Peas vs Degtergent E Fair Projects

Name: Katie
Grade Level 7th
Awards: Mid Columbia Science Fair.Distinction for my Experimental Design. Honorable Mention. Washington State Science and Engineering Fair. second place.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this experiment was to see how detergent affects the growth of bush peas.

I became interested in this idea when my mom accidentally watered the plants with soapy water. The plants died, but it was late in the fall, so I wasn’t sure if the soapy water caused them to die.  

The information gained from this experiment could help farmers and gardeners understand how soapy wastewater affects their crops. It would also be useful to industries that produce or use large amounts of detergent or soap.  

HYPOTHESIS

My hypothesis was that the plants receiving detergent would grow more poorly.  

I based my hypothesis on World Book Encyclopedia 2002 which said that detergent has a lot of chemicals, so I think that will harm the plants.

EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were:
* Number of seeds put in each pot
* The temperature they grow in
* The type of seeds used
* How old the seeds are and how they are stored
* Type of soil 
* The soil’s moisture
* The amount of light the plants get
* Pot size and shape
* The amount of soil
* Planting depth
* Testing procedures
* How tall the peas are before detergent is applied
* The amount of water
* Type of detergent within a specific test group.
 

The manipulated variable was the type of detergent put into the pea plant’s water 
 

The responding variable was the mass of the peas when they have completed their growth.  
 

To measure the responding variable I weighed my pea plants with a triple beam balance.

MATERIALS

QUANTITY ITEM DESCRIPTION

PROCEDURES

1. Make five holes in 15 of the foil trays one in each corner and one in the center.
* Put 4 sticks in foil trays that don’t have the holes.
* Set each tray with holes into sticks in tray without holes.
2. Fill all 30 pots with soil leaving about 3 centimeter on the top.
3. Plant three pea seeds 2 cm deep in all 30 pots.
4. Water each of the pots 40 ml every 5 days.
5. Put all the pots in the growing tent and turn on the light for 10 hours.
6. Turn off the light for the remainder of the day.
7. Repeat steps 4-6 everyday until the peas are at least one centimeter tall.
8. Mix 1ml of powder detergent into 40 ml of water before water before watering 10 of the plants.
9. Mix 1ml of liquid detergent into 40ml in 10 different plants.  
10. Continue watering the control group with no detergent.
11. Repeat steps 8-10 everyday you water them add the detergent to their regular water.
12. Repeat step 10 for 3 weeks.
13. After the third week of watering the plants pull them out roots and all and dry them off and then weigh them with a triple beam balance.
14. Record data.  

RESULTS

The original purpose of this experiment was to see how detergent affects the growth of peas.
 
  The results of the experiment were the liquid detergent grew more than water and powder detergent.  

CONCLUSION

My hypothesis was that the plants receiving more detergent would grow more poorly.
 
  The results indicate that this hypothesis should be rejected because the plants that got liquid detergent grew better.
 

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if different amounts of detergent would affect them differently. Would different sorts of pollution like acid or anti freeze change the results a lot.
 
  If I were to conduct this project again I would have more plants in each group. I would add a smaller amount of detergent perhaps 1 ml per 100ml. I would try to test something more important to the world like corn or wheat. Abstract