And it begins...

YAY! my experiment has finally begun :) im so excited.

ive set up the cups along a windowsill in my kitchen which is where my dad leaves his seeds to germinate. he said they should normally start growing within three days, but being winter it would take longer. oh well, we'll see what happens :) ill keep everyone posted on what happens.

The Method

I have done everything else for this blog submission except for my method. So, here it is :) Enjoy!!

Aim: To investigate whether the addition of sugar when watering a seed effects the speed of growth of the plant.

Hypothesis: The plant with the most sugar will grow the fastest.

Equipment and Materials: 4 polystyrene cups, a permanent marker, 8 pea seeds, cotton wool balls, sugar, water, measuring cup, ruler and sunlight.

Method:
1. The polystyrene cups were labelled using the permanent marker. One was labelled "normal", the next "10%", the third "25%" and the last "50%".
2. The 4 polystyrene cups were each filled to about halfway with cotton wool balls.
3. 2 pea seeds were placed in each cup, just on top of the cotton.
4. Using the measuring cup, 40mL of water was measured.
5. The water was poured into the cup labelled "normal".
6. Step 4 was repeated.
7. 4 grams of sugar was mixed with the 40mL of water.
8. This solution was poured into the cup labelled 10%.
9. Step 4 was repeated.
10. 10 grams of sugar was combined with the 40mL of water.
11. The solution was poured into the cup labelled "25%".
12. Step 4 was repeated.
13. 20 grams of sugar was mixed with the 40mL of water.
14. This solution was poured into the cup labelled "50%"
15. The 4 cups were then placed in an area which received alot of sunlight.
16. A photograph of the experiment was taken.
17. Steps 16 was repeated every 3 days for 2 weeks, observing and taking note of the difference in the growth of the seeds.
18. The results were recorded in a table, stating how many days the seeds took to grow (days) and whether or not they grew at all.


Thats it :) i wasn't sure whether or not to get our a ruler and measure the seeds, or just note the effects the sugar has on the plant. But as you can see, i decided to go with the ruler. If there are any problems, im sure ill be able to make slight changes. Also, ive based the hypothesis on the fact that sugar makes a person more "hyper" and their brain and body to work faster. Hopefully it will have the same effect on a plant.

Alison

a new idea

I've finally talked with ms zhang!!! hahaha yeah I haven't really been in class much lately, so I haven't gotten much of a chance to talk to her. But the other day she asked if anyone wanted to talk to her or ask anything, so I did. Basically i was on the right track when I said i should get rid of some variables. I asked ms zhang about the "inconclusive results" and she explained that my results may not be accurate or give a final answer. That clears alot up!!!
so, what to do about that...?
well, ms zhang said I should just test the effect of adding something to the water in different percentages, if that makes sense. For example, adding sugar. To
the first seed I might add 10% sugar the water, to the second maybe 25% and so on. over the days I could just monitor and photograph the experiment, seeing if the sugar has any effect.
so that's my new idea :) I think I'm going to stick with it, as it'll give me clearer and conclusive results. Thanks ms zhang!!!!

The Graph

In class the other day, Ms. Zhang gave us information on a graph we had to do. All the required information is on her blog :)

Here is my graph, which by the way took me a while to do. Im no computer wizz, so i tried doing it by hand, which proved to be much harder than it seemed. The Geography teachers make life so easy for us by drawing out the grid and such haha. But, i have finished my graph and thats all that matters. I ended up doing it on excel, then merging the two on paint. Good old paint :D

enjoy!!!


Alison