Research Page for Pershing County High School, Team 4

4/20/05 3:33PM - T4: Our research question is: How does fresh water versus salt water affect germination?
4/25/05 10:40 - Dr. Claire Hemingway: Team 4, you have chosen a fun research question that allows you to set up a sophisticated experimental design. Are you going to prepare a range of salt concentrations to compare with fresh water? What affect do you think salt water will have on the germination of your seeds? What salt concentrations are typical on the saline flats in Nevada; what kinds of plants grow there?
4/28/05 1:38PM - T4 Response to Dr. Hemingway: Our new info is that the salt ones have not grown except for the alfalfa. the ones with plain water is doin good and growing very good. they have been growing well. the corn is like up to 2 inces long, the alfalfa is 7mm, the sunflower seeds are like to 4"- 1", millet is like from a quarter of a centemeter to 1 centemeter, and the buckwheat is like about an inch long.
4/30/05 12:22PM - Dr. Beverly Brown:Can you tell us what your experimental design is?  Are you using one salt water concentration or many?  How did you decide what the salt concentration should be?  I'll be very interested to see what you find out.
5/2/05 11:53AM - PEER COMMENT from Teem Jeep (Bush 2): Why do you think that the alfalfa can grow in salt water while the others can't?
5/4/05 1:38PM - T4 Response to Teem Jeep: Because the salt holds in the water which helps the plant to grow but when the plant gets dependent on the water with the salt in it the plant tends to die. Thanks team 4!
5/4/05 1:41PM - T4 Response to Dr. Brown: Dear Dr. Brown the salt concertration is one fourth teaspoon per cup of water and we chose this because we wanted to keep a low consitent amount of salt in the water. Thanks team 4!
5/4/05 2:00PM - T4: Based on our observation the seeds wouldn't grow in the salt water except for the case of the alfalfa it grew rapidly for a while then just quit growing fresh water every single one of the plants germinated well. Our conclusion of sodium chloride is not good for the growth of most plants.
5/5/05 9:22AM - Dr. C. Hemingway: Hello, Team 4- It looks like you are well on your way to some interesting results. I have a question for you about the measurements you are taking, specifically the unit of measurement. I noticed that you mention inches, millimeters, and centimeters. Recording measurements using different units of measurement can cause great confusion and converting between metric and nonmetric units is a chore. To overcome these problems, scientists around the world use metric units. I was pleased to see that you used only metric units in your data sheet. But some measurements are in cm and others mm. Can you think of any problems this might create for analysing and displaying your data?
5/6/05 1:04PM - PEER COMMENT from Pershing School, Team 2: In our group Jessica had the millet, she said that the millet did not grow, or do anything at all. I was wondering who had oats in your group if anyone did and whether it grew or not?
5/6/05 12:22PM - Dr. Gordon Uno: Do you know what concentration does 1/4 teaspoon per cup amount to? If you want to compare your results with what other people have done, you need to come up with comparable measurements of salt concentration.To follow up what Dr. Hemingway said, I was wondering what the time intervals are between your measurement? Am I correct in interpreting these measurements as increases in length rather than absolute length? Are these shoots or roots?
5/8/05 4:38PM - Dr. Susan Singer: Hello, Pershing Team 4! You picked a great topic to study. Now that you are working on your analysis, I thought I'd share a little information about salt and agriculture with you. There are some plants that can grow in soil that is very salty. These plants are called halophytes (salt plants). If you walk along a beach by the ocean, you'll notice that not many plants are growing close to the seawater. those that do are most likely halophytes. Much of the agricultural land in the world has salt levels that can slow down crop growth. This is particularly true in areas where there is not much rain. Crops are irrigated with water than can contain salt and then the salt stays in the soil. Too much fertilizer can also be a problem if it stays in the soil (that's why you don't want to over-fertilize your favorite houseplant during the winter months when it is growing more slowly). Crop breeders are trying to develop plants that are more tolerant to high levels of salt in soils. I wondered whether you had studied osmosis and diffusion in your class. If you have, do you think it would be harder or easier for plant roots to take up water as the concentration of the salt in the soil increases? How would you explain your answer in terms of osmosis? Good luck finishing up your project!
5/10/05 2:44PM - T4 Response to Dr. Uno (Charlsie): It appears to have been 24hrs between measurements. It is shoots not roots and shoots the length is the total length. Thanks \ Team 4