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Post by Harley Scarow on Apr 16, 2007 18:13:45 GMT -5
MATERIALS
· Nine pots for plants
· 50 mung beans - Three mung beans for each pot.
· Three tablespoons of sodium chloride all together - One tablespoon for one group - Two tablespoons for another group
· 1/4 cup of water per day.
· Three cups of topsoil (1/3 cup for each pot).
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Post by Harley Scarow on Apr 16, 2007 18:14:03 GMT -5
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Topsoil is the uppermost layer of soil, usually the top 15 – 20 cm. It has the greatest amount of organic matter and microorganisms. Plants obtain most of their nutrients from this layer. This layer is formed from the decomposition of eroded material as well as decaying organic matter. Topsoil erosion happens when the topsoil is blown away. Without it, little plant life is possible. It takes approximately 500 years for one inch of topsoil to be deposited, but there is 25 billion tons of topsoil lost each year.
Sodium chloride when used on plants can dehydrate the amount of water it would normally get if salt was not applied to it. Since the amount of salt concentration outside of the plant is usually more than what is inside of the plant, adding too much salt can take all of the water out of the plant. This is shown by the process of diffusion, in which the effect of salt concentration would actually be proven to filter out the negative traits of dirt, but causes the water to be drained out. While salt will not completely diminish their chances of growing into a complete plant, it is a sure fact that it will not live up to its potential. Applying salt to any area of dirt is sure likely to reduce the growth of the plant.
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Post by Harley Scarow on Apr 16, 2007 18:14:22 GMT -5
PROCEDURE
1. Take the three pots, then fill them with the certain amount of topsoil.
2. In each pot, put five mung beans.
3. when you putt he beans in, make sure they are halfway in.
4. Each day, measure the growth of the bean plant and write down observations.
5. Each day put in ¼ cup of water in each plant.
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Post by Harley Scarow on Apr 16, 2007 18:14:38 GMT -5
RECOMMENDATION FOR IMPROVEMENT
1. We could have used bigger pots. Nine small pots with only so much topsoil could only result in an average sized plants. Since our plants involve the insertion of salt, and many methods have been used in the past in order to allow salt to actually help the fields, it would have been more useful. Having a small area to do the entire experiment made the results not as well as they would have been. This is because even one tablespoon of salt could make an effect on a section of a field, compared to the bottom of our single pot.
2. We could have had more experimental groups, provided the area we had to make the experiment would have been bigger to add with the rest of the experiment. There was one control group, and two experimental groups in this project we have done here. However, none of the plants were heavily affected since all of the salt used in the experiment was at the bottom of the plant. Learning when there would be too much salt even at the bottom of the plant that would make it die would have been useful. There would eventually be a time when even the bottom filter would not be able to take out the salt and excess water to assist in the plant.
3. When we were watering the plants at a daily basis, we started with ¼ of a cup. Occasionally, some of us may have added more water than we should have, then we had to even it out to keep only one variable. If an experiment like this is ever done again, the contents of the water should be more focused when adding water.
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Post by Harley Scarow on Apr 16, 2007 18:14:56 GMT -5
IDEAS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH
1. Different elements are compounds and their effect on salt, such as… - Mercury - Cadmium - Arsenic - Chromium - Thallium - Lead
2. The effect of salt on different types of soils (such as perlite and sand).
3. The effect of salt on other species of plants (such as violets, daisies, and lilies)
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Post by Harley Scarow on Apr 19, 2007 16:33:42 GMT -5
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