Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My son is trying to sprout six varieties of rice and rice seed for a fourth grade science fair project. He found instructions that said to plant them in soil submerged in 1" of water. We have them under grow lights in plastic cups, but nothing is happening. I am leaving this up to him, but said I would put some questions out on the internet. Please help! The fair is on February 28th in just about two weeks!
For the variables and control, he soaked the seeds and rice varieties for 36 hours, then dried them out for 24 hours before planting them. Others he just planted without soaking. I think it will be pretty good if, and only if, something actually sprouts!

Shuler,

It sounds like you and your son are off to a great start. You're question is interesting, you have a well-thought out procedure, and you've got your experiment under way. The only issue is, like you said, that nothing has sprouted yet. A few questions come to mind about why things might not be sprouting.

1. How much time has elapsed since you planted the seeds? Some plants can take up to three weeks to sprout, although most will usually sprout between 7-14 days.

2. How many seeds did you plant? Not all seeds are viable. This means that not every seed you plant will grow. If you only planted two seeds of each variety of rice, it is possible that none of these seeds will germinate.

3. Have you kept the water level at 1" deep? From what I read about growing rice at home after a quick internet search, it is important that the water level be maintained. (e.g. the rice won't grow if the water level gets too low.) Some sites I looked at even suggested growing the rice seeds in 4-5 inches of water! But I found lots of different directions on growing rice, so I think that one inch of water should be just fine.

One thing to keep in mind is that just because the rice don't grow does not mean your child's project is a failure. There are lots of times that science experiments don't work for lots of different reasons. The most important thing is that you help your son understand the scientific method, which it sounds like you've been doing. Keep making observations, even if nothing grows. Once you've made your observations, you can then talk about your results. If nothing grows, your results may be just that--nothing grew. If something does grow, then your results may be that type A grew taller than type B.

Most science projects aren't graded on whether or not their experiment works; they are graded on how well the student followed the scientific method. So if it ends up that nothing grows, no worries. You can still have a successful science project.

Let me know about the answers to the questions I asked about the rice, and I'll do some more poking around to see what I can find out. In the mean time, feel free to post back with any more questions or issues you might have; we're here to help.

Good luck!

Thanks so much for the encouragement! My son did count the grains of rice and rice, planting 15 in each cup.
I've had an inspiration - what would happen if we left the grow light on some day and night? Just a thought...

G.Shuler

Hi Shuler,
That sounds like a great idea for an experiment.

Any sprouts yet? Where did you get the rice seeds? Are you sure that they are viable seeds?

Chris

Update from Shuler;
We have sprouts! Sprouting rice seeds are visible in the glass of water only/no soil. Others may be sprouting but not yet visible in the murky water and soil mixtures. My son has seen no signs of life in the rice varieties. Source of seeds was Organica Seed Company.

Dear Plant Expert,
This is the son of Shuler that is doing the science project on rice. I just had one question. How come only my rice seeds are sprouting and not the actual rice? If you have some answers it would be very nice to know.

Sincerely,
Son of Shuler

Hi Shuler and son of Shuler.

When you say "rice seeds" as opposed to "actual rice" what exactly is the difference? Didn't you plant a few different varieties of rice seeds? Or is the "actual rice" the sort of stuff you would buy at a grocery store?

Thanks,
Chris

Hi son of shuler,
You are asking a good question. I think a possible reason could be that the rice from the grocery store is processed in some way. You should do some research what happens to rice on the way from the field to the table. For example if they remove the "germ," that is the part with the DNA so the seed probably won't grow. I found some information in the rice Wikipedia entry, although I wouldn't recommend you use Wikipedia as your only source.
good luck