Science Fair Project – Quick and Easy

I’m helping a friend’s daughter with her science project and am relearning the long-forgotten differences between dependent variable, independent variable and control group.

If your child announces “My science project is due in two weeks! What can I do that’s quick?”, here’s a fast one:

What is the Effect of Enhanced Water on Seed Germination?

Horticulturists are interested in any method of making seed germination more uniform. I will use four different  solutions to determine if they affect seed germination.

Materials:

Two brands of one-a-day type vitamins

household aspirin

short branch from a weeping willow tree

Procedure:

Crush the vitamin pills and aspirin and dissolve in individual 16 oz. containers

Cut a 1/4″ diameter, 6″ long piece of willow branch. Crush with a hammer and place in a 16 oz. container. Allow to soak overnight.

Choose a seed to work with. (Okra is reputed to be variable in germination so it would be a good choice. You could also use mung beans from a heath food store.)

Count out 5 lots of 50 seed. Wrap each lot in a paper towel.

Dampen each paper towel lot of seeds with the same amount of solution (1 – 2 TBS) from each of the 4 solutions prepared above. Use the same amount of plain water to dampen a fifth lot. (this is your control)

Place each lot individually in  resealable plastic bags.

Place bags on top of a refrigerator (or other warm place) for 7 – 10 days.

Check seeds for germination. When germinating, they will split and show just a bit of white tissue under the seed coat.

Calculate the percent germinated in each lot and graph the results.

Further content: do online research for other projects that use vitamins, aspirin and willow water for plant health and propagation. All of these have been investigated at one time or another.

tomato sprouts

tomato greenhouse