Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Biology
Section 9B
19 May 2016
Artusi - Barber 1
Introduction
On average, farmers work 50.4 hours a week producing food (Moran). Majority of this
time is spent planting seeds and tending to the growth of these seeds. The objective of this
experiment was aimed to lessen hours farmers work by increasing the speed at which crops can
be produced. The first step in doing this is to find the conditions best fit to minimize the time
Phaseolus vulgaris seeds spend germinating to have them start growing quicker.
The goal was to germinate Phaseolus vulgaris seeds with varying temperature and pH to
find the the conditions that would yield the fastest germination. Three different waters with
different pH values (5, 6, 7) were mixed up. Paper towel was dampened and then 5 seeds were
placed in the middle of the paper towel, that was put into a bag and placed in an incubator, or left
at room temperature (22, 25, 28 degrees Celsius). Originally it was hypothesized that the seeds
The experiment uses different pH values (5, 6, and 7) of water used to germinate these
seeds. The reason the values are more acidic is because Phaseolus vulgaris seeds grow best in
soil of pH from 6 to 7 (Caines). This fact helps support the original hypothesis of a lower pH.
The reason pH matters when germinating seeds is because the pH slightly changes the
shape of enzymes used to germinate . These deformities mostly slow down the germination but
Temperature, on the other hand, affects germination speed because seeds go into
(Roberts). Dormancy of a seed before it is germinated can potentially lasts days making
The temperatures used in this experiment were 22, 25, and 28 degrees celsius. The reason
these values were chosen is because Phaseolus vulgaris germinates best between 21 and 28
degrees Celsius (Caines). The reason a higher temperature was chosen for the hypothesis
opposed to a low temperature is because at a high temperature molecules and enzymes would
Since the objective of this experiment is to maximize the speed at which seeds germinate,
it was decided that the data should be based on how many seeds germinated on the first day of
germination (second day after incubation). The reason the data was taken like this, is because it
gives a more diverse range in data compared to using average days until germination which
would usually be between 2 and 3 days, which makes comparing data very difficult.
Artusi - Barber 3
Problem Statement
Problem:
What would the ideal level of pH in water and temperature be in regards to the
Hypothesis:
If the pH level of the water decreases and the temperature the seeds are exposed to
increases, then the Phaseolus vulgaris seeds will have a shorter germination period.
Data Measured:
The effect of the pH level of water and temperature on the germination of Phaseolus
vulgaris seeds is what is being measured. The pH will be measured by using pH testers, the
temperature will be measured using a thermometer, and the germination period is going to be
measured in how many days it took for the seeds to germinate. The high and low standards were
chosen because the average temperature they grow best in is 21-27 degrees Celsius, and pH level
of 6.0 to 7.0.
Artusi - Barber 4
Experimental Design
Materials:
(300) Phaseolus vulgaris Seeds
(60) Ziploc Plastic Bags
(2) Incubators
(1) Baking Soda 16 oz
(1) Citric Acid 4 oz
(2) Distilled Water 1 gallon
(3) Bounty Paper Towel
(20) pH Testers
Procedure:
1. Clean out three separate containers used to hold the different pH waters.
2. Fill up each container with distilled water.
3. Add citric acid to a container of distilled water to change the pH of one of the
containers
4. Test the pH and continue to add citric acid until the pH reaches 6, if the pH
goes under 6 add baking soda and test again.
6. Leave the third beaker with distilled water (test to be sure the pH is 7).
7. Get 24 pieces of paper towel and dampen them in the water of 7 pH.
8. Evenly distribute 5 seeds on each dampened paper towel.
9. Place each piece of paper towel inside a Ziploc bag with the seeds folded inside of
. the towel, tightly close the Ziploc bag afterwards.
10. Repeat steps 8 - 10, this time dampening each piece of paper towel in the water of
. 5 pH.
11. Repeat steps 8 - 10, this time dampening only 10 pieces of paper towel in the water
. of 6 pH.
12. Put 12 of the 5 pH bags into an area of room temperature and the other 12 bags
. into an incubator set to 28°C.
13. Put 12 of the 7 pH bags into an area of room temperature and the other 12 bags
. into an incubator set to 28°C.
Diagrams:
Water (5 pH and
6 pH)
Paper
Towel
Distilled
Water
pH Ziploc
Testers Bags
Seed Baking
Packets
Figure 1. Materials Soda
Figure 1 shows the materials used in the experiment, not included was the citric acid used
to lower the pH of the distilled water. The other materials are used to change the pH of water, set
up the seeds in the paper towel, and finally put the seeds in a Ziploc bag to germinate.
