Essay On Brassica Rapa

The rapid-cycling Brassica rapa was developed by Dr. Paul Williams over a fifteen year period of using simple breeding techniques. These Brassica rapa plants develop remarkably quickly, flowering between thirteen and eighteen days after being planted. These plants are relatively small but need a continuous amount of water and cool white fluorescent lighting. Students in the botany lab were told to conduct experiments and to conduct research using the Brassica rapa. The purpose of the experiment was to examine step by step the life cycle of the “Fast Plant” Brassica rapa. Other purposes for the experiment included fully understanding the development and growth of plants and to learn more about traits and genetic crossing between them.
Materials …show more content…
The students placed each wick into the quad by making sure that the wicks extended from bottom of the quad by about one centimeter or so. The wicks were used to serve as the absorber of water. The quads were then each filled half way with potting soil then 3 slow-release balanced fertilizer pellets were added to each cell. After this was done, more soil was added to each cell until each cell was filled completely to the top. Next, with either the eraser from the top of a pencil or the tip of forceps, a small indention was made in the soil of each cell. Then each student took a petri dish and took four Brassica rapa seed from the dish to their desks. One Brassica rapa seed was set in each indention of each cell. After this was completed the students gently covered the seed with just enough potting soil so that the seed was no longer visible to the eye. As the potting soil was being added the students gently covered the seed without packing the soil down. After the Brassica rapa was done being planted, each quad was labeled with the student’s name so that they could identify their plant easily. Then each individual quad was labeled simply with the letters A,B,C, and D. The labeling made it easier for