The Effect of Pollutants on Plant Growth

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The Effect of Pollutants on Plant Growth

• Completing Lab 5

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Today and Wednesday
1) Make one last measurement of plant height and
record it on your data table. 2) Carefully
describe the overall appearance of the plants,
noting any differences between the pots. 3)
Remove the plants from the pot, being careful not
to lose any of the original plant material
(including the roots). Carefully remove as much
of the soil from the roots without losing any of
the root material. (Dispose of soil in the
appropriate location.) 4) Carefully label each of
these plant samples, and place the plants in
separate trays. Place these trays in the oven
overnight to remove all moisture. 5) Follow the
following procedures to measure the dry biomass
of the plant samples. Record this information on
your data sheets. (a) Cut the each plant in half,
exactly where the root meets the green part of
the plant. (b) Weigh the upper half (above ground
portion) of the plant and record its dry
weight. (c) Weigh the lower half (below ground
portion) of the plant and record its dry
weight. 6) Dispose of your plants (remember they
are potentially toxic) in the appropriate
location.
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Reminder - Whats Due for Lab 5

• Full Lab Report (One per Group)
• Title Abstract
• start with catchy title and list of authors
• concise summary of the project (lt250 words)
• write this last
• Introduction (what you did and why)
• What question are you trying to answer?
• What do you hope to learn?
• Why is this work important (significance)

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Reminder - Whats Due for Lab 5

• (c) Background Information (what was know about
  the subject prior to your study)
• What is your pollutant?
• Where and how is it produced/released into the
  environment?
• In what quantities is it being released, and/or
  is there a part of the country or the world where
  it is a significant problem?
• What is its documented impact on plants and
  animals (including humans)?
• Have any studies similar to yours been done? If
  so, briefly describe their results.
• (d) Methods (description of how you did the
  experiment)
• Describe how you did the study be thorough
  (include what did not work)
• Explain enough so that people could repeat your
  research

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Reminder - Whats Due for Lab 5
(e) Results (your data what you found out)
including tables and graphs of data Tables/Graphs
to Include v?Table of growth data include all
the data for all plants (including zeros). Note
the date the seeds where first planted and call
that Day 0. Give each day you measured the
plant height a number, based on how many days old
it is (e.g., if you planted the seeds on October
21 and measured their height on the 24th, 29th,
and 31st, then your days would be 0, 3, 8 and 10,
etc.) v?Graph of days since planting vs. plant
height for each plant in the study (Id suggest
one graph that has all the beans on it, one with
all the cilantro, and a third with your last
plant.). v?Column Graph of the dry biomass weight
of your samples showing the root weight below the
x-axis and the weight of the upper plant, above
the x-axis.
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Growth Graph
Make a graph for each type of plant
Dont forget legend (include 0-100 pollutants)
List as Days since planting and be sure the
axis is to scale
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Biomass Graph
Make a graph for each type of plant
Dont forget legend
OK to list root biomass as a (-) value to get the
graph to look this way
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Reminder - Whats Due for Lab 5

• (f) Discussion (what your results mean)
• Explain the results trends, patterns,
  predictions from your data
• Compare with background section
• What are the implications
• Future studies?
• (g) References (your sources)
• (h) Appendix
• Raw data sheets
• What each team member contributed
• As a general guideline, your report should be
  between 5-8 double-spaced, typed pages (not
  including figures and tables). Team members
  should compile all the written parts of the
  report into one file and format them the same, so
  that the report is consistently formatted
  throughout.

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Due by 5 PM Monday, December 5th(in L200)Dont
let your team down!