Growing Plants Lab

Growing Plants Lab

Objective:

Formulate and test a hypothesis on the effects of air, temperature, water, or light on plants (e.g., seed germination, growth rates).

Introduction:

You are going to have the chance to use the scientific method and experiment with how different variables affect the growth of plant seeds. Remember to control all other variables so you are only testing one variable!

Materials:

●Seeds

●Planting medium

●Small cups

●Metric ruler

●Various other resources as needed

●Aluminum foil

Procedure:

1. Determine the variable you want to test with plant growth (your independent variable).
2. Make an If Then hypothesis as to what you think will happen.
3. Determine what conditions will need to be controlled and how you will control them.
4. Determine what will be and how you will measure the dependent variable.
5. Determine the different level at which you will test your independent variable. Number of trials will be the number of seeds you plant in each container.
6. Complete the Inquiry lab sheet through data organization. Write a detailed procedure that other lab groups could follow on their own. Your data organization is the data table that you create to track changes in the dependent variable. It should include at least 10 school days of data.
7. Have Miss Walker check your Experiment Design Form.
8. Follow your procedure to complete the lab. You should put three to four seeds around the perimeter of the planting container.
9. Tear off two pieces of aluminum foil.
10. Fold the edges of each piece of aluminum foil to form a "tray" to put under your canister.
11. Take observations each day for about two weeks. Your observations could include days until germination, plant or leaf color, presence of mold, shape of plant or leaf, etc.
12. When your plants are tall enough, measure each plant in centimeters and take an average for each of your two test locations. Record your data in your data table.
13. Use the data to create a line graph to compare the independent and dependent variables.

Analysis:

1. At which location did the seed germinate first?

○Was this what you expected?

○Why or why not?

1. At which location were the tallest plants produced?
2. What is the optimum condition of your independent variable for seed germination?

○Defend your answer using the data from your experiment.

1. What are important factors for plant growth? Defend your answer using conclusions from your group and other groups experiments. This answer should be at least two paragraphs in length.

Name: ______Per. ___ Date: ____ Integrated Science 8 Honors

Plant Growth Inquiry Lab

Question: What is the effect of ______(independent variable) on ______(dependent variables)

Hypothesis:

If ______(planned change in independent variable) then______(predicted change in dependent variables).

Independent Variable:

______

Levels of Independent Variables

Dependent Variables (and how they will be measured):

Control Group Conditions:

______

Control Variables:

______

Procedure:

______

Approval by Miss Walker______

Observations and Data:

Analysis:

1.At which location did the seed germinate first?

○Was this what you expected?

○Why or why not?

2.At which location were the tallest plants produced?

3.What is the optimum condition of your independent variable for seed germination?

○Defend your answer using the data from your experiment.

Conclusion: Did you accept or reject your hypothesis- explain why in detail. How do your results compart to the results of other groups? What did you learn about the factors that are important for plant growth? Explain your answer using conclusions from your group and other groups’ experiments.

______