Artusi - Barber 6
Incubat
or
Bags of
Seeds
Figure 2 shows how the incubators were used to maintain a constant heat, the figure also
shows how the seeds were folded into dampened paper towel and then put into the incubator.
Data:
Table 1
Design of Experiment Values
Temperature (Celsius) pH
- Standard + - Standard +
22 26 28 5 6 7
Artusi - Barber 7
Table 1 shows the value for each treatment used in the experiment. They were chosen
after pre-trials because the previous values had very slow germination because they were too hot.
The values were experimented slightly and resulted in a higher temperature and slight decrease
in pH. These values were also supported by the article "In What Conditions Will Pinto Beans
Grow Best?” (Caines) in which she explained how Phaseolus vulgaris grew best in higher
temperatures between 22 and 28 degrees Celsius. It also stated that the seeds grew more acidic,
which affected the pH levels used. The pH the water that was used to germinate the seeds was
changed by either adding baking soda to raise the pH or citric acid to lower it. In addition the
temperature was changed by using an incubator and keeping one trial in room temperature.
Table 2
DOE Data
Artusi - Barber 8
Table 2 shows that there were 12 DOEs done for the experiment, each DOE consisted of
5 different trials, ( +,+ ), ( +,- ), ( -,+ ), ( -,- ), and the standard. Each trial was done 12 times, and
the average was found for each. The data shows how many seeds germinated based on the pH of
the water used, and temperature the seeds were exposed to.
Observations:
Table 3
Observations
Artusi - Barber 9
Date Observation
The seeds exposed to high temperature had formed condensation while seeds
2/25/2016
in room temperature had not
Seeds in high temperature, once germinated, grew fast, the embryo for those
3/2/2016 seeds on the day they germinated were three times as long as seeds in
temperature held low.
3/3/2016 Brown spots were spotted under the seeds after germination.
Some seeds have had the “skin” of the shell peel off, some other ones had
3/9/0216 cracked where the embryo attempted to penetrate and therefore failed
germination.
Table 3 shows the observations made during trials. The bags that were involved in trials
with high temperature had condensation around the bag, while the bags in room temperature did
not have a notable amount of condensation. There were also brown spots on the paper towel after
Figure 3 shows the seeds before germination. The seeds that are shown are (+,+) right
before they were put into the incubator. 5 seeds were put onto each towel and 12 towels were
used in the experiment (except for the Standard which only had 10).
Artusi - Barber 10
Figure 4 shows the seeds after they germinated. The seeds shown are the (+ ,+) group
after two days. The other trials were not pictured but it was evident that seeds in which
temperature was held high had more germination than any other.The embryo for these trials were
also much longer than any other. The trials in which temperature was held low had much less
germinated seeds (usually around half of the seeds) and had much smaller embryos. Finally the
standard trials were in between, having most seeds germinate with not as long of an embryo. The
difference in pH for the trials did not have any differences notable by eye.
Artusi - Barber 11
A two-factor Design of Experiment (DOE) was used to analyze the data that was
collected. A two-factor DOE tests how two variables and their interaction effect a response
variable. The experiment tested how many Phaseolus vulgaris seeds would germinate while
The data was collected by putting five seeds surrounded by a damp paper towel (with
varying pH levels), into a Ziploc bag and putting it into an incubator (every trial had a different
Each trial was completed twelve times, while the standard was only ran ten times, The
averages were then taken which were used to represent each trial and the standard, which makes
Table 4
Factors and values
Table 4 shows the low, high, and standard values for the factors (temperature and pH)
used in the experiment. For temperature, the low was held at 22° Celsius, the high was held at
28° Celsius, and standard was held at 25° Celsius. When the pH was low, it was held at 5, the
standard was held at 6, and high was held at 7. These values were chosen because during pre-
Table 5
Averages
Artusi - Barber 12
Table 5 shows the different trials and their results as averages. When both variables were
held high, the average amount of seeds that germinated was 5, when they were both held low,
the average was 2.1666, when the pH was high and the temperature was low, the average was
2.6666, and when the pH was low and the temperature was high, the average was 5. The grand
average (average of all the other averages) was 3.7083, this value will be used to later predict the
result of a similar experiment that used different values for the variables.
