Scientific Inquiry through Plants Jolly Green Giants: Ashley Maiden, Matt Claiborne Danielle Wang, Louise Wang

Purpose The purpose of our project was to find out if a seed’s coat would affect its germination time.

Hypothesis We believe that kernels with the slashed seed coats will grow fastest. We also believe that the seeds with the full seed coats will grow slowest.

What we did and how we did it Materials Needed: 30 Zea Mays seeds 31 plastic cups 1 tablespoon Soil Distilled Water Scalpel Scissors Plastic Wrap Measuring Device For 24 hours soak seeds in distilled water Prepare Growth Containers with 30 cups and four tablespoons of soil Scarify seeds Place into growth chambers Measure and record growth in inches Mist seeds with 2-4 sprays of distilled water each day Cover with plastic wrap until plant exceeds height of its G.C. Repeat *Distilled water will be referred to as water in future slides

Important Background Information: To grow a corn seed, you must place the seed in warm water for hours before planting. This causes scarification, which is the breaking, scratching, or softening of the seed coat. Scarification promotes growth and we were trying to find what degree of scarification is most beneficial to the germination of a corn seed.

Days Zero and One On the first day (Day Zero), we placed 30 corn seeds into distilled water so that scarification could begin. The next day (Day One), we separated the 30 corn seeds into 3 groups. The first group, which we labeled as the whole group, was left alone and planted without any modifications. Seeds in the second group, which we labeled as the cut group, had their seeds coats sliced. Seeds in the final group or the no coat group had their seed coats completely removed using a scalpel and scissors.

Discarded Data On Day Three certain seeds that were involved in our project showed root growth. We did not measure this because we measured stalk growth for the remainder of the days, but please take note of this. Plant 7 of the Cut Coats molded on day 2. It was thrown out. The Cut Coat average was correctly modified.

Like Watching Grass Grow After Day Three, we noticed the first green growth of our seeds Using a standard foot ruler we measured our plants from the top of the soil layer to the top of the plant

Results for No Coats: No Coat 4/10 4/11 4/12 4/13 4/14 Plant 1 3.5 6.5 8.5 9.1 Plant 2 3 5 7.7 7.8 8.2 Plant 3 0.5 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 Plant 4 2 3.4 3.6 4.7 Plant 5 3.3 6 6.6 6.8 Plant 6 5.8 6.4 Plant 7 5.25 8 10.2 11.7 Plant 8 4.5 7 7.9 Plant 9 4.25 8.4 9.4 Plant 10 7.6 8.1

Averages for No Coats Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3 Plant 4 Plant 5 Plant 6 7.34 6.30 1.14 2.94 5.86 5.28 9.37 7.02 7.51 7.11

Results for Cut Coats 4/10 4/11 4/12 4/13 4/14 Plant 1 1.3 1.9 2.1 0.6 1 1.1 1.4 Plant 3 Plant 4 3.5 4.6 4.8 6.7 Plant 5 Plant 6 0.5 0.7 0.8 Plant 7 molded Plant 8 2.7 4.5 4.9 5.1 6.2 Plant 9 1.5 1.8 Plant 10 1.6 3.6 4.1

Averages for Cut Coats 1.8 0.9 4.2 0.6 N/A 4.7 1.6 2.8 Plant 1 Plant 2 4.2 0.6 N/A 4.7 1.6 2.8

Results for Whole Coat 4/10 4/11 4/12 4/13 4/14 2.1 1.5 2.4 2.6 2.7 Plant 1 2.1 1.5 2.4 2.6 2.7 Plant 2 2.3 3.3 4.5 6.6 7.3 Plant 3 4.2 8.1 9.1 Plant 4 3.8 7.1 9.5 12.3 Plant 5 1.9 3.2 6.8 9 Plant 6 5.5 10.4 10.3 Plant 7 3 5.7 6.4 8.4 8.9 Plant 8 4.1 8.6 7.4 Plant 9 7.9 10 11.5 12.5 Plant 10 0.9 1.2 1.8

Averages for Whole Coats Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3 Plant 4 Plant 5 Plant 6 Plant 7 Plant 8 Plant 9 Plant 10 2.26 4.8 7.56 7.02 4.94 8.28 6.48 5.94 9.48 1.08

Exceptions to the Rules Cut Seed Coat Plants When the cut seed coats began to sprout, we noticed that they were split down the middle just like we had cut them. It is possible that some of our cut seed coats did not sprout because the cuts were too deep Also, Plant 7 of the Cut Coats molded on day 2.

La Nina The surprise came when the plants were taken home in completion of the experiment. The plants with cut seed coats began to rapidly grow just when we though all hope was lost for them. After three days of rapid growth, they died. It was later discovered that Matt’s little sister had added water to the plants with cut seed coats because she thought they looked a little "parched" like Dr. Koptur said. This is more than likely what caused the cut seed coat plants to act the way they did.

Conclusion Although our group's hypothesis was wrong, the experiment went exceptionally well and had a few surprises. It turned out that the plants with the whole seed coat grew the fastest, plants with no seed coats were next, and plants with cut seed coats were all unhealthy and barely grew. Overall, our group really enjoyed working on this experiment and are satisfied with the results.

Acknowledgements Dr. Claire Hemingway Dr. Judy Jernstedt Dr. Suzanne Koptur Dr. Allison Landry Jolly Green Giants Smushface (A.K.A. Austin Kim)