Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My project is on the effects of wireless technology on plant growth. I need at least six resources that are credible and relevant, two of which are from a scientific journal. Can you point me to some websites and a couple of journals that I might be able to use?

Hi Hassanja,

This is a really interesting and unique project idea! Finding relevant background articles will help you understand what researchers have discovered about this subject in the past, and will allow you to design a novel experiment to test your hypothesis.

For a scientific search on the internet, first search for "Google scholar" and then enter search words for your topic (effects of wireless technology, wireless technology and plant growth, etc.). This will eliminate commercial and nonscientific sources of information and help you find scientific articles. Please note that many of the articles will be available only for purchase, but it will be helpful for you to read the abstracts and look at figures and tables, where available, to understand what is involved in doing a research project on this topic.

For example, here is an abstract that reports improving irrigation of plants using wireless sensors:

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/di ... id=6881240

And, here is a complete paper that you can access that describes how to use wireless sensors to optimize fertilization, pesticide application, and watering in a tomato greenhouse.

http://www.rinnovando.it/risorse/Artico ... nhouse.pdf

Please do not limit yourself to just two articles; this is a minimum number for your class assignment. For a really good science project, keep reading until you have enough information to understand your subject so you can design the perfect experiment.

For a science project, you will need a method of measuring plant growth. This will give you the data that you need for the graphs in your results section. Here is the information for measuring plant growth from the Science Buddies website that will allow you to obtain quantitative data.

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... owth.shtml

I am very interested in knowing more about your project. What type of experiment were you planning to do? What is the question that you are trying to answer?

Please post back in this thread if you have any questions.


Donna Hardy

The question I hope to answer is if the electromagnetic frequency from wireless devices will have a negative impact on how a plant grows. I placed a cell phone that was turned on behind a group of bean sprouts. My research turned to the electromagnetic spectrum and radio waves.

Hi Hassanja,

It sounds like you are doing a variation on this project:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... eityourown

Before you start, please do background research and find out if anyone has published any data showing that electromagnetic waves affect plant growth. Otherwise, consider measuring the electromagnetic waves as described in the experiment.

Donna Hardy