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Project Summary

Difficulty	4
Time required	Very Long (several weeks to months)
Prerequisites	None
Material Availability	Readily available
Cost	Low ($20 - $50) Note: The cost of this science fair project will be higher than noted if you perform it in cool weather and need to buy a grow lamp. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.
Safety	Minor injury is possible, so use caution when using the scissors to cut the cartons in half. Adult supervision is recommended.

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Abstract

Objective

To grow three different types of grasses and then determine which grass produces the most biomass and therefore, will produce the most energy.

Introduction

Have you ever thought about all of the activities that you and your family participate in every day? Maybe on some days your parents drive you to soccer or swim practice. On other days, maybe you jump in the car and go out for some ice cream after school. Sometimes when you get home from school, you just want to relax and watch a little TV before getting started on your homework. After dinner at home, you may be in charge of loading the dirty dishes into the dishwasher. What do all of these activities have in common? They all require energy to perform. Yes, your energy, but also the energy of the objects you use. Whenever you use a car, you use gasoline, which produces energy. Turning on the TV, using a dishwasher, and even turning on the lights uses electricity, another type of energy, sometimes produced by coal. Coal and gasoline are fossil fuels and come from the earth. Fossil fuels are made from animals and plants that lived millions of years ago. Since we dig up fossil fuels from the earth, there is a limited supply. Once we use it up, we would have to wait for 1 million years for more!

The United States uses 378 million gallons of gasoline every day! A gallon is the size of a milk jug—378 million milk jugs of gasoline is a lot of gasoline! Many scientists and citizens believe that burning coal and using gasoline produces toxic air pollution and greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gases may contribute to global warming and climate change. What can we do to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases? Well, we can try to reduce our use of fossil fuels and increase our use of other kinds of energy, like renewable energy. Renewable energy sources are natural and are naturally replenished. An example of a renewable energy is biomass energy. The source of biomass energy is living or recently dead plants. Plants change energy from the Sun into biomass energy, because plants can be used to make ethanol, an alternative fuel for gasoline. Scientists are studying grasses like corn, switchgrass, and Miscanthus giganteus for use in producing ethanol fuel. The advantage of switchgrass and Miscanthus giganteus is that they are both perennial grasses that can grow to be 9–13 feet tall, and produce lots of stalks and leaves. They require little fertilizer and are native to the United States. They grow well in different kinds of climates, and in both arid and marshland areas.

In this energy science fair project, you will learn more about biomass energy. You will grow three kinds of grasses and see which kind produces the most biomass. More biomass means more energy. Do some grasses grow faster than others? Do some grasses grow taller than others? This energy science fair project will help you figure out the answers to these questions. Everybody talks about going green and green energy; do this science fair project and you will be "growing" green!

Terms, Concepts and Questions to Start Background Research

• Energy
• Fossil fuel
• Greenhouse gas
• Renewable energy
• Biomass energy
• Perennial
• Germinate

Questions

• What are some examples of renewable energy?
• What is fossil fuel and what happens when you burn fossil fuel?
• What are the advantages and disadvantages of biomass energy?
• What are the differences between switchgrass and Miscanthus giganteus grass?

Bibliography

If you would like to learn more about energy and power, check out this website:

• Rathjen, D. (2001). Watt's a Joule? Retrieved May 22, 2009, from http://www.exploratorium.edu/theworld/energy/joules.html

Here is an interesting article on Miscanthus giganteus.

• RenewableEnergyAccess.com. (2005, October 12). Hybrid Grass Shows Strong Biomass Potential. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from http://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2005/10/hybrid-grass-shows-strong-biomass-potential-37808

The following is a link to a radio program on switchgrass:

• National Public Radio. (2006, February 1). Switch Grass: Alternative Energy Source? Retrieved May 22, 2009, from http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5183608

The Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration publishes information and statistics on this country's energy consumption.

• United States Department of Energy: Energy Information Administration. (2009, May). This Week in Petroleum. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip_gasoline.html#demand

For help creating graphs, try this website:

• National Center for Education Statistics. (n.d.). Create a Graph. Retrieved May 22, 2009, from http://nces.ed.gov/nceskids/CreateAGraph/default.aspx

