Research Page for Emporia State University, Team 2

4/13/05 10:00AM - T2: First upload of our journal and data is complete.
4/18/05 9:09AM - T2: Second upload of our journal and data is complete.
4/19/05 2.40PM - B. Dahl: What do you think happened in the Alfalfa sample (did you run more than one trial)? Have you drawn a hypothesis based on the data?
4/20/05 9.08AM - T2 Response to B. Dahl: While doing this experiment with the alfalfa seeds, we noticed that as the hours ticked by, the seed coverings were coming off of them. It influenced our weight for the seeds because not everyone who weighed them got the seed coverings out also. We are doing a second trial on our experiment to see if we can get a more accurate reading for our alfalfa seeds, along with the peas and soybeans. Hopefully a second trial will help us see at what time the seeds coverings come off, and then we will be sure to weigh everything (seeds and their coverings) to receive the most accurate weight possible.
4/20/05 9:12AM - Dr. Jenny Archibald: It looks like you've experienced something often seen with experiments, you learn how to improve them by actually doing the experiment. Your note (at the bottom of your first data sheet) for why the alfalfa seed weight fluctuated more than the other seeds makes sense. A replicated experiment with technique improved by your experience (attempting to blot the plants in a more standardized manner, etc.) may help to show whether or not your hypothesis in regards to the fluctuation is correct.
4/27/05 9:46AM - T2 Response to Dr. Archibald: In our second trial, the alfalfa seed coverings had fallen off again. Yet, as you can tell, our weight did not fluctuate. Why is this? Before we did this second trial, we talked as a group and made sure that the alfalfa seeds were weighed the same way each time. We blotted them lightly and made sure that we got all the seeds and their coverings onto the scale. As you can tell, this helped out our experiment a lot and we received a more accurate reading. See data sheets and grahps below.
4/29/05 11:29AM - Dr. Marsh Sundberg:I see that you've manipulated your data. Original measurements were seed weights at successive time intervals, but now you're reporting percent gain. It would be good to include in your journal how and why you did this manipulation. Then I have several questions.
1. For a given species, do seeds take up water at a constant rate or does it change over time? (what does your data say and how do you interpret it?)
2. Do seeds of different species take up water at the same rate? What would you like to be able to do to answer this question? (What are different ways you've compared things in other experiments in the lab?)
4/29/05 11:29AM - Dr. Jenny Archibald: Nice improvement on the methods.  I agree with Dr. Sundberg that more explanation of what you mean by “% Weight Gain” would aid in interpreting your results.
5/2/05 2:19PM - Dr. Jeffery Osborn: You have really worked to improve your methods and interpret anomalies and that is not always easy to do. I am interested if the original size of the seed has any effect on the rate of water uptake. Are there differences in the seeds that might account for differences or similarities in water uptake?
5/3/05 1:28PM - T2 Response to Dr. Sundberg and Archibald: We uploaded how we received the percent weight gain in our journal, if you want to see examples of how we manipulated our data to receive those results. We did percent weight gain to make visible how much of their total percent weight gain the seeds were taking in each hour, so that we could see where they started to increase dramatically and level off. In response to your first question, the group states that the seeds do not take up water at a constant rate because there are changes over the hours. The seeds tend to absorb less every hour as the time continues. For your second question, we concluded that different seeds do not take up water at the same rate. You can tell (in our percent weight gain graphs) that the slope of each line is different, indicating that the some seeds (with a steeper slope) might take up water at a greater rate in those first couple hours. And a line with a gradual slope would show that the seed takes in about the same rate of water every hour. Eventually though, the seeds with either steep slopes or gradual slopes all seem to level off at about 9 hours, proving that they are coming close their maximum potentional for water adsorption/absorption.