salt and sugar mixtures

i thought i'd include a method on how to make the salt and suagr mixtures, just in case.

Equipment:
- sugar
- salt
- measuring jug
- measuring cup
- warm water
- room-temeprature water
- stirring device

Sugar mixture method:
1. Obtain all necessary equipment
2. Measure three teaspoons of sugar and place it in the measuring jug.
3. Pour a little warm water into the jug (just enough to make the sugar dissolve)
4. Add enough room-temperature water to make the total amount 200mL

Salt mixture method:
1. Obtain all necessary equipment
2. Measure three teaspooons of salt and place it in the measuring jug
3. Pour a little warm water into the jug (just enough to make the salt dissolve)
4. Add enough room-temperature water to make the total amount 200mL

day 14

the plant watered with salt water is showing a significantly large amount of yellow leaves, whereas the plant being watered wiht sugar seems to be gorwing really well, with almost no yellow leaves. the plant being watered with pure water is gong really well as well, although it has just a little more yellow leaves than the plant with the sugar mixture

do we need one?

i can't exactly remember the criteria for this blog marking; all i can remember is the climate graph and method, and i just realised that i forgot to include my dependent and independent variables, i'll just write them here, in case they are needed

independent variables:
- the amount of liquid watered to the plants
- the type of liquid watererd to the plants
- the type of soil the plant is placed in
- the type of pot the plant is placed in
- the type of fertiliser used

dependent variables:
- the growth rate of the plant
- the weather
- the original size of the plant

OMGSH I COMPLETELY FOROGT

...what if we have to have a bibliography for our research? GAHHHHH well, here it is. i think that's most, if not, all of them

http://www.answers.com/topic/parsley
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090214154429AAVBtax
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080909193022AAJVuZI
http://www.asij.ac.jp/elementary/links/currlink/plants_exp.htm
http://www.au.gardenweb.com/forums/load/ozherb/msg1103383910711.html
http://www.catalogs.com/info/garden-yard/what-does-a-plant-need-to-grow.html
http://chemistry.about.com/cs/sciencefairideas/a/aa051403a.htm
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Herbs-720/Thyme-parsley.htm
http://www.heirloomgardenexperts.com/articles/plants_need_water_every_day
http://www.juliantrubin.com/fairprojects/botany/saltsugarbotany.html
http://www.juliantrubin.com/plantprojects.html
http://homeschooling.gomilpitas.com/explore/botany.htm
http://www.lesslawn.com/articles/article1062.html
http://myfolia.com/plants/862-flat-leaf-parsley-petroselinum-crispum-var-neapolitanum
http://www.plantmethods.com/content/2/1/1
http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/content/full/127/1/252
http://www.sciencefairprojects-ideas.com/plant-biology/
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf97447543.tip.html
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Does_salt_water_affect_the_growth_of_plants
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_water_does_a_pea_plant_need_per_day
http://www1.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/a-23-2008-03-24-voa2-83136952.html



sigh *back cracks finally done :)

Climate Graph

here's my awesome climate graph on a somewhat newly-cleaned desk... it's so clean!!!!

gahh these pics take forever to upload :(

i can't tilt it... how do you tilt it? oh well, never mind, tilt your head

day 7

so far, it's going okayyyyyyyyy

1. the plant which i've been watering salt water is showing a significant increase in yellow leaves. this plant appears to be more dry and less healthy than the others.

2. the sugar plant is gorwing surprisingly well. i actually expercted lots of insects to develop in this plant and for this plant to eventually wilt away; but ti is actually growing the best out of all the plants!

3. the plant which im watering plain water is growing at a steady rate. it has a few yellow leaves, but is on the whole, relatively healthy.

method part 2:

Method:

1.Divide the 6 pot plants into 3 groups (2 plants per group)
2. Label the first group as "Salt Mixture"

3. Label the second group as "Sugar Mixture"

4. Label the third group as "Pure Water"

5. Take one of each group to a sunny area where they will each receive equal sunlight and for the time being, just water them with plain water; as they won't be needed until the experiment is repeated a second time

n.b. this photo was taken when i had just bought the plants- this is not an ideal spot, as you can clearly see one of of the plants receiving more sunlight than the others- the aim is to eliminate as much of the variables as possible...

as you can see here, the plants receive a much more equal amount of sunlight- this is a more ideal place to place the plants

6. There should be three left; one labelled "Salt Water", one "Sugar Water", and one "Pure Water"; take them to anther sunny area where they will receive equal sunlight

once again, not an ideal spot to place the plants

a more suitable location to place the plants (check post titled "location spotting" for more information)

7. Dissolve 3 teaspoons of salt into 200 mL of warm water. Remove any salt that does not dissolve. This will be watered to the pot plant labelled "Salt Water" everyday for a period of three weeks. (200 mL of salt mixture per day)

8. Dissolve 3 teaspoons of sugar into 200 mL of warm water. Remove any sugar that does not dissolve. This will be watered to the pot plant labelled "Sugar Water" everyday for a period of three weeks (200 mL of sugar mixture per day)

9. Measure 200mL of plain water which is at room teperature. This will be watered to the pot plant labelled "Pure Water" everyday for a period of three weeks (200 mL of water per day)

10. Take notes and photos on the growth of each pot plant every three days and record these observations. these can be the varying in their heights, the colour of their leaves, etc
11. At the end of three weeks, pack up any equipment, organise the results and compare the growth of each of the pot plants. Label this group of results as "Trial 1"
12. Now get the other three pot plants that were previously set aside. Repeat steps 5-10.
13. Organise the results and label this group of data as "Trial 2"
14. Compare the results from both trial one and two. Draw a conclusion as to how the use of different liquids has affected the growth of the same pot plants.




YAY!!!!


N.B. just a note, rememebr to make your salt and sugar mixtures daily, as they can develop germs and mould if left for too long

method part 1

i'm splitting my method up itno two separate posts, because i want to post pictures up, and if i do that as well as type, it will be too long for a single blog... so:

Materials and Equiment
- 6 pot plants (pereferably around the same size and the same species of plant, here I'm using Parsley; 6 as I'm doing the experiment twice)

- Salt

- Sugar

- Plain water

you can't really tell that this cup is half-full :S

- Measuring jug

you'll see another measuring jug in my other photos; they're essentially the same, it's just that this one is glass so i prefer to use the plastic one outdoors

- Ruler
forgot to take a picture :(, but i assume you can picture one
- Camera
i only have one camera, and i can't find my dad's and my brother won't let me use his, and i hate using my phone camera. so i can't get a picture of my camera.
- Teaspoon

or, in this case, i am using measuring spoons

by the way, im sorry if any of these pictures are out of focus- i took them in the morning when i wasn't really awake

location spotting

so, according to my research, in order to help my parsley plants grow, i need a place that is both rich in sunlight and has good drainage; so i went and tried to find the most suitable location that would both help my plants grow well and be fair for all of the plants in my backyard.

location number one: not very suitable- unfair amounts of sunlight to different plants, due to the shadow of my pool's fence, a table as well as a tree; poor drainage

location number two: not very suitable- relatively equal amounts of sunlight per plant, but poor drainage

location number three: definitely not suitable- poor amount of sunlight, poor drainage, on balcony (that = stairs and climbing)

location number four: maybe- good drainage (waters the lawn at the same time); but uneven surface- easy for plants to fall over with the windy weather we're currently experiencing, the grass trapped underneath the pot plants won't receive sunlight

location number five: perfect!- looks ugly, but it will porvide a relatviely equal amount of sunlight to each plant, it has good draiange (it is after all a drain, hahahahaha my awesomely lame joke) and is overall, the best location; so i placed my plants here///

my plants veiwed from above

what pot?

according to my research, drainage is a very important issue. so, in order to help the draining out of excess water and to help prevent the over-watering of my plants, not only do they need a location with good drainage, they also need a pot with holes. so, i went off to try and find three pots of the same colour with holes at the bottom. (why three?, because i plan to colour-code my plants, e.g. trial 1 plants can be in black pots and trial 2 green)

i found a great number of pots, but only a few that were the right size and had holes at the bottom...

... what i mean by "holes at the bottom"

see what i mean by the holes allow good drainage? i found three orange pots of this type, and three green pots of this type- YAY!!!! perfect!

research: plants

Plants:

- watering needs depends on the type of dirt, the climate, amount of exposure to sunlight, plant size, as well as the plant type among many, many other factores- wayyy to much to consider, so i went on some herb gardening websites and they recommended that the soil be damp, that the platn is watered until water seeps out of the holes at the bottom of the plant, and that there is good drainage

research: parsley

Parsley:
- Egypt is the country of origin
- likes to grow in sunny places or in partial sun
- need rich, moist soil
- grows best when temepratures are under 21 degrees celsius
- water regularly
- water it until water comes out of the holes at the bottom of the pot (i tried this and found it was about 200mL per pot plant)
- water should be room temperature
- good drainage is needed

I BOUGHT MY PLANTS!!!!!!!

i finally got a round to buying my pot plants, so here they are...

hehehe aren't they pretty?

basically, they're all Parsley Plants, and these are the three that i could find that were the most similar in size. I'm going to feed one the salt-water mixture i make, the other the sugar-mixture i make, and the last on pure water. then i'm going to compare their  growth rate.

some more pics....

