3 guys 2 girls/ Oakridge Middle School / ORMF_F09_W17

School Level: Middle School/Jr High
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Research Information


Research Question
Blaze- Does rain water, well water, rain with vinegar, or well with vinegar make a radish seed germinate quicker?

Jay & alainah- What is the optimal pH in South Florida for seed germination and growth?


Trevor Jeremy- Will radish seeds grow better in peat moss or in regular soil

Research Predictions
Blaze- I believe the rain with vinegar will grow faster

Jay & Alainah- i believe that the plant with the least vinegar water will germinate the fastest if we water them correctly. Then if we put the write amount of vinegar in it it will grow the fastest because it will lower the alkaline.

Experimental Design
jay & alainah-
step 1- put 30 seeds into the 5 pots with fertilized soil.

step 2- label the radish plants with their pH on the soil pot; number 1 water and vinegar(6), number 2 is water and vinegar(5.5), number 3 tap water(8.4), number 4 water and vinegar(6.2),number 5 water and baking soda(9)

step 3- carefully measure each amounts of water, all of them 240 millileters of tap water, but different amounts of vinegar and baking soda.

step 4- set all plants outside with same amounts of sunlight.

step 5- use a cooking beaker to measure the different amounts of vinegar. use for 1-5.

step 6- every 3 days measure the plant from the top of the pot, to the top of the plant. rewater the plants with 240 ml of water.

BLAZE
step 1-plant the 20 pots with 5 watered with well water, 5 watered with well and vinegar, 5 with rain, and 5 with rain and vinegar.(3 seeds in each pot)

step 2- water them each day with the same amount and same type of water they have been recieving each day

step 3-measure the height every 4 days and record the data

step 4- wait and see which radish goes through fertilizastion first and grows first.

step 5- record the data that you have recieved throughout the radishs life time!



TREVOR AND JEREMY-
Step 1- Plant radishes in 20 pots 10 being peat the other 10 being regular soil and 3 seeds in each
Step 2- water each and keep recording data
Step 3- on the second week finally finish measuring and compare to your research and hypothesis
Step 4- Conclusion




Research Conclusions



Conversations - use this space to communicate about this project


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December 7, 2009 | 6:14 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 2, 2009 | 3:56 AM | Alana Oldham  (Scientist/Mentor)

hey botanists!
Sorry you haven't heard from me in a bit, I got sick, and then my daughter got sick so we've been a mess of sniffles around here.
I'm glad to hear that your projects are all on the move. The predictions and research designs all look great!

Trevor and Jeremy, where's yours?

Blaze, in step 4 of your experimental design I believe you confused fertilization with germination, germination is sprouting, fertilization is when the male and female gametes join (did you know that plants have sperm and eggs too?).

Jay and Alainah, Great detail! I'm glad you listed the pH of each solution as well as how much water you will be using and are being careful to keep the light environments the same, that's the kind of forethought that makes for good science. It's super important in research to make sure you keep things consistent and remember to account for things like light that could change your results if they varied among plants.

:)
Alana

Everyone, I think it would be cool to pull the radishes up on the last day of your study and measure roots and weigh the plants. I forgot to think of that earlier because I study humongous trees and we can't just go digging them up. Tree researchers tend to pretend that roots don't exist because they are out of our reach ;)
You could also record the number and size of leaves along with the measurements of plant height.
December 2, 2009 | 1:09 AM | blazerrrr  (Team Member)

nice metting you:)
hi it is blaze, thank you for all of your help. my radishes are about 8 inches.

,blaze:-------0
December 1, 2009 | 2:48 AM | plantbusters123  (Student, plantbusters13 - ORMF_F09_W18 · -1)

heyy maatt
heyy jeremy
December 1, 2009 | 2:48 AM | plantbusters13  (Student, plantbusters13 - ORMF_F09_W18 · -1)

matt<3
the seaweed is affecting the plant growth, because of all the nutrients in the seaweed, btw how is yur expirement goingg?
December 1, 2009 | 2:39 AM | plantbusters123  (Student, plantbusters13 - ORMF_F09_W18 · -1)

comment from the "PLantbusters!!!(:"
Your experiment is really cool and intresting please comment my team back with the results. and jello sounds
good:P
from, matt, cody, and pat<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<33333333333
December 1, 2009 | 2:38 AM | plantbusters13  (Student, plantbusters13 - ORMF_F09_W18 · -1)

To Trevor
hi trevor its matthew hope all is well cnt wait 2 see the results
November 19, 2009 | 11:44 PM | plantbusters13  (Student, plantbusters13 - ORMF_F09_W18 · -1)

matt
nice hows the project goingg?
November 19, 2009 | 12:46 AM | trevor  (Team Member)

our steps......
1. put in soil and peat moss up to 1 inch from the top
2. Plant radishes 1 cm down with 3 in each
3. put pots in direct sunlight
4. water 1 cup a day for 2 weeks
5. MEASURE THE RESULTS!!!!!!!!!!


