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PURPOSE
This experiments purpose is
to determine whether the sizes of kidney bean seeds affect the speed and
percentage of germination.
I selected this idea because
I have had a strong interest in plants for several years. Since I am a
rather impatient person, I hoped this experiment would show a fast way
to germinate seeds, so if I ever become a gardener I will know what size
germinates fastest.
The information gained from this
experiment may help farmers select seeds that germinate faster. This would
be useful to places like Alaska, which have a very short growing season.
HYPOTHESIS
My hypothesis is that the bigger
seeds will have a higher percentage rate.
I base my hypothesis on my observations
that a bigger organism is usually healthier. So bigger seeds will probably
germinate faster.
EXPERIMENT
DESIGN
The constants in this study were:
Amount of water for each group.
(250ml)
Amount of seeds in each size.
(100)
Amount of trials for each seed
size. (5)
The length of each trial. (5
days)
The manipulated variable was
the size of the kidney beans: small, medium and large.
The responding variable was the
percentage of germinating seeds of the three sizes of beans.
To measure the responding variable
I will count the number of germinated seeds each day for each size.
MATERIALS
QUANTITY |
ITEM DESCRIPTION |
| 15 |
plastic cups |
| 30 |
paper towels |
| 300 |
kidney beans |
| 30 |
(250oz) tap water |
| 15 |
pieces of Saran Wrap |
| 1 |
triple beam balance
accurate to 0.1grams |
PROCEDURES
1. Gather one pound of kidney
beans.
2. Separate beans into small,
medium, and large by weighing on a triple beam balance, in small is defined
as 0.4g, medium is defined as 0.5g, and large is defined as 0.6g.
3. Then place twenty small beans
on a damp paper towel in a row.
4. Cover damp paper towel with
Saran wrap.
5. Then roll it up along the
beans.
6. Wrap a paper towel around
that.
7. Wrap another layer of Saran
wrap around it.
8. Tape the Saran wrap.
9. Stick the roll in a plastic
cup with 250ml of water, with all the seeds at the top that is not wet.
10. Repeat steps three through
nine with medium and large beans.
11. Label each trial "small",
"medium", or "large."
12. Open small, medium and large
each day and keep a chart of each size showing how many seeds germinated.
Do this for 5 days.
13. Each day add one fourth
of water to cups and change the outside paper towel of each roll.
14. Find the percentage of seeds
that germinated of each size for that period of time.
15. Repeat steps three through
fourteen four more times for better reliability.
RESULTS
The original purpose of this
experiment was to determine whether the sizes of kidney bean seeds affect
the speed of germination.
The results of the experiment
were bigger bean seeds germinate faster than smaller bean seeds and medium
bean seeds. The bigger seeds germinated 2 more than medium and four more
than small beans. The percentage of the beans that germinated in the "large"
trial is 90, "medium" is 88 "small" is 86.
CONCLUSION
My hypothesis is that the bigger
seeds will have a higher percentage rate.
The results indicate that this
hypothesis should be accepted because in most of the trials the largest
bean seeds germinated more in one week.
Because of the results of this
experiment, I wonder if the size that germinates faster varies in different
plant types. If the results change for a coconut, or wheat seeds like the
smaller the seed the higher percentage.
If I were to conduct this project
again I would use different types of plants like other bean seeds and different
sizes like 0.4g, 0.6g and 0.8g.
RESEARCH REPORT
Introduction
Seed germination is important
to the world because all the people get most of their food from plants.
Even people who eat meat are dependent on plants for the animals to eat.
Germination
Germination, is the sprouting
of a seed. When germination begins the seed needs a lot of water. The water
makes a chemical change that enables the embryo to store food and energy
for growth. The water also causes the embryo to enlarge and split the seed
coat. Germinating seeds require a large amount of oxygen because of their
high rate of respiration. Respiration is taking in oxygen and giving off
carbon dioxide. The radical then emerges and grows forming its first root.
Needs
All seeds need moisture, oxygen
and warmth to germinate. If they dont have warmth the seeds will go through
dormancy. That prevents seeds from germinating. Most seeds remain dormant
in the winter because of weather conditions. Some seeds germinate in the
summer because they need higher temperatures than others do that germinate
in the spring. Most seeds require a cold period before starting germination.
Part of a Seed
All seeds have three main parts:
the seed coat, the embryo and the food storage tissue. The seed coat protects
the embryo and the food storage tissue from loss of water, insects and
injury. The seed coat can be thin and delicate, as in wheat and beans,
or thick and tough, as in a coconut. The embryo contains the part of the
seed that develops into the first root, then the stem and the first leaves.
The cotyledons in the seed absorb and digest the food from the food storage
tissue. The cotyledons in some of the dicotyledon seeds absorb the food
in the endosperm. The cotyledons then store the food in the embryo.
Importance of Agriculture
Agriculture is important to the
world because it provides food for people and animals, oxygen from the
plants. It is important because agriculture provides almost everything
that people and animals need to survive. Farming gives people food from
crops and animals.
Plants
The two main groups of plants
are angiosperm and gymnosperm. Flowering plants are called Angiosperms.
Angiosperms make up more than 90 percent of the 260,000 kinds of plants.
Angiosperms are protected by a seed case, in fact "angiosperm" means "enclosed
seed." They are any plants that produce fruits and flowers. Angiosperm
can be broken up into two smaller groups called monocotyledons and dicotyledons.
Monocotyledons grow from seeds that contain a single seed leaf called a
cotyledon. In dicotyledons there are two cotyledons or leaves in the seed.
Gymnosperms produce seeds
that are uncovered like most trees and shrubs but do not produce any flowers.
"Gymnosperm" means "naked" and "seed" in Greek. Gymnosperm has about 800
species of seeds. Gymnosperms can be cone bearing such as pinecones.
Summary
Agriculture is important to all
humans, so understanding germination is a benefit to everyone. Germination
has to occur for the dormant embryo to grow into a plant.
BIBLOGRAPHY
Hershey, David R. Plant Biology
Science Projects. New York: John Wiley &Sons, Inc. 1995 pp 21-22
"Plant" World Book Encyclopedia.
1995. Vol. 17 pp 519
"Seed" World Book Encylopedia.
1995. Vol. 17 81-283
"Seed" World Book Multimedia
Encylopedia. 1999ed. CD-ROM, Chicago IL.
"Seed" Microsoft Encarta Encylopedia.
1999. Microsoft corporation, 1993-1998
Silverstien, Dr. Alvin, Virginia
and Robert. Plants Brookfield, Connecticut Twenty-first Century
Books, 1996 pp 20-24
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