Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My hypothesis was that the additives found in tap water, fertilizer, and pesticide would effect plant growth. I put a gallon of water in each bowl(3 bowls), put a tablespoon of fertilizer or pesticide in 2 of the bowls, and selected 42 leaves of duckweed for each bowl, and put them out in the sun for 7 hours a day. what r the dependent and independent variables 4 my project?
THANX!

Hi,

You have a great project here! You have changed one parameter at a time in each bowl, either the water, fertilizer, or pesticide. The additive to the water is the independent variable in the experiment and whatever measurement was done on the duckweed is the dependent variable. All other parameters were kept controlled, such as the volume of water, number of plants at the start, sunlight, and temperature, so your results should reflect the effect of the water additive.

Here is more information on variables from the science buddies website:

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

I hope this helps. Let us know if you have any other questions.

Donna Hardy

oh my goodness, thank you very much for your help! Also, what would i put as the title for my board on this project?
THANX

Hi,

Your title should catch the attention of the viewer and let them know what the basic topic is. You could ask the question that the project answers. A couple of possibilities are:

Can aquatic plants tolerate fertilizer and pesticide?

Will fertilizer or pesticide affect Duckweed growth?

Will Duckweed grow or be gone?

Or something similar.

Donna Hardy

Thanx for the great ideas! based on my project, should i or should i not include captions for my pics. ihave 12 pictures in all, so i dnt have too much space.
THANX!!!!!!!!!

Hi,

Yes. Definitely include a short caption explaining the significance of the photograph to the project, i.e. "Duckweed with pesticide on Day 1." "Control sample on Day 7." , etc. This will enhance the presentation of the project and help the viewer understand what happened. '


Donna

Conclusion

My hypothesis was that the additives found in tap water, fertilizer, and pesticide would effect plant growth. My results support my hypothesis. All of the plants show some effect, do to the independent variables. The weekly recordings were easy enough to make, but were very time consuming. For future projects related to this subject, I suggest starting with a lower leaf count, making weekly recordings easier.

This is my conclusion. my proofreader(neighbor)says i should include: How did iv and dv compare?, Compare to ypur hypothesis tap vs fertilizer, tap vs. pesticide. How should i add, covering these subjects.

Hi,

Great conclusion! You have made a conclusion related to your original hypothesis' that is what the science fair judges will be looking for. You could add a sentence or extend one of the sentences to include the magnitude of the difference, for example "fertilizer increased leaf count by 10%, etc" to support your conclusion. Did you present the data in a bar graph? If so, you can just refer to the bar graph in the conclusion, i.e. "the results in table I show that the independent variable (water additive) is correlated to the dependent variable, (leaf count)." Your proofreader neighbor has a good point; you could add a sentence explaining that the dependent variable correlated with the independent variable, however, your conclusion is complete as it is. I would recommend looking at the teacher's written assignment and make sure that all requirements of the conclusion section have been met. I have seen assignments where the teacher requires identifying the iv and dv in the conclusion. I have also seen assignments where the teacher requires a discussion of what would be done differently if the experiment were repeated, or what you would do to continue the investigation.


Donna Hardy

Thanx!, ok, for my display board, should i include my bibliography/acknowledgements? Also, when they mean include background research, do they mean your suppose to stick your research paper on the board?. Doesnt your procedures=abstracrt? srry, im in pre-stress crunch time mode!

Hi,

Yes, you should definitely include the bibliography on the board; it can be in a smaller font if you are running out of room. Your research paper can be in a folder sitting on the table in front of the board so the judges can pick it up and read more details if they need it. For the background research paper, describe the reason that you did your project, the scientific principles that your project is based on, and summarize what had been known on the topic before you did your project. Your results and conclusion will be an addition to the scientific problem you are trying to solve. . Make sure all sections are clear and readable. The science fair judges need to be able to understand the project within 30-60 seconds . It will be helpful if you add a one or two sentence abstract below the title.

Good luck!


Donna Hardy

for my pictures, what should my title caption on my board be?

Hi,

If you haven’t already done them, for you picture captions, write something clear and straightforward with the sample ID, the day of the experiment, and a brief description:

Control, day 1
Pesticide sample, day 7, showing 50% less growth compared to control.
Fertilizer sample, day 7 showing 10% more growth compared to control

If there’s not room to include the description and still have the captions readable, then just include the sample ID and day

Donna Hardy

Thanx for all the help! I for sure had one of the best ones at school. blue ribbon anyone?

Hi,

Thanks so much for your message. Congratulations! This is great news. All of your hard work has been recognized. I'm glad that Science Buddies could help you. We'll look forward to hearing from you next year.

Donna Hardy

im going to regionals, but I need an abstract by the 19! since you kno my project, i need tips on what to include
THANX LOADS

Hi Pinkbear,

I hope it’s not too late, but here is the information from the Science Buddies website on writing an abstract, with a list of what to include and what to avoid. For your project, you would want to include a one or two-sentence summary of the entire project including introduction, problem, procedure and conclusion.

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

Good luck!


Donna Hardy