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April 19, 2012 | 12:31 PM |
Dr. Catrina Adams
Looks like you are in the final stages of your projects It’s great to see that teams from your school are wrapping up and posting conclusions. Enjoy the final stages of your project, and feel free to post any final comments or questions you have for your mentors. |
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April 11, 2012 | 1:05 PM |
Dr. Catrina Adams
Thanks for keeping me in the loop as you collect data and finish up. I'm impressed by your careful observations and record keeping. Hope this advice doesn't come too late for you to use, but if so, maybe just keep in mind for future projects... Here's what I think about collecting your class data...in order to make sense of the data you will probably want to see what the average height of all plants is in the high nutrients and what the average height is for low nutrients, right? Two other pieces of info will be very helpful for you to collect. 1) what's the total number of plants in each treatment? How many total plants are in low nutrients and how many total plants are in high nutrients? The more plants you have, the less chance there is that differences between the averages are coincidence. 2) what is the range of variation in each group? For example,what's the shortest plant in low nutrients and what's the tallest plant in low nutrients? How about for high nutrients? You'll want to see how much overlap there is between the groups. The less overlap there is between the groups, the less chance there is that differences between the groups are coincidence. Are you going to have to collect the data yourselves by measuring plants, or are you just asking other groups to give you data? If you are getting data from other groups, ask them their average, tallest and shortest plants, and number of plants for each treatment. Then you can calculate two averages for the whole class, one for low nutrients and one for high nutrients. If you have to gather the info yourself, and you think it's too much to collect, you can do the above just for your own sample. What you don't want to do is to look around the classroom and pick the groups that have the tallest high nutrient plants or the shortest low nutrient plants and just add those to your data. That's not fair, because it'll make it seem like there is more of a difference between the groups than there is. Hopefully this makes sense. If it seems like too much to measure and include everyone's data, maybe just find out what your own team's averages, total plant numbers, and range of variation are. That will help you write your conclusions. Have a great spring break! Hope you enjoyed the project so far, and good luck finishing up! |
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April 10, 2012 | 7:26 PM |
supercat
(Team Member)
Materials, Procedure, and Class Data I've posted the materials and procedure of our experiment. It was a combined effort between the three of us and our class as a whole. We have started to record the class data. Yet, our plants have yet to wither. Shorty is the only one to have begun to wither. I don't think it has left any seeds behind. Piggy is the only one to seems to continue to grow. All of the other plants have reached their ultimate height and seem to fluctuate only slightly, probably due to our measuring techniques. Many of them have pods and most buds have yet to bloom. It saddens me that there isn't more time to finish this experiment because the plants haven't withered yet. Their lives have not ended! But I hope to continue to observe them a bit more the rest of the week because next week is our Spring break! So let's hope we get to watch them up until the last moment of their lives. It's been a great two months planting and finding out more about genetics and plant growth! We'll keep you posted until we have to finally cut ties. |
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April 9, 2012 | 9:12 AM |
thehulk
(Team Member)
End of Time Tomorrow marks the last day of our experiment so we've taken some last minute notes and data. While some of the plants have been growing throughout the entire process, some of them seem to have shrunk in their old age. A couple of the plants have withering leaves. |
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April 9, 2012 | 9:09 AM |
supercat
(Team Member)
Class Data For class data on height, how should the data be collected? Are we going to take the average of each pot or should we do something else? If we collect the plant data individually, it's a bit too much information to take down. My teacher asked for your input and I am also interested because it goes toward my lab report grade. |
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April 5, 2012 | 7:39 AM |
supercat
(Team Member)
Reminder We have added journals and data files if you haven't looked at them yet. |
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April 5, 2012 | 7:39 AM |
supercat
(Team Member)
It's Day 40 and Shorty seems to be the first to go! Its leaves are withering and they have Piggy seems to be on steroids. It has broken into two stems and is growing out in two direcrions. Believe is the only one with trichomes at the moment. |
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April 5, 2012 | 7:22 AM |
thehulk
(Team Member)
Piggy Really Quick: Piggy has exactly 22 leaves. |
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April 5, 2012 | 7:13 AM |
thehulk
(Team Member)
Leaves and Such The high nutrient plants don't seem to be much bigger than the low nutrient plants in terms of height but the leaves are certainly bigger. They definitely seem fuller and much healthier. Piggy is still a giant sent from somewhere out of this world. Something that I noticed is that a lot of the leaves are curved. There are more leaves than before but they are getting harder and harder to measure. They curl around the stem like ivy. I don't know if it's been mentioned before but on each plant there is at least one set of fat, circular leaves and one set of straighter, cerrated leaves. Shorty's leaves are withering and he looks like he may be dying. Eeyore has too many buds to count and about half the plants have pods. All but Marty have pods in the high nutrient pot yet only Casey, Steve and Eeyore have pods in the low nutrient. Another interesting thing to note... |