Materials and Equipment

• Scissors
• Milk or juice cartons, paper, 1/2-gallon, well-cleaned (9)
• Ruler, metric
• Philips head screwdriver, 1/4-inch
• Kitchen towel
• Potting soil (1 bag)
• Hand trowel; available at your local garden center
• Masking tape
• Pen
• Wheat or rye seeds (90); can be purchased from your local health food store
• Corn seeds (90); available at your local garden center
• Oat seeds (90), whole and not milled; available from your local health food store
• Watering can, small or toy size
• Optional: Grow lamp, if you are doing this science fair project without several days of warm and sunny weather; can be purchased online from websites such as www.amazon.com
• Optional: Container to hold excess water from the plants (1–3, depending on how many trials you are running; see the Experimental Procedure for details)
• Bucket
• Paper towels (1 roll)
• Plastic baggies, sandwich size (1 box)
• Digital scale with high resolution.
• The scale should be able to reliably measure changes as small as 1 gram (g) and 0.1 ounce (oz.).
• If you don't have a digital scale in your kitchen, you could ask to borrow one from your school, or purchase one from your local home goods store.
• As an alternative, you could also borrow a triple-beam balance from your school.
• Lab notebook
• Graph paper

Experimental Procedure

Important Note: The time it will take you to complete this experiment is largely based on whether or not you can plant your seeds all at once outside in warm weather, or one trial at a time under a grow lamp, inside, in cold weather. Please read through the procedure before you begin to estimate how long it will take you.

Performing the Experiment

1. Use the scissors and carefully cut all of the cartons in half. Use a ruler to measure half the container. Discard the upper halves of all of the cartons. You should now have nine paper plant containers. Make sure that all of the containers are the same height.
2. Place a towel on a hard surface, like a table top, then place the container on top of it, with the open end up. Use the Philips head screwdriver and carefully poke six drainage holes in the bottom of the container. These holes will allow excess water to drain out. Repeat this step with all of the containers, using a towel underneath each one to protect the surface underneath.
3. Now fill three of the containers with potting soil, using the hand trowel. Fill the container 1 centimeter (cm) from the top. Lightly pack the soil into the carton with your hand.
4. Label the three containers, using masking tape and a pen, as follows;
   1. Container 1: Trial 1: Wheat (or Rye)
   2. Container 2: Trial 1: Corn
   3. Container 3: Trial 1: Oats
5. Take 30 wheat or rye seeds and plant them in the first container that is labeled Wheat or Rye. You should plant the seeds in an orderly fashion. For example, you should plant five rows of six seeds each, with the seeds evenly spaced. Gently push each seed 1/2 inch into the soil. Cover the seeds with soil, and put a little more soil on top, filling the container all the way to the top.
6. Repeat step 5, planting 30 corn seeds in the Corn container.
7. Repeat step 5, planting 30 oats seeds in the Oats container.
8. Check the seed packet to determine the temperature range for each plant.
   1. If you are doing this science fair project while it is still warm and sunny outside on most days:
      • You can place the plants outdoors.
      • You can then run two additional trials at the same time. The purpose of performing more than one trial is to minimize error and uncertainty in your data.
      • Repeat steps 3–7 two additional times, labeling the containers with trial numbers 2 and 3. Place each set of three containers, one of each seed type, at three different sunny and warm locations in your yard.
   2. If it is too cold outside:
      • You should use a grow lamp to provide light to your plants.
      • The top of the plants should be 7 1/2 –10 centimeters (cm) from the grow lamp.
      • If you are using a grow lamp as the source of light, then you will have to wait until the first trial is completed before starting the second trial, and then wait for the second trial to complete before starting the third trial.
9. Carefully water each container of seeds with the watering can. You should water the containers with enough water that they start to drip from the drainage holes.
   1. If you are growing your plants outside, you could hold the containers over some other plants as you water. The excess water can water other plants in the ground.
   2. If you are growing your plants indoors, then water them over a container and you could use the excess water to water other indoor plants that are not part of this energy science fair project.
10. Note down in your lab notebook the date that you planted the seeds in a data table, like the one shown below.

11. Observe your containers daily, and keep the soil moist. As soon as you see the first seedling, mark down the seed type and the date in the data table. Continue observing each day and record when you see the 10th and the 20th seedling for each seed type.
12. Start measuring the height of the seedlings two days after the first sprout comes up. Record the height and type of each seedling in another data table, like the one shown below. You should have nine height data tables, one for each seed type for each trial. Then calculate and record only the average, by day, in your Plant Growth and Development data table.

Example: Trial 1 Oat Seedling Growth Data Table

13. Fourteen days after seeing the first sprout (not of each type, but the first one among all of the plants), weigh the wheat or rye seedlings, the corn seedlings, and the oat seedlings, as follows:
14. First fill a bucket with water and then gently wash the soil off the leaves and roots. Try to get rid of as much dirt from the roots as you can. This will take time so be patient. See Figures 1 and 2, below. Note: Don't clean all of the plants from the different seed types together. Just clean one group of plants at a time.
15. Once a group of plants is clean, dry it completely with paper towels and then temporarily store the group of plants in a plastic baggie. Label the plastic baggie with the seed type and trial number. If you have been growing the seeds outdoors, you will have nine baggies: three with wheat or rye seedlings, three with corn seedlings, and three with oat seedlings. If you used a grow lamp, you will only have three baggies right now, one for each seed type.