THANKS!!!!!!!!
November 18, 2009 | 12:21 AM | imaboss  (Team Member)

heyy....
im the short one.....
November 11, 2009 | 11:04 PM | kitty1  (Team Member)


Hey, this is alainah i just wanted to tell you that the plant we watered with just water has already sprouted.
November 10, 2009 | 12:25 AM | blazerrrr  (Team Member)

hello
im blaze the one with the sharks shirt on w/ black shorts
November 10, 2009 | 12:13 AM | trevor  (Team Member)

Hi
im the one in the picture with the red shorts and black and white tshirt
November 6, 2009 | 5:29 AM | Alana Oldham  (Scientist/Mentor)

Hi botanists!
Thanks for the progress report. I'm glad you posted a photo of yourselves. So, who is who in the picture? Sorry there's not a better picture of me, you all are probably taller than I am anyhow ;)
Have fun getting started on your experiments!

Alana
November 6, 2009 | 1:56 AM | trevor  (Team Member)

ok
me and my fellow scientist jeremy are still discussing if we are to use jello it is a very intriging especcialy since the plants can grow thank you for all ur help



your friend
Trevor
November 6, 2009 | 1:52 AM | jj13  (Team Member)

our experiment
hi. we havent started our experiment yet, but all we need to get is soil and then we will start our experiment.
November 4, 2009 | 12:26 AM | Alana Oldham  (Scientist/Mentor)

Hi Trevor and Jeremy
No big deal if you don't get around to using Jello, I just thought it might be neat. Plants can grow in almost anything that can hold water, at least until they run out of nutrients or get killed by mold. Lots of botanists grow their study plants "hydroponically", that is without any soil at all, sometimes just in plain nutrient water, sometimes with the addition of ceramic pellets so the roots have something to hold onto, sometimes in a special gel. I think that the jello would work a bit like hydroponic gel (holding lots of water and allowing root growth), except that the sugar would feed fungi and bacteria that may kill your radishes. Of course, I've never tried to grow a plant in jello, so that is just a guess. Making a good guess and then finding out what happens is what science is all about, so have fun with it! I sure do.
:)
Alana
November 4, 2009 | 12:04 AM | Alana Oldham  (Scientist/Mentor)

Hi Blaze
I'm glad to hear that they are growing! I'm curious, are there any differences between root and shoot growth among your treatments? I wonder if one pH may promote root growth while another promotes shoots. I have no clue what the answer is so keep me posted!
:)
Alana
November 3, 2009 | 4:19 AM | blazerrrr  (Team Member)

heyy
hi alana i have started my project it is goin very well... the rain alone is growing faster
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
November 3, 2009 | 4:16 AM | trevor  (Team Member)

thanks!!!
thank you for that idea but we dont know if we are going to use jello if we do..... how would the plant grow
November 3, 2009 | 4:14 AM | imaboss  (Team Member)

hi dr Oldham
we are measuring the growth amount in 2 weeks. Thanks for the idea with jello. It is a very creative and logically thought out hypothesis. We are about to start but i'll see if i can pick up the extra peat moss and jello.
October 29, 2009 | 7:14 AM | Alana Oldham  (Scientist/Mentor)

Hi Trevor and Jeremy
One more thing, you mentioned that plain peat moss may not holding enough water. You could compare it to the amount of water held in another substrate by weighing both dry and then adding all the water they can hold, then weigh them again. The substance that gains the most weight will be the one that can hold the most water.
This might be pretty cool with peat moss mixed with jello because the jello will hold more water than plain moss while the sugar in it will feed the bacteria and mold that peat moss normally inhibits. Just an idea, it's a neat question either way.
:)
Alana
October 29, 2009 | 7:04 AM | Alana Oldham  (Scientist/Mentor)

Hi Jaovanna
That's an interesting question. What are you using to create sprouting environments with different levels of acidity? Vinegar? Baking soda?

How will you measure pH to determine what is optimum? You can make a pretty good pH indicator by chopping up some purple cabbage and boiling it until the water is really purple, the purple water will get redder in acids and turn blue or even green in bases, it's fun to play with. Maybe you and Blaze could share some cabbage water for your experiments.

Let me know if you have any questions for me, I'm happy to help.

:)
Alana
October 29, 2009 | 6:53 AM | Alana Oldham  (Scientist/Mentor)

Hi Trevor and Jeremy
That sounds like a good question. Will you be comparing the growth in peat moss to growth in some other soil type? You could try adding something to some of the peat moss like dirt from your school, or compost, or even a food like cereal or jello.

Are you going to measure time until germination or are you measuring how much the seedlings grow over a period of time?

So, what do you think will happen with the plain peat moss? Will the radishes grow?

Keep me posted!

