SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT Plant Fertilizer

BiologyLuis Santa Cruz

Julia DePasquale

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

How does plant fertilizer affect the plant?

The project is going well and we think that our hypothesis might be right because the first group is dying and the middle group is thriving.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

Before we did the actual experiment, we did some research on:

The most affective plant fertilizer

The average amount of water given to a plant each day

The affect of nitrogen on a plant

RESEARCH

Independent variable: the amount of fertilizer

Dependent variable: the plant growth

Constant variables: the sun, water, and place

Control group: no fertilizer  

VARIABLES

If a plant is given too much fertilizer it may die (faster than the others because too much nitrogen).

If given the right amount, it will thrive.

If there is no fertilizer there will be very little effect on the plant. 

HYPOTHESIS

Nine of the same plants

Nine cups of waterOne and a half cup (343 mL) of fertilizer

Safety precautions

MATERIALS

1.Gather materials and safety precaution.2. place three of each sample plant under sunlight after

adding one cup (225 ml) of fertilizer to the first set of plants.

3.The second set gets the same sunlight but half a cup of fertilizer.

4. The third set gets no fertilizer and the same amount of sunlight as the other.

5. Observe for two weeks6. Each plant will receive the same amount of water

one cup.7. Take before and after pictures and check hypothesis.

PROCEDURES

Before

AfterPHOTOS

DATA/OBSERVATIONS (ANALYZES)

Monda

y

Tuesd

ay

Wensda

y

Thurs

day

Frida

y

Satur

day

Sund

ay012345678

Week 1

Group 1Group 2Group 3

Days

Num

ber

of in

ches

Our conclusion is that our hypothesis was right: the plant with the most fertilizer died out faster, the plant with the least amount thrived, and the one without fertilizer didn’t really change at all.

CONCLUSION

There wasn’t really anything that did not follow our procedures that we did. We could have adjusted our procedures for more accurate results (such as doing the experiment for two weeks instead of one)

POSSIBLE EXPERIMENTAL ERRORS

If someone is going to do this experiment, they should do it for two weeks. We did the experiment for only one.

Also, they should not do it the week that they leave for something.

APPLICATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

"How Do Fertilizers Affect Plant Growth? - Yahoo! Answers." Yahoo! Answers - Home. 31

Mar. 2008. Web. 10 Jan. 2011. <http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080307001703AAB9iS6>.

Amerman,, Don. "The Effects of Fertilizer on Plant Growth | EHow.com." EHow | How To Do Just About Everything! | How To Videos & Articles. 16 Nov. 1998. Web. 10 Jan. 2011. <http://www.ehow.com/about_5368263_effects-fertilizer-plant-growth.html>.

"Fertilizers & Plant Nutrition." Orchid Growing Supplies Semi-hydroponics Hydroponics Orchid Books PrimeAgra. 18 Aug. 1996. Web. 10 Jan. 2011. <http://www.firstrays.com/fertilizers.htm>.

"Plant Nutrition (Fertilizers, Vitamins) Science Fair Projects & Experiments." The Orchid Grower: A Juvenile Science Adventure Novel. 13 Dec. 2002. Web. 10 Jan. 2011. <http://www.juliantrubin.com/fairprojects/botany/plantnutrition.html>.

"Re: How Do the Amounts of Fertilizer Affect Plant Growth?" MadSciNet: The 24-hour Exploding Laboratory. 3 Dec. 1997. Web. 11 Jan. 2011. <http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2002-04/1019088560.Bt.r.html>.

Bleeker, Lynne. "Neuroscience For Kids - Science Fairs." UW Faculty Web Server. Web. 25 Jan. 2011. <http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/fair.html>.

Strub, David. "PLANT INTERVIEW." Personal interview. 22 Jan. 2011.

WORKS CITED