Figure 5 shows a graph of the standard data, The data seems to have straight trend
meaning that the experiment was likely carried out well and that there were likely no lurking
variable (outside effects that grow or lessen as trials proceed). The reason this is known is
The range of the data can be found by subtracting the highest value (5) by the lowest
value (4) giving the range of data, which is 1. The range of standards will be used to find the
significant it means the effect it had could not be by chance alone, in addition the factor could
Table 6
Effect of pH
Figure 6. Effect of pH
Artusi - Barber 14
Table 6 shows the average amount of seeds germinated when pH is held high and low. By
subtracting the average when held high by the average when held low (3.8333 - 3.5833) the
effect value of pH is found, which is .25. The effect value shows how much of an effect the
change in pH had in the experiment. If the effect is found in between twice the amount of the
positive and negative range of standards then the factor is not statistically significant, in addition
the closer to 0 the value is, the less of an effect it had. Since .25 is in between 2 and -2 pH is is
the slope of the line is small, and as the pH changes (Represented in -1 and 1 on the X axis),
almost the same amount of seeds are germinating on average. Looking at the effect in a practical
view and not statistically it still seems that the pH either had a small effect on the germination,
meaning the values chosen for pH were too similar, or the slight increase of germination was
Table 7
Effect of temperature
Table 7 shows the average amount of seeds germinated when temperature is held high
and low. By subtracting the high average by the low average the effect value of temperature is
found, which is equal to 2.5833. This value means that on average 2.5833 more seeds germinated
when temperature is held high then when it is held low. The effect is also significant as it is not
found in between 2 and -2. What this significance represents is that this difference could not have
Figure 7 shows a visual representation of the effect of temperature in a graph. This line
has a huge slope relative to the one in figure two meaning there is a bigger difference in ger-+
mination when temperature is held high compared to when it is held low. Looking at it
practically the temperature has a huge effect in this experiment. When held high temperature
wields more than double the amount of seeds then when it is held low.
Table 8
Interaction Effect
Table 8 compares the data when pH is held low and high to when temperature is held low
and high. These values will be used to form lines which show the interaction between the factors
held low and high. When subtracting the slope of the line labeled solid by the slope of the line
Artusi - Barber 16
labeled dotted (1.1666 - 1.4166) the interaction effect is found, which is -.25. Because -.25 is in
Figure 8 shows a visual representation of how pH and temperature interact with each
other and how that effects the experiment. Since the slopes of the two lines are similar it means
that there does not appear to be an interaction effect happening. In addition the interaction effect
(-.25) is close to zero meaning even when viewing it practically there likely is not an interaction
effect.
Figure 9 shows which of the effects of the variables were significant and which were not.
All of the effects that are located in between the two fences are insignificant and the effects
outside of the fences are significant. The fences were found by doubling the range of standards
(1) and setting up the fences at the positive and negative of that value (2 and -2). The effect of
pH (.25) and interaction effect (-.25) are not significant because they are in between 2 and -2
Y = 4.031 + “noise”
what the experiment would yield when using halfway points of significant independent variables.
In this experiment only the temperature the seeds were exposed to was significant (because its
effect value was outside of the fences created by twice the range of standards). The equation is
represented by the grand average plus half of all significant values times x (or y with multiple
variables) plus “noise” which is an unquantifiable variable which represents inaccuracies in the
experiment. X is replaced by either .5 (when finding factor in between high and standard) and -.5
(when finding factor in between low and standard). Here .5 five was plugged in and the answer
become 4.031, this means that if the trial was done again with temperature at 26.5° Celsius it
Observing all the data it is apparent that the pH barely affected the experiment, even
when looking at it practically not by significance, the values of the lows and highs for pH were
almost the same, meaning that the difference in pH did not matter. The same thing can be said for
the interaction of pH and temperature. The temperature, however, did have a huge effect on the
germination of seeds, when the temperature was low not many seeds would germinate quickly
but when the temperature was high all seeds germinated quickly.
Artusi - Barber 18
Conclusion
Originally it was hypothesized that the Phaseolus vulgaris would germinate fastest when
exposed to a high temperature and a low pH level. This hypothesis has proven to not be true
because the high, low ( + , - ) average was tied for highest with the high, high ( + , + ) average
with 5 seeds germinated because it was a tie, the original hypothesis has been rejected.
