My son is in 4th grade and has to do a science experiment, needing to compare things...ie. which paper towel holds the most water...so we have decided to grow lima beans. We were thinking of the variable being what the plant will be watered with,gatoraide, orange juice and pop. The control being the same soil or I was reading people use paper towels as well. What do you think would be a better method? Its due the 12th of April so we have some growing time...
Thanks
S.
It sounds like a great idea. The controls would be same type of soil and same sunlight. I would also include water in the list of liquids you use, and use the same amount for each liquid each time you water the beans.
What a neat idea! I'm a fourth grade teacher, and I would love to see some students take on this type of project.
I think soil will be a better method. soil is proven that way if it doesn't grow due to lack of water you can't blame the paper towels. like the others said same light same amount of liquid.
I think that is a nice idea to use different types of liquids vs different types of paper towels to grow the beans in. Yes you would use the same soil, the same light source, add the liquid at the same time of day and even the same amount of liquid. I think it would prove interesting, good luck!
My husb. and I produce hands-on science labs, and you can find two completely free labs at our website that compare plants and/or seed sprouting in various ways.
Compare how different environments (in one small jar) encourage or discourage the sprouting of radish seeds. Other seeds could be substituted, but radishes sprout really quickly, so you can see the results right away:
http://topscience.org/books/radishes38.html
Compare different plant types by growing a monocot (a popcorn seed) and a dicot (a pinto bean seed) in the same small jar. Keep a journal with drawings comparing the growth patterns:
http://topscience.org/books/corn_beans39.html
If those don't capture his interest, there are four dozen free activities, many of which involve comparisons, of different length pendulums, of the transmission of heat, of electrical conductors and insulators, and much more. Go crazy!
UPDATE: As I think about your questions, it sounds like your son is possibly supposed to compare different commercial products? If that's the case, comparing paper towels probably won't yield much difference, so I'd go with the planting mix. If you wanted, you could compare some of the many soilless mixes currently available as your variable.
I'm a little doubtful, based on my years of gardening, that you'll get much difference watering with those different drinks, other than some plants would possibly not survive as long as others. All of the drinks are sugary, possibly acidic to various degrees, and could clog the plants' ability to take up nutrients.
If you were to compare three different types of liquid products, like tea, pop, and flavored water (or perhaps vitamin water, plain water, and a carbonated water), you might get measurably different outcomes. My dangling question would be, however, would the results be meaningful or relevant to a real-life situation?
One last suggestion, if you're growing any plant from seed, individual sprouts will be widely variable in size and vigor. So it would be a good idea to have three or more seedlings in each test group, so you can average the results.
Good luck. I think it's really neat that your son gets to design an experiment and practice the scientific method.
Was just at our science fair tonight and they had O. display that was seeds grown with light and without....
But I like the idea of watering with stuff--just don't make all of the liquids stuff made mostly of water--you could use vinegar, milk, beer......
