Different Liquids Affect Plant Growth- Callum, Danielle '08-'09

 

                               Different Types of Liquids Affect Plant Growth

                                                                           LIMA BEAN PLANT 

                                                                      Callum and Danielle 6L 

 

 

In our plant experiment, we decided to use lima beans which are fairly easy to grow. We want to determine the effects of different liquids with varied nutrients on the growth of lima bean plants. We decided to use 4 different types of liquids: coke, lemon ice tea, milk and root beer. We chose these different liquids as our experimental group to suggest different nutrients. Coke and root beer are our carbonated nutrients, with coke having more carbonation. We chose lemon ice tea for acidic nutrients. We chose milk for protein nutrient. We compared the growth of these plants fed with these nutrients with a plant that was nourished with water.  

 

 

 

HYPOTHESIS   Different types of liquid used to water lima bean plants affect the growth of lima bean plants. The type of liquid used to water plants will affect the growth of lima bean plants. We will determine the growth by the speed of growth, which will be measured by the height of plant at different time intervals.

 

The hypothesis was supported because some of the plants grew a little while the water-lima bean plant grew a lot.

 

MATERIALS

•    5 paper cups (size 177 ml each)

•    Lima beans (1 in each cup)(10 total)

•    Soil (15 mL in each cup)

•    Tap Water (177 ml)

•    Coke (1 2-liter bottle)

•    Root Beer(1 2-liter bottle)(Shoprite diet rootbeer)

•    Milk (1892.8 mL)(horizon organic milk)

•    Ice tea(1 2-liter bottle)(Nestea lemon iced tea)

•    Tablespoon

•    Measuring cup

•    Puncturing tool (knife)

•    Camera

•    Timing sheet

•    Graph Paper

 

PROCEDURE

Step 1 - Gather all materials.

Step 2 -   a) Take a paper towel and dampen with water.

   b) Take Lima beans and lay them on the wet paper towel. Fold over and cover.

   c) Leave overnight.

Step 3 -   a) Fill each cup with 15 mL of soil.

               b) Label each cup. (water, milk, lemonade, rootbeer, coke)

Step 4 – Take soaked lima beans and place 1 centimeter under soil.

Step 5 – Prepare LIQUIDS.  (INDEPENDENT VARIABLE) 

          a)    CONTROL GROUP               Fill WATER cup with water. (30 ml)

          b)    EXPERIMENTAL GROUP      Fill COKE cup with Coke. (30 ml)

          c)    EXPERIMENTAL GROUP       Fill ROOT BEER cup with Root Beer. (30 ml)

          d)    EXPERIMENTAL GROUP      Fill LEMONADE cup with lemonade. (30 ml)

          e)    EXPERIMENTAL GROUP      Fill MILK cup with milk. (30 ml)

Step 6 – Pour each liquid into the desired cup

Step 7- Let drain and return to location close to window.

Step 8 – After 2 days, observe plants and record data.

Step 9 – Repeats Steps 5 - 7  every 2 days.

Step 10 – Observe and record data everyday for 3 weeks.

    Daily Routine:

1.    Measure height of plants. (DEPENDENT VARIABLE)

2.    Take photographs. .

 

 

 

DATA 

 

	WATER		COKE		ROOT BEER		MILK		LEMON ICE TEA
	(cm) HEIGHT	# of LEAVES	(cm) HEIGHT	# of LEAVES	(cm) HEIGHT	# of LEAVES	(cm) HEIGHT	# of LEAVES	(cm) HEIGHT	# of LEAVES
DAY 2    NOV 22	2.5	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
DAY 4    NOV 24	4	1.5	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
DAY 6    NOV 28	5.8	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
DAY 8    NOV 30	7.6	2	0	0	1.6	1	0	0	0	0
DAY 10  DEC 2	9.5	4	0	0	3.2	1	0	0	0	0
DAY 12  DEC 4	11.3	4	0	0	5.1	1	0	0	0	0
DAY 14  DEC 6	13.2	5	0	0	6.6	2	0	0	0	0
DAY 16  DEC 8	15.6	5	.5	0	8.0	2	0	0	0	0
DAY 18  DEC 10	17	5	1.1	0	8.7	2	0	0	0	0
DAY 20  DEC 12	18.7	6	2	1	9.9	2	0	0	.5	0
DAY 22  DEC 14	19.4	7	3.3	1	10.7	3	0	0	.5	0
DAY 24  DEC 16	20.8	7	3.9	1	11.9	3	0	0	1	0
DAY 26  DEC 18	21.9	7	4.2	1	13.2	4	0	0	1	0
DAY 28  DEC 20	22.5	7	4.8	1	15.1	4	0	0	1	1
DAY 30  DEC 22	23.9	7	5.5	1	17	4	0	0	1	1