This experiment was the first, small step in ultimately lessening the hours worked by
farmers by speeding up the germination of a seed. Another researcher could add onto this 12
research by using the same factors to find the temperature and pH that Phaseolus vulgaris plants
grow fastest in, the reason for this is so that farmers spend less time tending to the plants and
work less. Researchers could also replicate this experiment but have a bigger difference in pH
levels in order to get a better understanding in what pH Phaseolus vulgaris seeds germinate
fastest in.
This experiment was the first, small step in ultimately lessening the hours worked by
farmers by speeding up the germination of a seed. Another researcher could add onto this
research by using the same factors to find the temperature and pH that Phaseolus vulgaris plants
grow fastest in, the reason for this is so that farmers spend less time tending to the plants and
work less. Researchers could also replicate this experiment but have a bigger difference in pH
levels in order to get a better understanding in what pH Phaseolus vulgaris seeds germinated
fastest in.
The idea of this experiment was to find the temperature and pH that Phaseolus vulgaris
would germinate fastest in. This was done by lowering or heightening the pH, then using those
solutions to dampen paper towel that would contain five seeds inside. Afterwards, the towels
were placed in Ziploc bags, which were then incubated in varying temperatures. Temperature and
Artusi - Barber 19
pH were chosen because finding a preferable temperature could help farmers know when to plant
their seeds. In the article, "In What Conditions Will Pinto Beans Grow Best?" In the article, "In
What Conditions Will Pinto Beans Grow Best?" Caines says that optimum germination takes
place in 18.33-23.88 degrees Celsius. In addition, pH was chosen to help farmers know how
much they need to tend the acidity of the soil used. In the end, a high temperature and pH
resulted with the most seeds germinated with an average of 5 seeds, while a low temperature and
pH had the lowest result with an average of 2.167 seeds germinated. A high temperature was
expected to yield the best results, because the seed has a less likely chance of being dormant, and
the molecules and enzymes can work faster with a hotter temperature. Surprisingly, a high pH
yielded better results than a lower pH, because Phaseolus vulgaris, according to the article “In
What Conditions Will Pinto Beans Grow Best?”, prefers acidic conditions (Caines), because a
pH too high could negatively affect the shape of enzymes used during germination. These results
could be purely by chance though as the pH levels were very similar and results were not too
different.
Not many other experiments used both temperature and pH as factors for germinating
seeds but a handful have used one of the two for either germinating or growing seeds. In the
article “Does the pH of Water Affect the Growth of Bean Plants?” by Susan Shelley, the author
creates an experiment on the growth of plants with varying pH values. This article had very
similar design (relative to how pH was used) and had a similar way of collecting data. Another
article, by Tzvetanka titled, “Effects of High Temperature and Water Stress on Seed Germination
of the Invasive Species Mexican Sunflower” also used temperature on the growth and
germination of seeds. This article used intense temperatures to kill the seeds but the low end of
It is important to also note that this experiment was in no way perfect. When it comes to
the design of the experiment there was not a big enough difference in the pH values used,
because of this the results for pH could have been by chance because the results were very
similar. There were also flaws in how the experiment was executed, an example of this is that in
a couple of the first trials the seeds were placed on top of the paper towel, not inside of it, this
made the water come into only one direction of the seed and negatively affect germination.
Another flaw was that the distilled water was kept in previously water bottles that could have
In the end, the experiment was a plethora of knowledge, not only because the results
show what conditions seeds germinate best, but also in how to design, conduct, and collect data
from an experiment. After every flaw, trial, or table created, more efficient ways to execute the
experiment were thought about. Essentially, if this experiment were to be replicated, or if another
one were to be made, it would run more smooth because of all the knowledge gained from this
one.
Works Cited
Artusi - Barber 21
Caines, Kimberly. "In What Conditions Will Pinto Beans Grow Best?”Homeguides. Web.
74216.html>
Roberts, EH. "Temperature and Seed Germination." NCBI. 4 June 1988. Web. 10 May 2016.
<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3077854>.
Shelly, Susan. "Does the PH of Water Affect the Growth of Bean Plants?" Infoplease. 5
projects/does-ph-water-affect-growth-bean-plants.html>.
Germination of the Invasive Species Mexican Sunflower." PLOS ONE. 28 Oct. 2015. Web.
id=10.1371/journal.pone.0141567>.
<http://www.worthington-biochem.com/introbiochem/introEnzymes.html>
Moran, Ciaran. "How Many Hours Do Farmers Actually Work per Week?" Agriland. 26