Seventh Grade Science

Seed Germination: Preparing for an Experiment

Introduction

• Purpose

• Keys to Successful Experiments– seed are useful

• abundance

• variety

• low cost

• portability

Seed Germination

• Focus of the experiment

• Experimental treatments

• Environmental factors

• Terms:– radicle, shoot,

seedling

Scientific Names

• Name Must be in Latin

• Name Must be a binomialbinomial– 2 parts, genus & species

Diagram of the Parts of a Seed

• Dry & pre-soaked seed examinations• Label drawing

– common name

– family name

– scientific name

Take-Home Exercise

• Take home baggies, towels, & seeds

• Record names of seed types

Construct an Observation Table

• Use space on p.6.

• Observations and Measurements

• Bring baggies with sprouted seeds back to lab next week

Kidney beans, day 2

Summarizing Data

• Data

• Statistics

• Populations vs. Samples

• quantitative vs. qualitative variables

• error, precision, and bias

Graphing• Correlation:

• bar graph

(frequency within

categories)

Height (in)

Wei

ght

(lb

) +

Height (in)

Com

fort

in

airl

ine

seat

s -

Figure 1: Percent Grade in Classes

20

40

60

80

Ban

d

Mat

h

Scie

nce

Art

Com

pute

rs

Classes

% G

rade

Descriptive Statistics

• mean

• population

• sample

• median

• range

• standard deviation

Presenting Tables

• Rows & columns

• Units must be indicated, e.g., – grams (g)– centimeter (cm)– millimeters (mm)

Seed Germination Experiment

Introduction• Physical factors of the environment

– Climate– Soil– Stimulants– Inhibitors

• Biotic vs. Abiotic• Competition• Allelopathy

The pH Scale

• neutral

• acidic

• basic or alkaline

pH ExampleACID

BASENEUTRAL

Example Using pH

Fire Exposure Example

CONTROL TREATMENT 1

TREATMENT 2 TREATMENT 3

Fire Exposure Example

Supplies and Equipment

• Provided:– ziploc baggies, paper

towels, and seeds

• Not Provided:– inexpensive common

household items needed to carry out the experiment

Designing an Experiment

• problem

• hypothesis

• procedure

• prediction

• construct data table

Check it Out (p.7.)

• I will check your experimental design

• Begin experiment after you get the “OK”

• Conduct experiment for ONE WEEK

Writing up Your Experiment

• Must Have a Formal Lab Report Write-up which includes– Observations

• table

• graph

– Discussion