Plants are miracle of nature, they are a great subject for lots of different science projects. Factors such as soil, light, temperature and fertilizer can be easily manipulated to affect the growth of Plants. Growing plants out of different seedlings, cuttings and leaves make these science experiments fun, inexpensive and educational. Traditionally our farmers have found out various time tested methods to achieve the best results. But by a planned Research and Development approach, our country could really achieve, the great heights in Agricultural production. Science has led us to the Green Revolution.

A sample Project

Question: Does type of seed and its preparation effect the growth?

Hypothesis: For eg. the coriander seeds will germinate better when it is broken into halves?

Take a reference from the Internet to understand the Plant

Planting Procedure

Spread the seeds on the ground run a chapel gently over it to crack. Now, scatter them on a pot with wet soil. Try with unbroken seeds

Materials: seeds, pots, soil

Approximate Cost: Rs. 10

This same experiment could be carried out with other seeds, onion, Mirich, Channa .. etc.

The questions & Hypothesis

Question: Does it really make a difference if you soak seeds like channa?

Hypothesis: Channa will germinate more quickly and there will be a higher percentage of germination when the seed are soaked overnight before planting.

Procedure:

Channa seed will germinate in the dark at room temprature. Try soaking the seeds and then tying them in a Kerchief and leaving them in a dark place. And directy planting them on the soil


Question: Does it really make any difference what kind of soil I use?

Hypothesis: If you use good quality potting soil - Mix instead of sand or garden soil, germination won't be greatly affected and growth will be better in potting soil than in sand or garden soil.

Question: Do plants grow toward the light?
Hypothesis: Plants will turn toward the light as they grow.

Question: Is there any difference between different brands of the same kind of fertilizer?
 

Hypothesis: Marigold seedlings will not show a difference if fed with different brands of the same formula fertilizer.

Procedure: Plant 12 pots of marigold seeds, 10 seeds in each pot. Marigolds germinate in 5-10 days at 70-75 with light. After they have gotten their first true leaves, start fertilizing 4 of the containers with the Miracle Gro according to directions. Fertilize 4 more with Bachman's brand and just give water to the last four. Keep the three groups separate so excess water from one group cannot be absorbed by another. Be sure the plants receive adequate light to grow.

GOOD SCIENCE PROJECT

Every good science project begins with a question.

The question might be as simple as:

"Does it make any difference what brand of seed one should use?"

Or

It might be little more complex:

"How much difference will it make to plant growth if I use regular fluorescent lights instead of the special grow bulbs?"

It becomes a research subject:

"Music helps to grow the tree better? Can I talk to the tree and make it grow better?


Points to observe

Once you have the question in mind, you decide what the answer might be; that statement will be your hypothesis.

For example, if your question is "Does temperature affect seed germination rates?" then your hypothesis might be:

" More seed will germinate at warm temperatures between 15-30 C than at cool temperatures less than 15" or "Seeds will germinate much faster when warm than when cold."

Once you have come up with a question (the problem) and the possible answer (the hypothesis), you will need to design your experiment. Choose one factor you are going to test by changing something. This will be your variable. It is important to try to keep everything else the same. If you are testing whether temperatures affect speed of germination, you want temperature to be the only thing that changes. Be sure the light, water and soil stays the same each time. If you cannot control everything, acknowledge anything that might have influenced the outcome of the science experiment. Keep in mind that the experiment may not produce the results you expected those will be valid results too, and that doesn't mean the experiment failed.

When working with seed, remember they germinate best at a high humidity. An easy way to provide the needed humidity is to cover the seed tray or pots with plastic-wrap or a humidity dome. Be sure to remove it once the seeds germinate. Seeds can be potted in a variety of containers, ranging from peat pots, peat pellets, plastic pots, plastic inserts or clay pots. Many science projects with seeds have even been done in paper cups, milk cartons or egg cartons.

