justice clothing store. One thing about school is i try to be on time for class so I'm not tardy and i like to keep my home work and assignments orginized and make my grades are good I also like to make sure i get my work turned in on time. I have a 11 year old sister and two younger brothers and I have a baby brother which he is like so cute and adorable and I love giving him kisses.
Hello Melanie - so nice to meet you. I can see that you have such a lovely family and closely knitted siblings. That is great! Tell your sister for me: thank you for your service! I can get pretty competitive on a volleyball pitch, mind you! So, tell me - did your sister fulful her promise to take you to a McDonalds for ice cream? I look forward to working with you on this project.
Hello Israel
This is Melanie, you asked me if my sister took me out to McDonald's for ice cream, yes she did we didn't go to McDonald's, but we have a mall so we went to see Avatar and after we got frozen yogurt and they were both in the mall and they were next to each other.
Hello, budding plant biologists!
I'm Josh F., and I'm absolutely thrilled to be your liaison mentor as we dive headfirst into the fascinating world of plants.
A little about me: I'm utterly obsessed with plants! Whether I've been in Minnesota, Colorado, or now upstate New York, my passion for plants has been a constant. I've been fortunate to explore this passion as an undergraduate and, currently, as a Ph.D. student at Cornell University.
What really gets me excited is the astounding diversity of plant life, from the majestic cottonwoods to the tiniest understory plants that hide in the most unexpected places. My research focuses on the evolution of floral traits, like flower size, within the pineapple family. Pretty cool, huh?
When I'm not immersed in the plant world, you can find me strumming a guitar, playing ultimate frisbee, or cruising on my bike. I've attached a photo of me jamming on the guitar. I absolutely love playing jazz and blues music.
I'm committed to making this experience inclusive and engaging for all of you, so please never hesitate to reach out to me or Israel with questions, ideas, or any concerns, especially as you dive into your projects.
I can't wait to embark on this Planting Science journey with each one of you and witness the wonders of how plants perform photosynthesis. I'm truly excited to continue exploring alongside all of you, making this a remarkable adventure!
Hello Team! It is quite interesting to see your descriptions of what a scientist is! One thing to note is that a scientist is a human being, just like you: curious, passionate, willing to make mistakes, and eager to learn. I hope that you can learn something from me, as your mentor and scientist, while working on this project, which will inspire you to pursure similar careers in the future.
Best wishes!
Hi Josh and Israel
My name is Dakota. I like reading in English. My favorite hobby is working on my 85 fiero after school. My favorite plant is the tomatoe plant because it is the only vegetable I have not killed while attempting to grow it. Even though I do not like the taste and I know the bare minimum to garden plants, I do know some things about photosynthesis.
Hello Dakota, nice to e-meet you. I can relate that tomatoes are much easier to grow. I had fun growing plants in the garden when I was younger. Perhaps, those childhood experiences ignited my interests in plants and hence, my career today.
Hello Melanie, Sam, Tuff, and Dakota,
I am delighted to be working with you through this project, as your scientist mentor. I also manage mentoring (as a liaison) for the same project in another school. But since I am based in Bozeman MT, I wanted to be part of a local school project here. It is very likely that I would visit your school at Thompson Falls at some point. Fingers crossed!
I am currently a professor (Assistant Professor, to be precise) in the Department of Ecology, Montana State University, Bozeman. I was a postdoctoral scholar at UC Berkeley prior to that, and I got my PhD at University of Nevada, Reno. I am interested in why some plants are widespread and why others have small ranges, and what could be driving this variation in geographical distributions. I am also interested in investigating why some areas have greater biodiversity than others. I do a lot of field surveys, lab work, and data analysis.
I love to travel and I have been to at least one country in all continents! I like hiking, especially up the mountains. With regards to sports, I am a big soccer fan, especially the English Premier League. Sorry, I don't enjoy football that much, but I will watch superbowl (why not?!). If you would like to know more about me, please feel free to ask.
I very much look forward to working with you all. We can surely learn something from each other.
Hello Israel and Josh!
My name is Sam, I am 16, and I am excited to begin this project. I currently go to school in Thompson Falls, which is a pretty small town, but I enjoy it here. My favorite hobbies are basketball and football. When I'm not playing sports, I enjoy watching pro sports, mostly the NFL. Although sports are definitely my favorite hobbies, I also enjoy many activities in the outdoors. I like to fish a lot in the summer time, and hunt during the fall. My favorite summertime activity is probably going boating with my friends.
My knowledge of plants is fairly limited, however I have taken biology in high school and with that I think I've taken a basic understanding of photosynthesis with me since taking the class. My favorite plant is the Bonsai tree, because I think they look cool and I would like to get one for my room. I look forward to working on this project with you as my group mentor!
Sincerely,
Sam
Hello Sam - very nice to meet you. I like hunting too and I got a hunting license when I was in Nevada. My dream is to get a bull elk; the meat is exceptionally delicious! I am planning to join a group of people to go fishing in the coming weeks before it gets too cold. Fingers crossed! Bonsai tree is a nice plant to have indoors and it doesn't need a lot of maintenance. I look forward to working with you all.
Hi Israel and Josh,
My name is Tuff. In the future I want to be a mechanic and customize cars, trucks and other. My favorite car is corvettes. I like the venus flytrap plants.
Is it a volunteer thing when you help at the camps or do you run it?
Hello Tuff! Very nice to meet you. I am amazed that you would like to build cars. I am guessing that you like Fast and Furious movies and that you go to Monster Jam events. My favorite car is the Dodge Charger! That beast can run really fast. I am jealous of the police patrol who get to ride it.