Planting Science 4 MKAT’S By: Maria, Kayla, Taylor , Allana

Hypothesis Problem Statement if sunflower seeds were planted close together then they will germinate a lot longer than seeds that were planted separately. What are the effects of planting seeds close together as opposed to planting them separately???

Materials Potting soil 8 terra cotta pots 20 Sunflower seeds 60 Alfalfa seeds Sun light Water

Procedure Pot A sunflower [Independent Variable] 1. Fill the 1st pot with 250 ml of potting soil. 2. Then in the middle of the pot plant 5 seeds all close together, at a depth of 2 cm. 3. Water the seeds with 30 ml of water 4. Place the pot near the window. 5. Water the plant daily with the same amount of water. Pot B sunflower [ Control Variable] 1. Fill the second pot with 250 ml of potting soil. 2. Then plant 5 seeds separately at a depth of 2 cm. 3. Water the seeds with 30 ml of water 4. Place the pot near the window. 5. Water the plant daily with the same amount of water. Pot C alfalfa independent] 1. Fill the 1st pot with 250 ml of potting soil. 2. Then in the middle of the pot plant 5 seeds all close together, at a depth of 2 cm 2. Water the seeds with 30 ml of water 3. Place the pot near the window. 4. Water the plant daily with the same amount of water. Pot D alfalfa [control variable] 6. Fill the second pot with 250 ml of potting soil. 7. Then plant 5 seeds separately at a depth of 2 cm. 8. Water the seeds with 30 ml of water 9. Place the pot near the window. 10. Water the plant daily with the same amount of water. We also created 4 more pots to refer to them: 1 control group alfalfa pot 1 independent group alfalfa pot 1 independent group sunflower pot 1 control group sunflower pot We followed the same procedure that we did for our first pots.

Research / Review of Related Literature Planting seeds close together has had some successful outcomes in not only our experiment, but world wide. Other experiments demonstrated the effect of planting sunflower and alfalfa seeds and had different outcomes. According to our research, planting seeds is a very easy procedure that has varied germinating outcomes. Sun flower seeds need a lot of sun light to germinate and grow.

Data Collection and Organization Day 11 1st experiment The number of seeds that sprouted.

Day 16 1st experiment

Day 11 second plants retest The number of seeds that sprouted.

Day 16 retest

Data Analysis For the sunflower seeds, there was hardly any difference in the germination and growth rate of the control and experimental group except for last week. By day 16 the control group had 50% more sprout than the experimental group. The alfalfa seeds there was a major difference in the germination rate. The seeds that were planted separately sprouted the most number of seeds. Were as the over crowded seeds sprouted a very little amount. Alfalfa Independent average 6 Alfalfa Control average 12cm Sunflower Independent average 2.25 cm Sunflower Control average 3 cm SUNFLOWER ALFALFA

Conclusion Our conclusion is based on our daily observations and measurements, most of the alfalfa seeds planted separated sprouted more than the ones closer together. The sunflower seeds planted the same in height for both the independent, and control. The alfalfa seeds had a major difference between the control and independent group. The data results showed that our hypothesis was partially correct. The sun flower seeds did not have a difference opposed to the alfalfa seeds. They had a major difference in the germination growth.

Sources http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunflower_seeds http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/alfalfa_seeds http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=57 http://www.farmseeds.com/forages/alfalfa/ http://learningstore.uwex.edu/pdf/A3681.PDF

We hope you enjoyed our slide show! By: 4 MKAT’S THE END We hope you enjoyed our slide show! By: 4 MKAT’S

We would like to thank our mentor Dr. Dolan!!