Research Page for Sisters Middle School, Team 4
The Red Hot Chili Peppers

Tue 5/25/05 4:02 PM - T4: The first upload of our journal is complete.
Thurs 5/26/2005 12:50 AM - Dr. C. Hemingway: Hello, Red Hot Chili Peppers. What interesting differences you are seeing between seeds treated with Club soda and Sprite. You mention that you think the sugar in Sprite is preventing growth. Tell me more about this idea. I am eager to follow your experiment.
Thu 5/26/2005 2:34 PM - PEER COMMENT from Bush Team 4 (Thomas): Hi this is Thomas, What kind of seeds are you guys using and what do you mean by the Sprite ones? How are you guys watering them, are you soaking them or just adding water and dumping them out, I would really like to know.
Thu 5/26/2005 3:06 PM - Dr. M. Sundberg: What a great name (I like the rock group's music AND some of my own research is on Tabasco Peppers -- definitely red hot peppers! I'm curious about your experiment. First, what seeds are you using and how many are in each treatment? Claire mentioned Club Soda and Anne mentioned Sprite, but Justine did not mention any specific liquid. Are you using just the two sodas or is there a 3rd (or a water control)??
You've also mentioned some root lengths for the Club Soda seeds. Is this an average root length, the length of the longest, the length of the first-formed, or something else?
I'm also curious about what growth conditions you are using. I assume your seeds are exposed to light if some of the older ones are starting to green up. Are they in a window? Do they get just normal room light? Are they mostly covered except when you make your observations?
I'll be checking back next week - - keep them growing!
Fri 5/26/05 8:31 PM - T4 Response to Dr. Hemingway and Dr. Sundberg:: Our analysis and conclusions are uploaded--see journal.
In conclusion we have found that good old fashioned water does the job the best when growing sprouts. If we were to do this inquiry again we would have observed and rinsed them twice a day because we might've caught when the drying out had taken place. We also would have used natural mineral water because it does not have sodium in it and therefore would not create another variable to our inquiry.
Thu 6/7/2005 6:00 PM - Dr. M. Sundberg: An excellent job with the analysis and conclusion of your experiment. You have learned something that all scientists discover early in their careers---by doing one experiment, you find out how to do an even better one.