Maggie's Plant Experiment Maggie read that some plants grow better if the soil is acidic. She can't believe that a plant can grow when exposed to acid (hypothesis).Maggie decides to test if the plants she has will grow better when acid is added to the soil(experiment). She puts potting soil in two planting containers and transplants two of her geraniums that seem about the same size into the pots. She puts the pots in the same location so that they both get the same sunlight each day, are at the same temperature and she makes sure they get the same amount of water(dependant variables).However, Maggie puts a tablespoon of vinegar* in the water she gives to one of the plants(independant variable).She measures the growth of the plants every week for five weeks and records the results in a data the table below:
Week
Height of Plants with Vinegar (cm)
Height of Plants without Vinegar (cm)
1
10.0 (equal height)
10.0 (equal height)
2
12.4 (a little taller)
11.5(just a little taller)
3
14.8 (its working)
13.0(it's not working)
4
18.0 (giant)
15.7(whats going on?!)
5
21.4(bigger)
17.8(smaller)
*NOTE: Vinegar is a weak acid Complete each of the following:
Identify Maggie's hypothesis: If acidic material is added to a plant, then the plant will grow less.
Identify the independent variable: the vinegar she is putting into the plant
Identify the dependent variable:the height of the plant
Identify the other variables Maggie needs to consider/control during this experiment: the size of planting containers,Temperature of the greenhouse, Thebsize of the greenhouse, The age of the plants, the size of the pots...
Identify the control group in this experiment: The plants recieving normal water
Identify the experimental group: the plants recieving acidic water
What conclusions might Maggie draw from this data? ANSWER:Based on the data, vinegar does make plants grow better than water.
What recommendations might you suggest for further study or for improvement? ANSWER: she could put in a tablespoon of water in the control group to make the amounts equal. She could also explain whether the pots were of equal size.
Maggie read that some plants grow better if the soil is acidic. She can't believe that a plant can grow when exposed to acid (hypothesis). Maggie decides to test if the plants she has will grow better when acid is added to the soil(experiment). She puts potting soil in two planting containers and transplants two of her geraniums that seem about the same size into the pots. She puts the pots in the same location so that they both get the same sunlight each day, are at the same temperature and she makes sure they get the same amount of water(dependant variables). However, Maggie puts a tablespoon of vinegar* in the water she gives to one of the plants(independant variable). She measures the growth of the plants every week for five weeks and records the results in a data the table below:
Complete each of the following: