Today’s lab incorporated the six steps of the scientific method to the growth and development of their own Wisconsin Fast Plant, also referred to as “Brassica rapa” in the scientific community. My group’s experiment included researching the effect of acidity on seed germination. The Wisconsin Fast Plant or Brassica rapa, was originally created by Professor Paul H. Williams at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. The word Brassica can refer to many different plants such as mustard plants, cabbages, rapes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, turnip, rutabaga, and the Chinese cabbage. The Brassica rapa plants were created to help provide a better understanding and more research on the Brassica plant’s family diseases. Brassica rapa plants are in the Cruciferae family, and are named this way because all of the plants have 4 flowers in the form of a crucifix. The seed originally came from a field in Nepal but Dr. Williams still managed to make the Fast Plant out of it. Dr. Williams is well known for making the plants grow faster than the natural plants do. He did this by growing a lot of seeds …show more content…
After extensive research, I believe that the more acidic the soil is, the slower it will be for the Fast Plants to grow. The soil’s pH is a crucial part in growing a healthy plant because “all plants require different levels for proper growth” (Lovejoy). The independent variable in this experiment is the Acidic buffer solutions; which consist of pH 2, 4, 6, and 7. According to Chemguide.co.uk, “An acidic buffer solution is simply one which has a pH less than 7.” It is very important that we as students understand the effects acidity has on plant growth. Studying the growth of the Wisconsin Fast Plant helps students have a firm understanding of this topic which in turn can help clean and prevent pollution throughout our country, making it a better and safer world for the
In this experiment we are testing the effect of fertilizer on the speed of plant growth. We prepared a 4 quad cell, 1 control group and 3 experimental groups. So, we had one with no fertilizer, one with three seeds of fertilizer, one with six seeds of fertilizer, and lastly, one with nine seeds of fertilizer. The plants that we grew were called Wisconsin Fast Plants, members of the crucifer family. These plants are small and easy to grow, but for optimal growth they require continuous fertilizer, water, fluorescent light, and temperature between 18 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees Celsius 24 hours a day. Fertilizers are substances that are put into soils to increase the growth of the plant. There are two different types of fertilizers, synthetic
There were two types of plants used. Both were of the same species, Brassica rapa but two of the plants contained rosette shaped complexes that were deficient in producing gibberellic acid compared to the wild-type plants. Therefore, they grew smaller and shorter as a phenotype. The Brassicaceae family includes cabbage, cauliflower, spinach, and many others. (
This report presents an overview to: meiosis, chromosomes, traits, genotypes, and phenotypes displayed in the evolution of fast plants. Studying how the genetic information can be passed along one generation to the following. Also, learning various techniques to determine the possible genotypes of the four Wisconsin Fast Plants provided by analyzing the offspring and observing the phenotypic variation within them. Predicting that the parent plant was heterozygous with the first generation also displaying heterogeneous characteristics of non- purple stem/ Green leaves. And discovering that the null hypothesis was rejected for the chi-square being less than 5% meaning the observed phenotypes were due by chance.
The scientific name for wisconsin fast plants is, Brassica rapa. The name of the division they are in is Tracheophyta. They are part of the family called crucifers. They are also distinguished by flowers in four petals in the shape of a cross. The Wisconsin fast plant produces harvestable seeds in approximately forty days. Wisconsin fast plants are part of the Turnips and radishes food group. Acid rain breaks down the nutrients in the soil that plants need.
Wisconsin Fast Plants are known to be great educational tools for classroom experiments. They germinate quickly and are easy to take care of. These plants germinate after 1 or two days and have a life span of about 30 to 40 days. (Marin and Terrana, 2004).
Competition happens between two or more things. In talking about plants they compete with each to survive. When competing against each other to survive they are using soil, water, nitrogen, and space. In using theses resources and having theses available gives the plant a greater chance in living. Even though plants compete environmental wise it is still scene that there is a lot of unknown to why plants compete. Some researchers believe it could be because of the root size of an individual plant or the size of the seed, which gives it better competition in surviving (Miller, 1995). Different types of competition can happen between plants likes intraspecific and interspecific competition. Miller (1995) believes there is not enough research shown to make a determination as to why competition between plants happens and that there should be research done in looking at the evolution of plants in different environments where they can compete with each other. In looking at competition in plants in class the experiment that we conducted looks at the Brassica rapa in a intraspecific competition in different densities. Miller (1995) found that the B. rapa in intraspecific competition did have increase in the number of flowers that were produced. Comparing this to the finding of Miller, when looking at different densities of plants in a interspecific competition could the B. rapa have more of a change in growth because a higher density will have more seeds and the B.
