Aim:
This experiment will investigate the effects of different concentrations of fertilizer on the growth of duckweed.
Hypothesis:
It is expected that the cup with the most amount of fertilizer (cup D) over the 14 days will have the most amount of growth compared to cup A, B and C.
Apparatus:
4x polystyrene cups
20x duckweed fronds (5 in each cup)
1x 5ml medicine teaspoon
1x tweezers
1x syringe
1x marker fertilizer Method:
1. Label each cup as A, B, C or D with the marker
2. Using the syringe accurately measure 175ml of water
3. Place 175ml of water into each cup: A, B, C and D
4. Use the medicine teaspoon and measure ¼ tsp. of fertilizer and add it to cup B
5. Use the medicine teaspoon and measure ½ tsp. of fertilizer and add it to …show more content…
Due to cup B having a lower concentration of fertiliser it was expected that it would have a lower growth rate when compared to Cup C with a higher concentrate. However, this could be due to Cup B having more favourable conditions; therefore it is possible that Cup B had the right amount of nutrients for the growth of Duckweed.
Cup C had the third highest growth rate, which like Cup C was unexpected. Both anomalies (Cup B and C) can be the result of the direct sunlight. Direct sunlight when growing duckweed in small containers (or in this case cups) can result in evaporation of the water which removes nutrients and causes the water to contain a lot of salt which negatively effects duckweed growth as said by Landolt and Kandeler. During the experiment water was evaporated and then topped up, however, it was never replaced which could have caused an increase in salt concentrate.
Cup A had the lowest growth rate, which was expected due to there being no additional nutrients. Cup A consisted of only water which does not have enough nutrients to allow for duckweed to …show more content…
However, Cup B with the third largest quantity of fertiliser had the second highest growth rate while Cup C with the second largest quantity of fertiliser had the third highest growth rate. Which was a definite abnormality or unexpected result.
The investigation did have some limiting factors which affected the results and they included: the time period in which the experiment was conducted, this time restriction didn't allow for multiple tests to be conducted. The amount of times the experiment was conduced was also a limiting factor, the results were limited as there was only one set of results given rather then multiple sets of results thus limiting the reliability of the experiment. Solutions to there limiting factors would be to allow for a longer time period where you are able to conduct the experiment more then once, conducting the same experiment in the same conditions to get the average results from each experiment.
In conclusion the original hypothesis was proven to be correct as Cup D with the largest amount of fertiliser had the highest growth rate and Cup A with no fertiliser had the lowest growth
This experiment will investigate the effects of different concentrations of fertilizer on the growth of duckweed.
Hypothesis:
It is expected that the cup with the most amount of fertilizer (cup D) over the 14 days will have the most amount of growth compared to cup A, B and C.
Apparatus:
4x polystyrene cups
20x duckweed fronds (5 in each cup)
1x 5ml medicine teaspoon
1x tweezers
1x syringe
1x marker fertilizer Method:
1. Label each cup as A, B, C or D with the marker
2. Using the syringe accurately measure 175ml of water
3. Place 175ml of water into each cup: A, B, C and D
4. Use the medicine teaspoon and measure ¼ tsp. of fertilizer and add it to cup B
5. Use the medicine teaspoon and measure ½ tsp. of fertilizer and add it to …show more content…
Due to cup B having a lower concentration of fertiliser it was expected that it would have a lower growth rate when compared to Cup C with a higher concentrate. However, this could be due to Cup B having more favourable conditions; therefore it is possible that Cup B had the right amount of nutrients for the growth of Duckweed.
Cup C had the third highest growth rate, which like Cup C was unexpected. Both anomalies (Cup B and C) can be the result of the direct sunlight. Direct sunlight when growing duckweed in small containers (or in this case cups) can result in evaporation of the water which removes nutrients and causes the water to contain a lot of salt which negatively effects duckweed growth as said by Landolt and Kandeler. During the experiment water was evaporated and then topped up, however, it was never replaced which could have caused an increase in salt concentrate.
Cup A had the lowest growth rate, which was expected due to there being no additional nutrients. Cup A consisted of only water which does not have enough nutrients to allow for duckweed to …show more content…
However, Cup B with the third largest quantity of fertiliser had the second highest growth rate while Cup C with the second largest quantity of fertiliser had the third highest growth rate. Which was a definite abnormality or unexpected result.
The investigation did have some limiting factors which affected the results and they included: the time period in which the experiment was conducted, this time restriction didn't allow for multiple tests to be conducted. The amount of times the experiment was conduced was also a limiting factor, the results were limited as there was only one set of results given rather then multiple sets of results thus limiting the reliability of the experiment. Solutions to there limiting factors would be to allow for a longer time period where you are able to conduct the experiment more then once, conducting the same experiment in the same conditions to get the average results from each experiment.
In conclusion the original hypothesis was proven to be correct as Cup D with the largest amount of fertiliser had the highest growth rate and Cup A with no fertiliser had the lowest growth