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March 26, 2012 | 1:41 PM |
Dr. Catrina Adams
Expect podfuls of seeds... You can get even more than that. Each Brassica flower can develop into a pod containing many seeds. Here's the URL to a site about fast plants that will show you what the pods will look like and how each pod contains many seeds: http://www.fastplants.org/intro.lifecycle.php So, is the pigment that seems greater in the low nutrient leaves and lower in the low nutrient stem the purple pigment or green pigment? Thanks for sharing your pictures. I really like that you have your different groups well labelled. It's super important in science to label everything, because if you get confused it can be a big problem. Lots of scientists even go so far as to label everything two different ways just in case one label gets washed off or blurs or something. After the first time something like that happens, you start to get paranoid. When I was working on my dissertation, I was identifying seeds found in an archaeological dig. I looked at each seed under the microscope. I put each kind of seed from the same sample in a little capsule with a tiny label that told where it was found, and those capsules went into a larger labelled tin. I can't tell you how many times I was glad I'd labelled the capsules and not just the tin...there were a few times that I found a lone capsule on the table and I knew where it was supposed to go. If I hadn't I'd have been in trouble! Anyway, great job so far, looking forward to finding out how many seeds your plants make. By the way, how are you measuring height? Are you taking something flexible like a string and measuring the longest stem, are you kind of gently pulling the plant straight, or are you just measuring how far above the soil surface the plant sits? A sprawling plant makes things harder, doesn't it? |
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March 24, 2012 | 10:50 AM |
supercat
(Team Member)
Seeds! That's so exciting! So does that mean we can get 11 seeds from one plant? Eeyore has 11 buds! This is so exciting! :D The low nutrient pot has darker leaves and the high nutrient pot has paler leaves. The low nutrient pot has less pigment in the stems though. The low nutrient pot has more pigment in the leaves but less in the stem. |
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March 22, 2012 | 10:24 AM |
Dr. Catrina Adams
More thoughts... Some plants grow upright and some are sprawling. It's just the way they are and if the plant looks healthy, I think it's fine. Lots of plants will have the area of the most growth/healthiest leaves towards the tips of the stems, so that's pretty normal, too. Molly, it's a really interesting question about whether flowers on plants are a good thing or not. Many plants need seeds to reproduce themselves and the more flowers (generally) the more seeds. And more seeds equal more baby plants. With annuals (like Brassica), plants complete their whole life cycle in one growing season. It's important for the plants to flower and produce seeds so that they can reproduce before the end of the season. Once they've produced seeds, they'll die back. So if you notice the plants looking a little less green once they've flowered, that's normal and will probably continue. With plants that live through more than one season (perennials), more flowers may or may not be good for the plant. It takes energy to flower and set seed that takes energy away from other areas of the plant's growth. Lots of times gardening books will tell you to cut off the flowers of new plants in the garden (like strawberries or fruit trees) because not having to produce a fruit means that the plant can put more energy into growing leaves and roots, and will be healthier the next year because of that. Great questions! Keep up the good work. |
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March 22, 2012 | 10:09 AM |
Dr. Catrina Adams
Sorry team...catching up Nice to hear that your plants are flowering! I'll try to catch up on some of your questions: First, Trang - It's common for plants to show more or less pigment depending on lots of factors. One of the biggest is the amount of light. Many plants will get more red pigments when they are in bright sun. In a way it's like sunscreen for the plant...it helps protect the plants from UV damage. But that's just one of the things that pigments can do and that's not the same for all plants. Its a really good question, because you are looking at the difference between the genes a plant has, and how they show up in different environments. So, do you notice differences in pigment between the high and low nutrient groups? You're right, purple is a discrete trait and caused by one gene. The gene you're looking at will turn OFF anthrocyanin pigment production when it's present. If the plant does have the gene, it CAN'T produce the purple pigment. So if a plant doesn't have that gene, it COULD produce pigment. But maybe it doesn't need to? Tricky sometimes to get from the genes a plant has to how it looks. Does this help you figure out whether your purple/green changing plant has the gene or not? And based on your data, do you think the purple shows up more or less in high nutrient environments? |
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March 20, 2012 | 8:51 AM |
doomdestroyer
(Team Member)
More Flower Petals Today we saw that another plant bloom a flower. It bloomed over night and is a very light yellow color. I don't really know which plant bloomed because I don't really know there names like supercat. Also, shorty's petals look like they are wilting. Do the petals on brassica plants wilt as fast as they grow? Guess we're going to have to wait and see. |