How do you choose what kind of seed or plant to use? Take into consideration how much time you have to work on your experiment and the educational/grade level. Beans, corn and pumpkin seeds are all large enough to be easy to handle and germinate quickly. Lettuce, radishes, marigolds, zinnias and tomatoes all germinate readily and are inexpensive. Check the seed packets to make sure they are fresh (the date will be on the back). Compare prices. Often you can get just as fresh seed in the same size packet for much less money on the discount racks.

Learning a little bit about seeds and plants will get you thinking about all sorts of experiments you can do. Plants can be easy to manipulate too. The height of a tomato plant is greatly affected by the amount of light it receives. The further from the light source, or the less intense the light, the taller (and thinner) the tomato plant will become. When growing tomato seedlings indoors, keeping the plants as close to the light source as possible will result in stronger, shorter plants. When working with a fluorescent light source, the amount of light available drastically increases as the plants get closer. In fact, if you had your plants 5 inches from the light and you moved it 1 inch closer, you wouldn't just increase the light by 20%. The amount of available light will double!

Hints to carry out successful projects

Do your homework before you start. A little reading before hand will save you lots of time in the long run. Plan on enough time to conduct your experiment early so you can work out any bugs and redo it if necessary. This will also give you time to analyze your results. To make an interesting presentation of your science project, you may also want to have samples at various stages ready to display. Keeping good records of the results of your experiment is very important. Write down everything, even if you think it might not be important.

Try not to let anything else vary, except what you are testing. If something else might influence the results, write about it and explain why you think it might have been a factor. Take photographs of your experiment as it progresses and use them in your display.

Don't worry if your results were not what you expected. Offer possible explanations as to why.
Check with your school for guidelines on how to present your experiment.  All good science experiments include several basic elements:

The research question is the single most important part of the scientific method. Every part of your project is done to answer this question. The research question is sometimes formed as a statement and is called the "Problem" or "Problem Statement." Hypothesis: The hypothesis is an "educated guess," formed as a statement, that you propose to be the answer to the research question. An educated guess is based on some prior knowledge.

Choosing a project

Always choose a  project on a subject of your interest.

Read all the available (age-appropriate) material on your topic you can find. You can use Internet search, encyclopedias, Seek help from teachers librarians and from Mali (Your Home Gardener), if it is on gardening. Write to institutions in your locality for information. Visit a Research centre and speak to professors or graduate students involved in your subject. Contact industrial firms doing research in your project area. Don't hesitate. If you are interested, most people will assist you. It is very important to keep a complete bibliography of all material you find and a list of people who helped you.

Research Procedure

Experimental design Plan: an experiment in which you can test your hypothesis.

Variables: The experiment will contain an element or elements that do not change (called controlled variables or dependent variables) and elements that will change (called manipulated variables or independent variables).

Control: The control is a particular sample that is treated the same as all the rest of the samples except that it is not exposed to manipulated variables.

Observation: When you interact with your experiment, you are using your senses to observe. Does it have a smell, make a noise have color, etc.?

The Steps

INITIAL OBSERVATION

You notice something, and wonder why it happens. You see something and wonder what causes it. You want to know how or why something works. You ask questions about what you have observed. The first step is to write down what you have noticed.

INFORMATION GATHERING

Find out about what you want to investigate. Read books, magazines or ask professionals who might know in order to learn about the effect or area of study. Keep track of where you got your information. One of the most important things for a student to do is recognize the people and resources used in developing and conducting the project. Name the people who offered knowledge or helped, and list the web sites, retail stores, magazines, books, computer programs, etc. that were used as sources of information or supplies.


TITLE THE PROJECT

Choose a title that describes the effect or thing you are investigating. The title should summarize what the investigation will deal with.

STATE THE PURPOSE OF THE PROJECT

What do you want to find out? Write a statement that describes what you want to do. Use your observations and questions to write the statement.

MAKE HYPOTHESIS

Make a list of answers to the questions you have. This can be a list of statements describing how or why you think the observed things work. Hypothesis must be stated in a way that can be tested by an experiment.

