Research Page for The Bush School, Team 2
"TEEM JEEP"

4/22/05 11:00AM - T2: First upload of our journal is complete. Most of the alfalfa seeds have sprouted a few days after hyrdoponic planting, with an average height of about a centimeter. The seeds were all aligned with their root going down to the water bottle and the seed casing on top of the column. When we rinsed them, they were pulled off the water bottle and are lying down. Our seeds have grown the most compared to the other groups, is that because the water can diffuse faster through the seeds?
4/28/05 11:17AM - Dr. C. Hemingway: Teem Jeep, I have been following your journal entries. You have made great progress in your inital brainstorming and background research. And now in Day 9 of your journal, you have chosen an interesting research question and have a research plan. (I have copied your journal entry below.)
"Day 9 Question: Does alfalfa grow faster hyrdoponically or in dirt? Method: We are going to plant several plants in water bottles, and a large number in dirt. Because we can't see how fast they are growing in dirt, we will have to remove several of the plants each day to measure the growth."
I see you plan to include multiple seed samples in the two treatments (hydroponic and soil treatments). Replication is an essential component of sound science. Good work. I would like to know more about your research methods. Do you think that handling the plants in the soil treatment will affect their growth? If so, how can you make sure this does not bias your results? What other conditions might differ between the two treatments?
4/29/05 11:59AM - T2 Response to Dr. Hemingway: Do you think that handling the plants in the soil treatment will affect their growth? If so, how can you make sure this does not bias your results? We have planted the dirt seeds in a clear plastic flat case, where we can see and measure the growth without having to remove the seeds.
What other conditions might differ between the two treatments? The hydroponically grown plants have a higher density, because there are in a slightly smaller area.
4/30/05 10:20PM - Dr. M. Sundberg: You've been making some good observations and raising some good questions but at this point it would be useful to be able to see some of your data.  For instance, you mention that only 5 seeds germinated hydroponically, but  I can't make a very good comparison with your soil treatment without knowing how many seeds you planted in each as well as the number that have germinated.  We frequently look at percent germination as an indicator of how viable seed is (is it a "good" or "bad" lot of seeds) or what is the effect of a specific treatment. Divide the number germinated by the total planted, X100, to get % germination.   Also, unless the seed lot is very uniform, some seeds may germinate more quickly than others so % germination may change over time.
Similarly, from your descriptions it sure sounds like seeds in the soil treatment are growing faster than those in the hydroponic treatment - - and you do give a range for the former.  But again it will be useful to have a table of measurements to summarize your data.  With growth experiments we frequently report the mean (average) length (or other measure) at a given time.
I'd like to see you post a table or two summarizing your data - - you can keep adding to it as you continue to collect more information.
5/2/05 2:23PM - Dr. Jeffrey Osborn: You've done a lot of good background research. I am curious about your experimental set up. Can you better describe how your hydroponic growth chambers are set up? Maybe you could create a diagram.
4/29/05 11:59AM - T2 Response to Dr. Osborn and Sundberg: We will be posting pictures later today. Our chamber where we have been growing the alfalfa in dirt is long and skinny, and you can see the roots of the plants through the glass. The plants have been very long and straight, until we put so much water they slightly bent. But even like that, they are completely straight compared to the ones we have had in water bottles with no dirt - those are curly and at this point, starting to rot. The seeds have definitely been thriving in the dirt - and the taste has been incredible! We are hoping to see that they continue to grow…or are they normally the size we see in our sandwiches? Thank you
5/6/05 1:09PM - T2: Sign off journal entry uploaded.