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For my A level coursework i am answerin the question : What is the optimum density of seeds for maximum growth of watercress. Do you know any of the following:
Optimum pH of soil?,
optimum amount of water?,
ideal density of seeds for optimum growth?,
thankss
AS biology- watercress
-
carolinethorn
- Former Expert
- Posts: 393
- Joined: Tue Sep 20, 2005 2:40 pm
Hi Lee123,
Most of the experts here at Science Buddies are from the USA so may not know that A-level coursework would be about the same as a grade 11 or 12 class project. I grew up in the UK and did A-levels myself.
But anyway, its very unlikely that anyone would be able to give you exact answers to your questions and it wouldn't help you with getting a good mark either. What the examiners look for is if you understand scientific method and how to design an experiment. What we can do is help you think through how you would set up experiments to answer the questions and what variables you need to think about and how you could measure and interpret the results. There are also some good webpages that talk about variablea and hypothesis and designing experiments.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... thod.shtml
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... bles.shtml
What plans have you come up with so far for setting up the experiment? WIll you actually do the experiment for a practical or is this just for the theory? A packet of seeds will often suggest on it how densely to sow the seeds, this may not actually be the optimum but its a good place to start from when designing the experiment. So your hypothesis could be that the density indicated on the seed packet is the ideal for growth.
Do you think you will need more than one experiment to test the 3 questions that you have? How many pots of seeds do you think you would need to test each hypothesis.
Post back with your ideas and further questions and we can help you develop them.
Best of luck,
Caroline
Most of the experts here at Science Buddies are from the USA so may not know that A-level coursework would be about the same as a grade 11 or 12 class project. I grew up in the UK and did A-levels myself.
But anyway, its very unlikely that anyone would be able to give you exact answers to your questions and it wouldn't help you with getting a good mark either. What the examiners look for is if you understand scientific method and how to design an experiment. What we can do is help you think through how you would set up experiments to answer the questions and what variables you need to think about and how you could measure and interpret the results. There are also some good webpages that talk about variablea and hypothesis and designing experiments.
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... thod.shtml
https://www.sciencebuddies.org/mentorin ... bles.shtml
What plans have you come up with so far for setting up the experiment? WIll you actually do the experiment for a practical or is this just for the theory? A packet of seeds will often suggest on it how densely to sow the seeds, this may not actually be the optimum but its a good place to start from when designing the experiment. So your hypothesis could be that the density indicated on the seed packet is the ideal for growth.
Do you think you will need more than one experiment to test the 3 questions that you have? How many pots of seeds do you think you would need to test each hypothesis.
Post back with your ideas and further questions and we can help you develop them.
Best of luck,
Caroline