Corinne+Zimmerman+and+Ashlyn+Peters

Title: The effects of soil types and nutrition providers on plant growth

Hypothesis: If you add miracle grow to a soil with a moist composition then the plant will grow more efficiently.

Materials: soil samples with different compositions, miracle grow, water, salt water, 9 seeds, 9 small pots, a ruler, notebook.

Budget: Miracle-Gro($8) and seeds($3) are included in our budget.

Proposal: Dirt or soil is made up of many different things. It is made up by mineral, organic particles produced by wind water and organic decay. It has inorganic substances which are mainly rock that has been worn and weathered down. Organic elements like left overs from dead animals that have been broken down, dead leaves and plant life and even tiny microscopic organisms. Soil also has water and nutrients that are needed from plant growth. Water or lack there of gives the soil its color and texture. It can also be a good indicator on the amount of nutrients that can be found in that sample. The more nutrients there are there is a better chance that the plant will grow more efficiently. We would like to test and see how well a plant can grow in different samples of soil and then change some of the nutritional aspect of the soil. We believe that if we have a moist and dark brown almost black soil sample and add miracle to it and provide the seed with fresh water then, the plant will grow more efficiently than the other plants.

Procedure: We will go out and collect 3 different samples of dirt from different locations. We will take some from by a creek, from a corn or bean field, and from an area that has a very dry composition. We will plant a seed in each of these samples. We will give regular tap water for one of each sample. We will also be using a salt water mixture on the 2nd group of three. Lastly we will be mixing our soil samples with some miracle grow and be watering the seed with regular tap water in the miracle grow soil mixture. We will be measuring and documenting the growth of each plant to determine which combination of soil and nutrition allows for the best plant growth.

1. Collect dirt samples 2. Plant seed in each sample of dirt 3. Distribute water and Miracle-Gro to specified plants. 4. Continue observing and collecting data.

Data: Our results over the course of 30 days....
 * Tap Water || Tap Water + || Salt Water ||
 * 0 || 0 || 0 ||
 * 1.5 || 2.5 || 1 ||
 * 2 || 3 || 1.5 ||
 * 2.25 || 4 || 2 ||
 * 2.25 || 4 || 2.125 ||
 * 2.25 || 4 || 2.125 ||
 * 3 || died || 2.25 ||
 * 3 ||  || 2.25 ||
 * 3.5 ||  || 2.25 ||
 * 4 ||  || 2.25 ||
 * 4.5 ||  || 2.25 ||
 * 4.875 ||  || 2.5 ||
 * 5 ||  || 2.5 ||
 * 5 ||  || 2.75 ||
 * 2.25 || 4 || 2 ||
 * 2.25 || 4 || 2.125 ||
 * 2.25 || 4 || 2.125 ||
 * 3 || died || 2.25 ||
 * 3 ||  || 2.25 ||
 * 3.5 ||  || 2.25 ||
 * 4 ||  || 2.25 ||
 * 4.5 ||  || 2.25 ||
 * 4.875 ||  || 2.5 ||
 * 5 ||  || 2.5 ||
 * 5 ||  || 2.75 ||
 * 4.875 ||  || 2.5 ||
 * 5 ||  || 2.5 ||
 * 5 ||  || 2.75 ||
 * 5 ||  || 2.5 ||
 * 5 ||  || 2.75 ||

Table could not be uploaded

Analysis: The data that we collected was able to help prove our hypothesis. As you can tell by the table for the first half of our testing time the plant growing with added nutrients was growing more efficiently. How ever that specific plant did die. We believe this was caused by over fertilization. The rest of our theory was proved however. The plant being watered with normal tap water grew more than the plant being watered with salt water. Salt attracts water, so the plant wasn't getting the recommended amount of freshwater. Thus stunting growth. The last time we received complete data, day 17, the tap watered plant was 2.25 inches, the salt watered plant was 2.125 inches, and our tap watered plant with extra nutrients was a 4 inches tall. The tap watered plus extra nutrition plant was a whole 1.75 inches taller than the regular tap water plant and an entire 1. 875 inches taller than the salt watered plant. It was growing at a much faster rate than the other two plants. The tap watered plant that received the extra nutrition had a growth rate of 5 inches every 16 days. The regular watered plant was growing at a rate of 3 inches every 16 days. And the salt watered plant was growing at a speed of 2 inches every 16 days. There is a two inch difference between the two tap watered plants and a whole 3 inch difference between the nutrient enhanced plant and the salt watered plant. These statistics speak very well for fertilizer.

Conclusion: My partner and I believed that if you added miracle-gro to a soil with a moist composition then the plant would grow more efficiently. Based on our results we have come to the conclusion that plants growing with a fertilizer or added nutrients substance will grow more efficiently. The plant will grow faster in a shorter amount of time. However, the execution of our experiment differed slightly from our original plan. We wanted to test the soil types as well which watering plan works the best. But do to weather and timing of our project we were not able to collect dirt samples. We instead used regular potting soil and then used the different water and nutritional extras, to test that part of the experiment. This was successful until the plant getting watered with tap water, but also received drops of a fertilizer, died in the middle of our testing. We believe this was due to over fertilization. We were able to gain enough data from our experiment to draw our conclusion. Our experiment was successful in the sense that we were able to back up our hypothesis. With the data we have collected we are able to conclude that if you are growing a plant in a good soil and are adding a fertilizer to it then the plant will grow quicker in a shorter amount of time.

Work Cited: “Soil.” Today's Science. Infobase Learning, Web. 7 Oct. 2013.< [|__http://tsof.infobaselearning.com/tsofencyarticle.aspx?ID=20292__] >.

"Miracle-Gro Potting Mix." //Miracle-Gro Potting Mix //. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2013 .

"Soil-Modifying Bacteria." //Biotechnology: Changing Life Through Science //. Vol. 2: Agriculture. Detroit: U*X*L, 2007. 492-495. //Gale Virtual Reference Library //. Web. 6 Dec. 2013.

Regan McDougal: I like your proposal, but have you thought about your amount of materials and your budget? Also, You may want to add in text citations and put the citations at the bottom. What is your process for how you are going to do this? Jessica Tilton What kind of dirt are you going to use? Jessica Tilton