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Brassica Rapa Research Paper

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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

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