Plant Testing Justin Beard and Mariah Brooks10-31-13TAF Academy

Research Question

How does the amount of salt in water affect the growth rate of certain plants?

Background Information A little bit is salt is good for plants but

not to much because it dehydrates the plants

Osmosis, saltwater naturally tends to move out of plant cells

High amounts of salt turns the plants yellowish

Background Information (cont’d) Plants have a protective shield so saltwater

doesn't physically affect the plants health

Saltwater is too dense to go into the plant roots

Plants that are native to costal areas have a high tolerance for salt

Hypothesis

We predict that the plants that are watered with fresh water will grow faster.

We think this because…

MaterialsBrassica Seeds (Ms. Lemus)Radish Seeds (Ms. Lemus)Cucumber Seeds (Ms. Lemus)Soil (Store)Water (Sink at School) Salt (Store)Ruler (Home) Camera (Home)Planting Containers (Store)

Procedure/Methods1. Put ½ of a cup of soil in the pot2. Plant 2 of each type of plant (Brassica,

Cucumber, and Radish Seeds) 3. Put 4 of each seeds in every pot

(Brassica, Cucumber and Radishes) 4. Pour ¼ cup of soil on top of the seeds 5. (For salt water) add ¼ of a cup of water

and 1 tablespoon of salt6. Water1of every kind of plant with fresh

water and the others with the salt water (use ¼ of a cup of water in each plant)

Procedure/Methods (cont’d)6. Water the other half of plants with salt water (use ¼ of a cup in water in each)

7.Every DayMeasure height and circumferenceTake a picture of each plant 9. Water the plants every other day

10. Repeat Steps 5-9 for 1 month or until our hypothesis is made clear

Data We plan to record the height and the circumference

of each plant every day We will be calculating how fast each plant is

growing based on what we water it with We will determine whether or not our hypothesis is

correct or not by looking at our results that show the height, look and circumference of each specific plant

The pictures will help us see our results and observations

Date Saltwater vs. Freshwater

Height Look Circumference

References http://

www.ehow.com/info_12292026_science-fair-watering-affect-seed-growth.html

http://www.plantingscience.org/index.php?module=pagesetter&type=file&func=get&tid=2&fid=presentation&pid=4698

Thank You!