:)
Alana
October 29, 2009 | 12:37 AM | blazerrrr  (Team Member)

hii
hi this is blaze i have left the group but im keeping the question that i originally came up withh!!! the rain ph of florida is 5.
October 29, 2009 | 12:35 AM | jj13  (Team Member)


hi Alana... i dont know if you read my question, but my question is...
What is the optimal pH in South Florida for seed germination and growth?

Jaovanna
October 29, 2009 | 12:31 AM | imaboss  (Team Member)

hi
Blaze has left our group so me and trevor have changed our project to will radish seeds grow in all peat moss. Peat moss helps keep out bacteria disease and other bad factors in plant growth. It might not have enough to root onto and the moss might not hold the liquid so it will be interesting.
October 29, 2009 | 12:30 AM | trevor  (Team Member)

change
blaze has left our group and so me and jermey have changed our project to.... Will radish seeds grow in all peat moss?
October 23, 2009 | 1:00 AM | Alana Oldham  (Scientist/Mentor)


Hi Blaze et al.,
If your rain in FL has a pH of about 5 and vinegar generally has a pH of 2.4, then the pH or your rainwater/vinegar mix will be somewhere in between. Remember, acids have a low pH and bases have a high pH so to raise your pH to a 7 (neutral pH) you would need to add a base like baking soda or alkaline soil. Are you sure your rain is really a 5? That's pretty acidic. Tap water usually has a pH of 7.
:)
Alana
October 22, 2009 | 4:39 AM | jj13  (Team Member)


hi
i just wanted to tell you that our questions are slightly different. my question is, what is the optimal pH in South Florida for seed germination and growth?
October 22, 2009 | 4:38 AM | blazerrrr  (Team Member)

heyyyy
Down here in florida we have not gotin that much rain buttttt we think that the rain with vinegar will make the radis seed germinate quicker because in south florida the rain has a pH of 5 and the radish seeds need 7 to grow well. the rain and vinegar will end up being about 7 pH... so that is why we think that the rain w/ vinegar will grow quicker!
:) <33

blaze!!! ( thebrains of the group)
October 21, 2009 | 2:11 AM | Alana Oldham  (Scientist/Mentor)


Oops! Silly me, I see that you are using radish seeds. I wonder if the ones that germinate first will also grow faster?
;)
Alana
October 21, 2009 | 2:07 AM | Alana Oldham  (Scientist/Mentor)


Hi Flamingos!
How's the experiment going? Where at you at with it? Oh, and I forgot to ask before, what kind of seeds are you using?
:)
Alana
October 15, 2009 | 2:00 PM | Alana Oldham  (Scientist/Mentor)

Hi
Hi nice to meet you it sounds like you have an interesting project. Why do you think the rain with vinegar will germinate sooner? How about trying some water from a muddy rain puddle too? I don't know what the weather is like in Florida, but here in California we just got our first big rain of the year. Muddy water might be interesting because the soil pH will make it different from rain or well water. Feel free to ask me whatever you like!
:)
Alana
October 15, 2009 | 2:20 AM | plantbuster123  (Student, plantbusters13 - ORMF_F09_W18 · -1)


that is very cool wonder what happens
October 15, 2009 | 2:20 AM | plantbusters123  (Student, plantbusters13 - ORMF_F09_W18 · -1)

Patrick!
hello blaze and trevor its patrick nice project
October 15, 2009 | 2:19 AM | plantbusters13  (Student, plantbusters13 - ORMF_F09_W18 · -1)

cool project
cant wait 2 see the results
October 15, 2009 | 2:07 AM | jj13  (Team Member)

hello
hi, my name is Jaovanna. i look forward to working with you. i just wanted to let you know that our projects our slightly different. my question is, what is the optimal pH is South Florida for seed germination and growth?

sincerely, jaovanna
October 15, 2009 | 2:07 AM | kitty1  (Team Member)

hey
hey my name is alainah, i am looking foward working with you!!! :]
October 15, 2009 | 1:57 AM | blazerrrr  (Team Member)

hello
in my first comment i forgot to mention my name... its blaze! tips and comments on my project will be greatly appriciated !
October 15, 2009 | 1:56 AM | trevor  (Team Member)

Hello
Hi! my name is Trevor I look forward to you helping us with our intringing science project. We our working on what grows a radish seeds the fastest, well water rain water vinegarw/rain water and vinegar w/well water. Please right back if you have any tips thank you!!!

Sincerely, Trevor
October 15, 2009 | 1:55 AM | blazerrrr  (Team Member)

hello
i am very much looking forard to working with you on my resarch project! my question is "does well water, rain water,well w/ vinegar, or rain w/ vinegar make radish seeds germinate quicker?
October 14, 2009 | 6:16 AM | PS team

Hello
We're thrilled your team has joined the community of plant researchers. I'm happy to introduce you to Dr. Alana Oldham who will be your scientist mentor for this project, and help you think through your plans and findings.

Sharing ideas is a huge part of science. And the start of a project is an especially important time. So, don't hesitate to share your ideas.

All best wishes as you start this scientific journey!
-The PlantingScience Team




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