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March 19, 2012 | 9:16 AM |
supercat
(Team Member)
Flower Petals Shorty was the first to bloom a flower; all of the other plants only have buds. Shorty's flower bloomed last week on Friday and its petals are very curled and little. They're bright yellow but it's hard to distinguish the petals from one another. The petals are hard to count. The flower's pistil is very long and the stigma is noticeably a yellow-green. Are all of the flowers going to be like this and how many flowers can each plant have? Eeyore has achieved 11 buds! But I don't think they'll all bloom. We'll see! |
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March 19, 2012 | 8:17 AM |
thehulk
(Team Member)
Quick Check-In We didn't have much time to post today but I wondered.. Are flowers on the plants a good thing? What should they look like? How far along should the plants be at this point? More details to come. |
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March 18, 2012 | 6:27 PM |
thehulk
(Team Member)
Tables Hi guys! I took down a lot of our information from the tables on the computer the other day but I don't have microsoft word on my computer so I can't do any more until tomorrow. I have a couple tables on the computer already but I don't know how to upload it onto here. |
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March 18, 2012 | 11:24 AM |
supercat
(Team Member)
Hole Believe has a hole, could it be because we made it? We didn't do anything to it. Maybe it deteriorated? But from what? Questions, questions... |
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March 15, 2012 | 7:27 PM |
supercat
(Team Member)
Traits I think the purple color is still a discrete trait but what if the white/slightly purple stems end up turning green? Is that even possible? Some of our almost visibly purple and white stems seem to have turned to a very light pale green. But the purple/white stems overall seem to be white. Is that weird? Will they end up having some pigment later on? Will the pigment end up being purple or green? Are the plants suppose to tip over and lay down on things? They seem to not be able to stay up. I was thinking about bringing some toothpicks to help them stand up but my teacher said they'll stand up on their own and it doesn't seem like that's the case. I hope to hear from you soon! :) -Trang |
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March 12, 2012 | 12:45 PM |
Dr. Catrina Adams
Go Shorty! Glad to hear he's catching up. And I'm excited that you're keeping charts of your data. Good question about the purple and part-purple stems. The purple color comes from a pigment called anthrocyanin, the same pigments that give grapes and raspberries their color. Genetic traits are either discrete/discontinuous (meaning they are usually definitively one way or another) or they are quantitative/continuous and vary along a continuum. Discrete traits are usually the result of a single gene, while quantitative traits are usually the result of multiple genes. The trait for stem color is usually described as the presence or absence of purple color. So if there is any purple pigment at all on the stem, it's counted as being a purple stem. Does this make it a discrete or quantitative trait? Is it likely to be caused by one or many genes? It is interesting that you are seeing that some of the traits tend to show up together. Any ideas why that might be happening? Do you think it has to do with the environment, or do you think it might have to do with the genetics of the plants? You're doing great so far, keep it up! |
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March 11, 2012 | 6:48 PM |
thehulk
(Team Member)
Shorty.. And stuff Shorty is not so much of shorty anymore, actually! We've been making charts so that by the end of the experiment we will have clear data to show. It's interesting to see which plants are yellow leaved and which have purple stems. Those two traits seem to come together for the most part. If a stem is a white-ish purple color then is it considered purple or a mix? Thanks! |
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March 8, 2012 | 8:41 AM |
Dr. Catrina Adams
Hi Team SuperHeroes Just stopping by to say I think you are off to a great start. Your mentor Caitlin should be coming online soon, but in the meantime I thought I'd give you some feedback. I like that you have decided what you will be measuring and it sounds like you are already starting to see some germination and growth, very encouraging! Do you think that a taller plant is a healthier plant? Just curious. Also, how do you think nutrients will affect plant height...I mean, I know you think it will increase the height, but does your team have a hypothesis as to why, or how...what's the mechanism? Do you think the mature plants will be taller in the high nutrients, or do you think they'll reach their full height sooner? The plant names are awesome. I wonder if Shorty will indeed be a shorty :) Keep us posted, can't wait to see how things turn out. By the way, you might want to start putting your height observations in a chart or graph, so it's easy to track and see how your plants are growing :) Maybe you're doing this already. It'll help when you get to figuring out whether your hypothesis is supported... Keep up the good work. |
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March 6, 2012 | 6:49 AM |
supercat
(Team Member)