LOVE HEART!!!!!

research- other methods

Other methods:
I looked at a lot of other methods which were similar to my method, or rather, my idea of what my method would be about, and I found some a major aspect which i really like, and which surpisingly didn't think about before:
- the trying to make the experiment as fair as possible, i.e. ensuring that the plants are place in a sunny area in which they will all gain the same amount of exposure to sunlight, ensuring that the plants receive the exactly the same amount of water per day, ensuring that the plants are in the same or similar types of soil, and the list goes on. obviously, i won't be able to control all the variables, but i'm going to attempt to control most of them. I hope it won't rain, as this will affect my experiment massively.

research: sugar

Sugar:
- may not have an affect upon the plant; depending on the concentration of sugar in the mixture fed to the plants
- can induce microorganism growth around the plants- this may be good or bad
- can be beneficial towards your plants; all depends on the concentration of sugar
- soil stay moister as the sugar effects the way in which water travels thorugh the roots of the plants through orsmosis


for some reason, bullet points won't show up on my blog, so I have to use hyphens, im sorry if that makes it hard to read

resarch- salt

Salt:

- Salt affects the growth of many plants, but not all
- The higher concentration of salt outside of the plant cells in the soil causes water to move outside of the cells to try and equalize the concentration. Some root cells of plants that do not tolerate salt may die, and if bad enough the plant will die. The damage gives the plant a burnt look, often on the leaf edges first. The same thing happens with too much of any mineral
- Some types of plants, such as mangrove trees, can tolerate higher levels of salt and not be damaged. Their cells have a high concentration of salt already in them so the water doesn't move out. Some even separate salt from the water and excrete it through their leaves, roots, and branches

change of plans

instead of using coffee, coke and vinegar, i'm simply using sugar dissolved in water, salt water and pure water; this way, i can make sure that it's the one factor affecting the growth, instead of other factors that i might not know that are contained in drinks such as coffee and coke. e.g. caffeine.

my experiment

>>>>>(Draft)
Aim: To investigate the effects of different liquids on the same plants over a period of time
Hypothesis: The plant watered with vinegar will die and the others will live.
Equipment:

•  5 pot plants (same species and similar size)
• A measuring jug
• Water
• Coke
• Coffee
• Vinegar
• Honey water

Method:
1. Place all five pot plants in a sunny area
2. regularly water each pot plant with the same amount of the allocated liquid
3. record all observations over this period of time.

Risk assessment:
i can't think of anything... but this is a draft, rite?
    

MWAHAHAHA

narrowed my ideas 

d
o
w
n
to one idea....
I'm going to do my previously mentioned idea- feeding five different pot plants five different liquids and measuring the amount of growth of each plant; in terms of leaf colour and height. Im planning to do this:
Pot Plant (victim) 1: Coffee
victim 2: Coke
victim 3: vinegar
victim 4: water
victim 5: honey water
( I'm going to feed them 20 mL of the selected liquid a day. )
Independent variable: the liquids which i am feeding them.
Dependent variable: the growth rate (height and leaft colour)
hopefully, i won't epically fail cough, and 20mL is enough,,, im not sure about how much liquids plants need, i dont want to drown them or thirst them to death (?) does that make sense, iunno.
and i still can't believe that i have to repeat THIS EXPERIMENT.
sigh. i adore science.

how expensive can inanimate, green things be?

sorry, ranting today.

i checked the rpices of an avergae pot plant and now im really annoyed. seriously, you'd think that plants would be cheap, considering that they're inanimate, green things that dont do anything but live and grow. gahhh. i'll probably be forced to pay for them myslef -.- i slaved at work for pot plants.

oh, and yea,,, i have to do it multiple times.

JOY.

what a way to start march.

... with ms zhang telling me that i would have to repeat the experiment MULTIPLE TIMES. as in, more than once. GAHHHHH. i so totally love science.

anyways, i now have to repeat in,  minimum TWICE.

fml. epic fail. gahhh.

narrowing my train of thought....

deciding between:

- feeding five different pot plants five different liquids and observing the rate of growth through its overall height and leaf colour and health
independent: the liquid and amount of liduid im feeding it
dependent: the growth of the plant


- planting five different seeds in five different materials, eg. sand, clay, dirt, etc and then measuring the growth of the seeds (if there is any) through its health and height
indepednent: the material
dependent: the growth

gahhh. i'll ask Ms. Zhang hopfeully someitme in the next couple of weeks. highly likely, as im like so not the queen of procrastination....

ideas, anyone?

I've been thinking about my ideas, and so far i've only come up with a few and all have something to do with plants 0_o

- does the amount of sunlight affect the rate of growth?
independent: the hours of exposure to sunlight
dependent: the rate of growth, and the colour of the leaves

- Does the amount of water given plants affect their growth?
independent: the amount of water given to the plant
dependent: the growth rate, and leaf colour

- what liquids will a plant grow best with?
independent: the type and amount of liquid given to the plant
dependent: the growth rate, and health of the plant

- in what kind of material to seeds grow best in (sand, dirt, clay, etc)
independent: the type of material in which the plant grows
dependent: the growth rate (of it grows at all)

and i wonder why i hate sceince...... FML

i just realised that we're meant to research them. as in research research them. gosh and i wonder why i hate sceince.  (sorry ms zhang) and OMG im actually blogging, even though im talking about nothing. literally.  umm ideas, ideas, ideas,, gahhhh FML.

actually, this i was thinking about doing something to do with plants because they're easy and they dont talk back to you.

no idea.

procarstination to the max. i have absolutely no idea. but i thought i woudl blog, since my blog is pretty... as in pretty blank. -.- LOL umm yea, im trying not to procrastinate and im starting to think and not epically fail. I hope.

hELLo WoRLd

My first post on my first science blog...YAY!!!