DESIGN AN EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE TO TEST YOUR HYPOTHESIS

Design an experiment to test each hypothesis. Make a step-by-step list of what you will do to answer your questions. This list is called an experimental procedure.
Guidelines for Experimental Procedures
Select only one thing to change in each experiment. Things that can be changed are called variables.
Change something that will help you test your hypothesis.
The procedure must tell how you will change this one thing.
The procedure must explain how you will measure the amount of change.
Each type of experiment needs a "control" for comparison so that you can see what the change actually did.

OBTAIN MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Make a list of the things you need to do the experiments, and prepare them. If you need special equipment, a local college or business may be able to loan it to you. Another source of science materials are mail order supply houses such as Edmund Scientific in Barrington, New Jersey (phone 1-609-457-8880 for a catalog). Professional science supply houses are located in larger cities. They will have just about anything you will need.

DO THE EXPERIMENT AND RECORD DATA

Do the experiment and record all numerical measurements made. Data can be amounts of chemicals used, how long something is, the time something took, etc. If you are not making any measurements, you probably are not doing an experimental science project.

RECORD YOUR OBSERVATIONS

Observations can be written descriptions of what you noticed during an experiment, or problems encountered. Keep careful notes of everything you do, and everything that happens. Observations are valuable when drawing conclusions, and useful for locating experimental errors .


Data

As you observe your experiment, you will need to record the progress of your experiment. Data can be whatever you observe about your experiment that may or may not change during the time of the experimentation. Examples of data are values in pH, temperature, a measurement of growth, color, distance, etc.

The data are the values written down as the experiment progresses. Examples of data entry on measuring plant growth:

15 October, 2004

Control Plant 7.4 mm
Test Plant 001 6.2 mm
Test Plant 002 24.9 mm
Test Plant 003 37.2 mm

22nd October, 2004

Control Plant 7.8 mm
Test Plant 001 15.9 mm
Test Plant 002 23.2 mm
Test Plant 003 37.2 mm

CALCULATIONS

Perform any math needed to turn raw data recorded during experiments into numbers you will need to make tables, graphs or draw conclusions.

SUMMARIZE RESULTS

Summarize what happened. This could be in the form of a table of numerical data or graphs. It could also be a written statement of what occurred during the experiments.

Journal: All scientists keep a record of their observations in some form of a journal. The journal will begin with the date and time the experimentor collects the data. Sometimes data will include environmental values such as humidity, temperature, etc. Entries must be written clearly and with detail of description so that another scientist can read the journal, simulate the conditions of the experiment, and repeat the experiment exactly.


RESULTS

Charts & Graphs

When at all possible, illustrations of data are advisable. They create a professional appearance and convey a great deal of information. Examples include: Bar Graph, Pie Chart, X & Y axis Graph, Histogram, etc.


Application

The application is how the information or knowledge gained in the experiment can be used. It is not often included in science fair projects.


DRAW CONCLUSIONS

The conclusion is a summary of the research and the results of the experiment. This is where you answer your research question. You make a statement of whether your data supported your hypothesis or not. You may have data that supported part of your hypothesis and not another part. You may also have data that did not support your hypothesis at all. In this case, you may explain why the results were different.


Using the trends in your experimental data and your experimental observations, try to answer your original questions. Is your hypothesis correct? Now is the time to pull together what happened, and assess the experiments you did. Other Things You Can Mention in the Conclusion. If your hypothesis is not correct, what could be the answer to your question?
Summarize any difficulties or problems you had doing the experiment.

Do you need to change the procedure and repeat your experiment?
What would you do different next time?

List other things you learned.


TRY TO ANSWER RELATED QUESTIONS

What you have learned may allow you to answer other questions. Many questions are related. Several new questions may have occurred to you while doing experiments. You may now be able to understand or verify things that you discovered when gathering information for the project. Questions lead to more questions, which lead to additional hypothesis that can be tested.

WHAT IF MY SCIENCE PROJECT DOESN'T WORK?

No matter what happens, you will learn something. Science is not only about getting "the answer." Knowing that something didn't work, is actually knowing quite a lot. Experiments that don't turn out as planned are an important step in finding an answer.



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