Figure 1. Put a group of seedlings in a bucket of water to clean the dirt.

Figure 2. Gently loosen the roots of the seedlings from the dirt.

14. Now place a new paper towel on the digital scale. Open the first wheat or rye baggie and weigh the group of seedlings. This is the "fresh weight." Record the fresh weight of the seedlings in a data table, like the one shown below.

15. Weigh the seedlings from all of the baggies, one at a time, recording the seed type, the trial, and the fresh weight.
16. Now dry the seedlings. Follow the procedure detailed in the Science Buddies document Measuring Plant Growth to consistently dry the different grasses. This procedure keeps the drying variables to a minimum, which is important if you are conducting trials on different days.
17. Once all of the plants are crisp, reweigh them using the digital scale. Record the "dry weight" in your lab notebook. Calculate the percent change in the weight of each of the groups of seedlings. Use Equation 1 to calculate the percent change in weight.

Equation 1:

18. If you used a grow lamp to provide light for the plants, repeat steps 3–17 two more times. The purpose of performing more than one trial is to minimize error and uncertainty in your data. Record all your data in your lab notebook.

Analyzing the Data

1. Now you can analyze and graph your data. You can make your graphs by hand or if you want to learn more about graphing or make your graphs online, try the following website: Create a Graph.
2. Graph the average height of each seed type versus time. Label the x-axis Days and the y-axis Height.
3. Make another graph, plotting the fresh weight and the dry weight for each of the seed types that you used. Label the x-axis Seed Type and the y-axis Weight.
4. You can also plot the percent change in weight between fresh and dry for each seed type. Label the x-axis Seed Type and the y-axis Percent Change in Weight. Looking through the data, can you determine which of the seeds you chose yields the most biomass and would be the best converter of light energy to biomass energy?

Variations

• Try repeating this science fair project using different grasses, such as rice or barley.
• Extract and compare the energy of the grasses that you grew. Review the following Science Buddies science fair project to learn one way to extract the energy from the different grasses: Burning Biofuels: Comparing Nonrenewable and Renewable Fuels .
• Allow the grasses to grow for a longer time and mature, and then extract the energy, as described in the Science Buddies science fair project, Burning Biofuels: Comparing Nonrenewable and Renewable Fuels . How does the maturity of the grass affect the energy extracted?

• For more science project ideas in this area of science, see Energy & Power Project Ideas.

Credits

Michelle Maranowski, PhD, Science Buddies

This project is based on an experiment found at National Renewable Energy Laboratory's website: National Renewable Energy Laboratory Education Programs. (n.d.). Which Grass Produces More Biomass in the Same Amount of Time. Renewable Energy Activities: Choices for Tomorrow. Retrieved May 22, 2009 from http://www.nrel.gov/docs/gen/fy01/30927.pdf

Last edit date: 2009-07-13 17:05:00

Career Focus

If you like this project, you might enjoy exploring careers in Energy & Power.

	Nuclear Engineer Nuclear engineers harness the power of the atom to help solve large and difficult problems facing humanity. They design power plants that create energy to power homes and businesses without producing greenhouse gases. They develop machines that image the human body and destroy cancer cells, sterilize food and medical equipment, and create new pest or drought-resistant seeds. They work to make the world a better place.			Power Distributors and Dispatcher Think of all the things in your home or school that use electricity, like the lights, TV, refrigerator, washer, microwave, music players, computer, and electronic devices. Now think of how you feel when the power goes out, even for just a moment. Power plant distributors and dispatchers have an important job—they work to keep electricity flowing to homes and businesses by carefully watching and planning for problems like big storms that could damage transmission lines, heat waves that cause a big surge in demand for power, or normal construction work, which could take transmission lines out of service.
	Power Plant Operator No matter what time of the day or night, or what the weather is like, power plant operators work to ensure that homes and businesses have a reliable source of power. They switch the plant generators on and off, as needed, and monitor and maintain generators, turbines, and pumps to prevent failures.			Nuclear Power Reactor Operator One in five United States homes and businesses is powered by nuclear power, and nuclear power reactor operators are the people who ensure that those reactors are operating safely and efficiently at all times. They monitor all equipment continuously, and implement procedures if malfunctions are observed. They also control and adjust the amount of power being generated, and the reactor coolant temperature as power demands change through the day and during weather events, like heat waves.

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