Observations Day 4: (3-1-12) The plant that didn't sprout in the low nutrient pot yesterday has sprouted! Another plant has grown right next to on eof the plants in the low nutrient pot as well. Two plants have sprouted from one plant. Low nutrient pot - 7 plants. High nutrient pot - 5 plants. HIGH 1 - Willber - not sprouted 2 - Charlie - seed is still attached 12mm 3 - Piggy - biggest leaf (leaves haven't separated) 22mm 4 - Shorty - small leaf 15mm 5 - Billy - 22mm very long purple stem (short two little leaves) 6 - Marty - 20 mm purple stem center of leaves (2) LOW 1 - Bob - 12mm big leaf (sprouted today) 2 - Rex - 24mm purple stem. leaves have purple outline. purple center of leaves 3 - Casey - 15mm two leaves - 1 is smaller. green all around 4 - Steve - 21 mm dark center of leaves. has a twin (believe) steve is bigger twin. 5 - Believe - 12mm has the seed attached, smaller than steve, one leaf folds. two leaves total. seed about to fall 6 - Fred - 19mm big leaf partly separated. green 7 - Eeyore - 19mm leaves overlapped on the side parted on the other |
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March 6, 2012 | 6:42 AM |
supercat
(Team Member)
Observations Day 1: (2-27-12) We planted so the plants didn't grow. Day 3: (2-29-12) After 2 days, the plants have sprouted. In the low mutrient plants, there are five sprouts, two of which still seem to not have bloomed yet. The seed is still visible on the leaves. It goes the same for the high nutrient plants. The ones who haven't bloomed are slightly purple while the rest of that plant (and other plants) are green. They are all still very small. The bloomed plants all have four leaves. The leaves are equal in size and when they bloomed, they seemed to be symmetrical. All of them don't seem to be taller than 5mm. As of right now, there are no significant differences between the pots. |
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March 6, 2012 | 6:41 AM |
thehulk
(Team Member)
Day 9 The plants still seem to be growing well. Almost all of them have sprouted. We think one of them is dead because it has yet to sprout. Most of them are growing smoothly but a couple are leaning. We think they might need water. The rest of the class has a lot of yellow leaves but ours are mostly green. Hopefully the bent ones will straighten themselves out! - No hair yet either. |
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March 5, 2012 | 5:42 AM |
supercat
(Team Member)
Research Question We have come up with our research question and we have started making observations. We have named all of our plants and are keeping track of their height very closely. One of our plants hasn't sprouted on day 8 but in the other pot (low nutrient) two plants have sprouted from one seed. |
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March 1, 2012 | 11:10 AM |
doomdestroyer
(Team Member)
Plants Hello, the question I have is how long the seed stays on the plant while its growing and for what purpose does it stay on the plant? |
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February 29, 2012 | 7:26 PM |
supercat
(Team Member)
Research Question? We have already planted our brassica plants and they have sprouted after 2 days! Which traits will we be investigating? Should we investigate the height? Or maybe we can compare the # of leaves or size of leaves. I'm not sure if these brassica plants are heterozygous, homozygous dominant, or homozygous recessive. We have yet to find out but we're going to have to come up with a research question to really understand what we're investigating. I have read some of the manual about the brassica plants and it says that the genotype and the environment determine the phenotype. How much will each group vary, do you think, if all of our plants are in the same environment? I guess our plants are too young to really determine an evident research question as of right now but I'll keep the different traits in mind for the next time we speak. |
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February 22, 2012 | 9:12 AM |
doomdestroyer
(Team Member)
Hello My name is Nikolas. Nice to meet you. Sorry I don't have any questions but i'll have some in my next comment. |
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February 22, 2012 | 8:59 AM |
supercat
(Team Member)
Sorry! I forgot to introduce myself, how rude of me! I'm Trang. I like cats and animals. I am aspiring veterinarian and plan on majoring in biology once I get into college. It's nice to meet you. Where is Portland State University? Did you major in genetics or botany? I look forward to the next few months on plantingscience. |
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February 22, 2012 | 8:55 AM |
thehulk
(Team Member)
Science Hi, I'm Molly. What's the difference between traits for eye color and other traits? Nails and hair are made of the same materials so what makes them different? Why do some people blush more than others? What gives skin the difference in hue between pink and olive? |
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February 22, 2012 | 8:50 AM |
supercat
(Team Member)
Plants When we do the experiments, how many are we doing? Are we going to use the first generation offspring and make a second generation of offspring? I've briefly gone over some genetics in my biology class today so I know that 1/4 of the second generation will have the recessive gene. |
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February 15, 2012 | 12:36 PM |
Dr. Catrina Adams
Welcome! I am happy to welcome you to this community of plant researchers. Your team has the opportunity to be mentored by a scientist to help you develop and perform your own research project. The mentor's role is to encourage and guide you through the scientific process of discovery. The more you share your ideas and research information online, the more your mentor can help. Your scientist mentor for this project will be Ms. Caitlin Lee from Portland State University. Please introduce yourself and post some possible research topic ideas to get a conversation rolling. These resources are available to help you get started: Thinking Like a Scientist / Working Like a Scientist Designing Experiments Guide to Using A Spreadsheet Best wishes as you start this scientific journey. We are all pleased to share this experience with you. Have fun! Sincerely, The PlantingScience team |
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