Research Page for Pershing County High School, Team 2

4/21/05 10:55AM - T2 Our research question is: Does exposure to light effect the germentation rate and growth rate?
4/25/05 10:39AM - Dr. Claire Hemingway Great research question! What is your research plan for answering it? I am eager to follow your progress.
4/28/05 12:21PM - T2 (Holly): Our notes and observations: 1. Not all sprouts have the same germanation rate... Tryna - from my experience. 2. The sprouts need to be rinsed everyday.... Holly - from biology. 3. Sprouts have different growth rates... Jessica - observation. 4. Some sprouts can be eaten... Cassie - from my experience 5. Sprouts are full of nutrients... Uli - from biology.
4/28/05 11:34AM - T2(Cassie): Questions we have about sprouts: 1.Do bigger seeds have bigger sprouts?- Jessica P. 2.How come the seeds grow better in the dark than in the light?- Tryna H. 3.Can the stalk be a different color then the sprout?- Holly R. 4.Why don't the sprouts need soil?- Uli S. 5. Can sprouts go thorugh photosynthesis or do they have to wait until they are fully grown? --Cassie B.
4/28/05 12:12PM - T2(Cassie) Response to Dr. Hemingway: Background Research Page
1. Sprouts have defferent germination rates. Observation. Holly 2. Seeds need water to sprout. Observation. Katyrna. 3. Seeds do better in the dark. Observation. Karlee 4. Seeds grow fungus if they are left in water. Observation. Uli 5. Sprouts grow different heights before they grow leaves. Observation. Jessica P. 6. Different sprouts grow roots at different rates. Observation. Cassie.
5/4/05 10:55AM - T2(Cassie) Making sense of the data. The non-numerical data describes to us what is going on with the seeds, such as size and shape. The graph numbers tell us percentage of germination rate. The clover came out of it's shell, and the shell completely fell off. The clover seeds sprouted and it was long and thin. They never gREW ROOTS. The corn cracked, one sprouted and then the rest died. None of the millet grew, all they did was crack the shell. The oats started to get small sprouts but then they started to mold and turn green and stopped growing. The oats that were exposed to partial sunlight sprouted better when they were exposed to water all the time like soaking in the water, and they did not mold. The rye grew 3cm in the dark, and also grew roots. The ones exposed to partial light did not do anything. The millet had a o% growth rate.
5/4/05 1:44PM - PEER COMMENT from Pershing Team 4: Team 2 how is your millet growing because our millet is growing really slow.
5/4/05 11:30AM - Dr. Jeffrey Osborn: Dear Team 2: You have lots of questions and that is a great place to start. Some of the best science happens when people carefully observe something. I am curious what your set up is. Are you varying light and moisture in different treatments? Do you have any ideas why sprouts might grow to different heights before forming leaves? It would be helpful to organize your observations and measurements in a table.
5/5/05 9:120AM - Dr. C. Hemingway: Hello, Team 2- you have made great progress describing your initial questions and background research, and have now begun to describe your data. The first data upload must be the data collection for the millet seeds, which did not grow. And Holly's journal upload yesterday was marked corn. I would like to see the data tables for all species. You could place the data for each species on the same Excel sheet, but remember to label each species clearly. Keep up the good work, and let me know if you would like more feedback on preparing your data tables.
5/6/05 12:38PM - T2(Tryna) Response to Dr. Osborn: Not everyone in our group varied light and moisture. I myself tried different things with the second set of oats that i was observing that were partially exposed to the light. First off i tried the rinsing thing like i was doing with the seeds that had to be out of the light. That wasn't working for the seeds that were exposed, they ended up looking dried up and dead. So i decided that i would try something different so i filled up the cup with about a half an inch of water and let the seeds soak and changed the water that was in there everyday, and after a few days those seeds began to germinate. The oats that were not exposed to the sunlight at all did not grow after the first two days that we were observing them and about 2% germinated. They then just started to turn green and began to rot.
5/10/05 12:57PM - T2 (Uli): Research data: the hormone Auxin controls whether or not the plant will germinate or grow. The hormone is produced in the apical meristem. Auxin determines whether the plant will grow or not. It will only grow if the Auxin decides that the conditions for plant growth are right. So the Auxin does not think that being in the light is good condition for the seed to grow but it believes it is good to grow in the dark