Name: HR:

Plant Growth Experiment: Part 1

Purpose: The purpose of this project is for you to come up and perform an experiment on how different variables affect the development of plants.

You will get to choose your own variables in this experiment, out of a selection of materials we have at school, or that you can bring from home.

Your Plant Growth Experiment

Purpose: what variables are you interested in testing to see their effects on plant growth?

The purpose of this experiment is to see the effects of __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ on plant growth.

Independent variable: ______________________________________

Dependent variable: _______________________________________

Hypothesis: what do you predict will happen?

Variable Review

Independent variable - something that is changed in the experiment.

Dependent variable - something that responds to the Independent variable.

Constant Variable - something that is kept the same throughout the series of experiments.

Control - similar test where the independent variable is left unchanged to provide a comparison.

Independent variable: what will you change.

Name: HR:

If _______________________________________________________________________________________________then ______________________________________________________________________________________________because____________________________________________________________________________________________

Procedures: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Materials: 3 flower pots 3 seeds Soil

Plant Growth Experiment: Part 2

Dependent variable: how will this affect the plant.

Scientific reasoning to your prediction.

Name: HR:

Observations:The observations tell exactly what happened when you did the lab. An observation is measurable information that comes to you through your senses. Results include experimental (raw) data in the form of well-labeled tables, graphs, drawings and other observations. Place your observations and data in this section without discussion or comment. This is where you include any calculations made during the experiment.  

Analysis:Answer the following questions. Ensure your answers are in full sentences, and can stand alone (would make sense without the question). Support each answer with your scientific knowledge.

1. What differences did you see between the control and the manipulated plants?

2. Speculate as to why you think these differences occurred. Base you answer on plant processes learned in class (ex: transpiration, osmosis, diffusion, photosynthesis, respiration, nutrient source).

3. What are the basic needs of a plant? 4. How did your experiment influence the basic needs of a plant?

ErrorsDiscuss any errors that occurred during your experiment. Anything that did not go as planned that could have influenced your results.

Conclusion/Summary:Conclusions explain your observations and describe how your data relates to the problem. It is written in paragraph form and should include why you did this experiment (restate the purpose/problem). You should explain in your own words what you found out or discovered. Your conclusion should state whether or not the data confirms or rejects your hypothesis. Part of the conclusion may be a new hypothesis based on your findings and suggestions for testing the new hypothesis in a different experiment. You may also make any predictions you would expect based on what you discovered.

Observations Chart:

Date Diagram Observations

Name: HR:

Observations Chart:

Date Diagram Observations

Name: HR:

Observations Chart:

Date Diagram Observations

Name: HR: