Plant Nutrition

 
Lesson 7
In this lesson we are going to try and find out what the best environmental conditions are for growing plants.
 

Practical Investigation.

You will need: Sunflower seeds, soil (compost), plant pot or beaker, cling film, sellotape.

Method

Cut a 2cm strip half way down the side of the plastic beaker. This is so that you can see the seed germinate and the roots starting to grow. Place the cling film inside the beaker and make sure it is water tight. Use the sellotape to strengthen around the top of the beaker and stick the cling film in place.

Put some compost in the plant pot and plant the sunflower seed next to the side window of the pot about 3cm from the top of the beaker. Add the rest of the compost to the top of the beaker making sure that you can still see the seed.

Investigation

Decide in your group what conditions you are going to use to grow your seeds. Some suggestions are: darkness, no water, lots of water, salty water, acidic water, alkaline water, above room temperature, below room temperature (in the fridge possibly). Measure the growth of your sunflower over the following school term by taking photographs and measuring using a ruler.

Draw up a table showing all the dates, measurements and growing conditions of your investigation.