 

LIMA BEAN PLANT EXPERIMENT RESULTS TABLE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                SLIDE SHOW OF GRAPH AND DATA TABLE 

 

                                           

 

                                                                 

                                                         SLIDE SHOW OF LIMA BEAN PLANTS 

                                           

 

 

link to slideshow-http://www.slide.com/r/8BKh26untj8jf9SWAvAoFCJ6NTHmZxxr?previous_view=mscd_embedded_url&view=original

 

ANALYSIS 

 

The data does not support all our predictions.

 

1)      The data supports our prediction that the lima bean plant will thrive in water and will have the fastest growth.

2)      The data does not support our prediction that carbonated drinks are bad for the lima bean plant. On the contrary, the lima bean plant fed with root beer did very well, although not as fast in growing as the lima bean plant fed with plain water.

The lima bean plant fed with coke also did well but not as good as the lima bean plant fed with rootbeer. After studying the contents or ingredients of coke and rootbeer, perhaps the sugar helps the lima bean plant to thrive.

3)      The data does not support our prediction that milk helps plant growth. The introduction of milk to the

the plant, killed it. The nutrients in milk did not agreed with the soil. Instead, it produced mold that killed the plant. The cup contents smelled rotten.

4)      The data supports our prediction that lemonade or something acidic will retard the growth of a plant,

      in this case, the lima bean plant.

 

 

• Best growth came from the lima bean plant watered with water

• Plants can grow in acidic juices.
•  The soda (Root Beer and Coke) with all the suger inside helped the process of photosysthesis but they still didn't have as much water as normal tap water to maximize plant growth.

 

CONCLUSIONS

 

After analyzing the results of our experiment, we conclude that different types of liquids used for watering do affect the growth of lima bean plants. The data shows that lima bean plants will grow most effectively in its natural environment - which is when it is watered with plain water. When we manipulated the nourishment by watering the lima bean plants with different liquids, the lima bean plants still grew but with varying growth speeds which we measured by the height of the plant.  The best growth came from the lima bean plant watered with water. Surprisingly, the plants watered with root beer and coke did thrive and were doing very well. The lima bean plant watered with ice tea was the weakest growth. The lima bean plant watered with milk just died and produced mold.

 

 

This is probably true in real life for all plants. If we keep it simple and just provide clean water and sunshine for our plants, then they will thrive. If plants are watered with water with impurities like acid rain, then the growth will be retarded. If we feed our plants sugar nutrients, then they will thrive.

 

The results do make sense. However, we want to find out if it is really the sugar that helped the lima bean plant fed with root beer and coke.

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              FUTURE EXPERIMENTS: 

 

1) PROCEDURE: When our group decided on the procedure for our experiment, we discussed that we will put the liquids from the start – from when we planted the seed in the soil. We  believe the better experiment is to grow the lima beans to a certain height then proceed to manipulate the watering of the grown lima bean plants. This way, we can really determine without fail the effects of the different liquids. We think we have to make sure they are alive first, before introducing new liquids or new nutrients. By doing this, we think we will have a more controlled experiment. We say this because we are not sure if the lima bean plant could survived on milk if it has already sprouted from the seed. 

 

2) SET-UP: The next time we do this same experiment, we can also make a line graph in the background so we can show the height more clearly when we take pictures of the plants. Maybe, we also need to support the growing plants with a stick. 

 

3) Experimental GROUP: We  would like to make follow up experiments like maybe varying the amounts of nutrients of each experimental and control group. For example, 2 WATER plants – one watered with 15 ml and the other with 30 ml. 2 COKE plants – one watered with 15 ml and the other with 30 ml. And so on with the other experimental liquids. Will the plants grow a lot faster, if there is more of a liquid or will it be bad for the plants?

 

 

4) VARIATION: Another question would be – what would be the effect of these liquids when using fertilized plants? 

We would like to make another experiment wherein we can fertilized the plants and continue to introduce different liquids. Will the introduction of fertilizer affect the results from this original experiment?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Temeratures of the Plants' Surroundings Affects the Amount of Growth- Callum, Danielle '08-'09

Different types of liquids affect the amount of dead snails

 

2008-2009 

FrontPage