Soil, which is the layer of earth on the top where plants and vegetation grow, contains a pH balance, everything does. The pH, acidity, or alkalinity balance of each type of soil that is being observed can affect the plants, because it determines how many nutrients are being deposited to them. It
At the start of this experiment we were required to obtain a set of four Wisconsin Fast Plants, which are genetically, known as Brassica rapa. These plants have been, “originally selected under continuous fluorescent light to grow and reproduce quickly for research purposes, these petite, fast-growing plants have been used for teaching biology concepts” (Wisconsin Fast Plants). These four pots that contain our plants will be under our watch for the next 16 weeks where we will show our results at the end of the semester.
Throughout this experiment, we are researching the effect on the growth and survival of Wisconsin Fast Plants using fertilizer pellets to help with the growth of the plants. Wisconsin Fast Plants is a plant member of the crucifer family which is related to other plants (vegetables) such as cabbage, broccoli, turnips, etc. This plants are small and can grow very easily because they go through their cell cycle around 40 days. Wisconsin Fast Plants Fertilizers are different materials used that can provide plants with the nutrients it need to grow. (1) These plants are a good model system to study because they grew very quickly and didn’t need a lot of resources to grow making them the perfect plant to use for studies. (4) By using the fertilizers,
That too brings up another similarity topic: death rate. With both stars and Wisconsin Fast Plants, the bigger they are the sooner they die. With stars, the bigger they are born, the sooner they die, because bigger stars burn through their fuel sooner, and once they’re out of fuel, they’re out of life. Just to prove this fact, big stars can live for billions of years, but small stars can live for trillions of years. With Fast Plants, it isn’t outright obvious that the bigger they are the sooner they die, but if one gives it some thought they would see that it’s quite
The pH of soil is important for the absorption of nutrients into the plant. Of the 17 needed plant nutrients 14 of them are acquired through the soil. Acidity is needed to break down and dissolve these nutrients. The nutrients are able to dissolve into the soil faster when the acid is acting as a solute. Another way the pH affects the soil is by influencing microorganisms. The bacteria is crucial in the growth and development of the plant, the bacteria’s role is to break down and decompose organic matter in the soil. If the pH of the soil is too high the acid will slow down and eventually stop the microorganisms. Most plants ideal pH is between 6-7, slightly acidic. Many plants are outliers and thrive in pH such as carrots and corn, which can withstand pH as low as 5.5. If the pH of the soil is too high for the desired crop farmers can add material such as limestone, and wood ashes to raise the pH to the desired level. The pH of the soil can also be changed naturally through the leaching of calcium, magnesium and sodium by rainwater. Carbon dioxide from rotting organic matter can also increase the pH of the soil. Acids can also be created organically in the form of sulfuric and nitric
In this activity, students will begin the process of planting and nurturing their very own brassica plant (i.e., mustard seeds). It will focus on the introduction of plants, where they live, and how they grow and reproduce. Students will record their findings in a Plant Observation Journal.
But point 3 to 4 was a larger jump, giving the line more height, and from point 4 to 5 it also seemed to follow incline that point 3 to 4 made. The seeds soaked in Hydrogen Peroxide grew slowly and also at a steady pace, but the growth rate was greatly slowed down and was below average. Besides
Azolla is unique because it is one of the fastest growing plants on the planet, does not need any soil to grow, and gets its nitrogen fertilizer from the atmosphere. It is called ‘Azolla Superorganism’ because it had a symbiotic relationship with the cyanobacterium Anabaena and these two organisms combine their talents to work together. Their talents are; Azolla’s leaves
Cabbage may be considered a foliaceous inexperienced or crimson biennial herb, mature as associate level total annual veg crop because of its dense-leaved heads. Cabbage is powerful. Ancient healers declared it contained moon power as a result of it grew within the moonlight.