I think that Plants will grow best with sprite because it has the most sugar. I think the salt water plants will grow the least because the not very many plants grow close to the ocean.

Plants grow using photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is when a plant absorbs water, carbon dioxide, sunlight, and, minerals and turns it into food for the plant and oxygen. Plants are important because they are the start of the food chain, provide shelter and materials to build with and they stop erosion. 

 

For my experiment I am using kalanchoes. They are angiosperms which means that they grow flowers and have fruit. They have pink flowers and the leaves are deltoid (triangle shaped) and scalloped. There are multiple buds on the top of each stem.

 

My experiment will look at how different liquids affect the plant's growth. This is an important experiment because more plants can grow in areas that do not have access to fresh water. Kalanchoes can tolerate a bit of salt. Sugary drinks are not good for plants because like salt sugar stops plants from absorbing water.

 

Resources:

 What's science all about? written by Alex Frith, Hazel Maskell, Dr. Lisa Jane Gillespie, Kate Davies.

 

edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FP309

 

gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/using-soda-on-plants.htm#:~:text=Sugary%20soda%20pops%20are%20not,the%20use%20of%20tap%20water. 

 

The controlled variables are the type of plant, amount of liquid, how often the plant gets watered, soil type, and, growing location. The independent variable is the type of liquid being used.The dependant variable is how much each plant grows.

Materials 

• 9 plants 
• 9 containers
• Soil
• Sprite
• Salt
• Tap water
• Measuring spoons
• Table in front of a window
• Watering schedule
• Rulers
• logbook

 

1. Arrange 9 containers in a row on a table that is close to a window
2. Add at least 5 cm of soil to each container
3. Dig a hole in the soil and put the plant inside.
4. Cover the bottom of the plant with soil
5. Pour each liquid into a 50mL measuring cup
6. Pour the liquid around the base of the plant
7. Repeat steps 5 and 6 every 2nd day
8. Every day that you water the plant place a ruler on the soil and measure how tall the plant is 
9. Count how many leaves the plant has
10. Write down the date, time, and measurements of each plant in a logbook. Also write down observations. 

January 15, 2024

 

Today I started my experiment. 

 

My experiment has 9 plants in total.  The plants are Kalanchoe with small bright pink flowers, and dark green leaves and stems. 

 

My three liquids were tap water, salt water, and sprite.

Three plants for each liquid.  

 

Process

 

Tap Water:

1. I used the 10mL measuring spoon and filled that up with tap water and dumped it in the measuring cup.   I did that 5 times each so there would be 50mL in each measuring cup.  The measuring cup was poured into one plant.  I repeated this so that all three “tap water” plants were watered.

 

Salt Water:

1. To make the salt water, I boiled 1 ½ cups of water and stirred in 7 tablespoons of salt.  I stirred the mixture until the salt dissolved.
2. I cooled the salt water mixture until it was room temperature.
3. I followed the same procedure as above, measuring 50mL and pouring that into each of the three “salt water” plants.

 

Sprite:

1.  I followed the same measuring procedure as above, pouring 50mL of spite into a measuring cup.  Each of the three “Sprite” plants were watered.

 

Next Steps

 

• Plants were put in a sunny location on the island, lined up in a row so there was no overlapping or shadows.    They received south indirect sunlight. 
• Labels were put on each plant pot, to identify which ones had which liquid.
• Plates were placed under each plant pot to stop the liquid from pouring onto the counter.

 

 

Observations
 

Jan 16, 2024

 

Tap Water:

Plants are not noticeably different.  Flowers are still bright, leaves and stems are green.

 

Salt Water:

Plants look droopy.  The stems are feeling soft to the touch and are bent over.  The leaves look fine, and the flowers are the same.

 

Sprite:

Plants look different from yesterday, as the stems are sticking straight up.  Leaves and flowers are the same.

 

Jan 20, 2024

 

Tap Water:

Plants are not noticeably different.  Flowers are still bright, leaves and stems are green.

 

Salt Water:

Plants look very sad still.  Salt crystals have formed on the drip plate under the plant pot.  The flower heads have now tilted up and look pale.

 

Sprite:

Plants have returned to their original look, stems and leaves are normal and the flowers are the same.   There is a puddle of sprite on the plate under one of the plants.

 

Jan 25, 2024

 

Tap Water:

Plants are not noticeably different.  Flowers are still bright, leaves and stems are green.

 

Salt Water:

A few of the stems from the salt water plans are still drooping, but it has mostly recovered.  Flowers are still pale.

 

Sprite:

Sprite plants are looking the same as the Tap Water plants.  Stems, leaves, and flowers are bright and healthy looking.

 

The Sprite plants grew the tallest, there where no changes to the tap water plants, and the salt water plants where very droopy and sad.

The plants were fed Sprite grew the tallest, I think it is because sprite has lots of sugar in it which providid extra food for the plant.

The plants that were fed salt water where damaged by the content of salt in the water. therefor it is not recomended to water plants with salt water.

• the plants where fed slightly differant amounts of liquid
• some plants where closer to the window than others
• some plants might have been stronger to begin with

 What's science all about? written by Alex Frith, Hazel Maskell, Dr. Lisa Jane Gillespie, Kate Davies.

 

edis.ifas.ufl.edu/publication/FP309

 

gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/using-soda-on-plants.htm#:~:text=Sugary%20soda%20pops%20are%20not,the%20use%20of%20tap%20water. 

 

https://www.coca-colacompany.com/content/dam/company/us/en/reports/coca-cola-business-sustainability-report-2022.pdf#page=24 

I would like to acknowledge my Mom and Dad for bying the supplys and helping set up the experiment.