Contents for Chilli, Pumpkin, Radish Seed Planting Experiment

1. Phase 1
2. Phase 2
3. Phase 3
4. Phase 4
5. Phase 5
6. Phase 6

5/5/11

After some delay, I have planted the grown seeds in a large container, placed outside. This container had been bought quite some time ago, but after some de-weeding, the earth was in excellent condition. With a slight tearing, I managed to separate the trays into individual little pots. I placed these pots separately into the container. The pots are biodegradable, so the roots will have no problem breaking through the already crumbling pots.
The next and final update will be when the plants are ready for harvest.

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Contents for Chilli, Pumpkin, Radish Seed Planting Experiment

1. Phase 1
2. Phase 2
3. Phase 3
4. Phase 4
5. Phase 5
6. Phase 6

30/03/11:
Planted seeds into ready made biodegradable pots, in a kit from Ikea. To plant, poured approx. 50 ml of water and waited 10 seconds for water to dissolve dried compressed compost tablets. Placed Capsicum annuum Cayenne (red chili) first, then Curcurbita maxima Mammoth Gold (pumpkin) and lastly Raphanus sativus National (radish).

From left to right: Chilli, Pumpkin, Radish.

From left to right: Chilli, Pumpkin, Radish.

Also placed 4 chilli seeds, 3 pumpkin seeds, and 4 radish seeds into box filled with damp tissue. Spaced out the seeds into rows and placed damp sheet over them. Placed box in warmest room, on window sill (inside), current temperature in room at 2:33 is 17.5º Celsius. Current temperature at 2:33 at window sill is 20.8º Celsius.

31/03/11:

Examined the seeds from the box, no visible growth yet, apart from Chilli Seed 1. This image captured from a microscope with lens 4x, shows a possible advancement. Will know for sure if a stem emerges at the same place in a few days.

Here is a diagram of a common seed structure:

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Here is an average of the rotations:

On the electric meter, it was indicated that 187.5 revolutions (rotations of the line) was equal to 1 kilo watt. This means that if the line revolved 187 and a half times, the numbers on top would be bigger by one unit. To find out how many watts were used in only one turn, I did a simple 3 rule. 1000 watts is equal to 1 kilo watt.

per turn

And then, I calculated how much each appliance used in watts by multiplying the number of watts per rotation with the number of turns I counted for the appliances..

Kettle=

Toaster=

Lights=

Projector and Co.=

I then went on to find out how much it cost money-wise. On a recent electricity bill, I saw the price at:

14.10 cents per kilo watt.

The problem was that my previous calculations weren't in kilo watts but in watts. Once I had the watts, I had to simply divide by 1000 to convert them to kilo watts, and multiply by the price (14.10 cents) and then convert the price to euros (divide by 100).
Here is a table with the appliance, the number of watts consumed, and the price:

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Assuming the drop was 1 cubic millimetre and the oil's length was 400 mm and the width was 300 mm:

××

×

×

0.00000833mm is the supposed height of one oil molecule. If you want more details on this experiment, visit the site, but details were my exact problem.

When I tried this experiment I did everything the experiment told me to do. The thing is, it doesn't tell you a lot. A lot of variables that need to be known are not explained, for example, the type of oil, the amount of time the experiment takes, or even the water temperature. I used olive oil because it was the only oil I had. I wasn't able to reproduce this experiment even though I tried three times. The first time I used ambient temperature water and a tiny drop of oil from the tip of a needle. It didn't work. The second time I used ambient temperature water again but this time with a slightly larger drop which I think was roughly 1 cubic mm. I used a pipette for the drop this time. This time it seemed to actually spread but it spread out into a bigger drop VERY SLOWLY. I left it overnight and in the morning the drop had clung on the edge of my pan and it had broken down into several bubbles. The third time I used the same amount of oil but I used hot water. This time the drop didn't even bother spreading.

My conclusion is that I have no idea if the proposed answer they gave could be right or if it is downright wrong. If it is wrong then the experiment was probably found somewhere else and it was probably not carried out before putting it on their website. If it is right, then whoever wrote out the experiment did not do it properly because I could not carry it out due to missing details.

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What is biology? In one phrase, it is the study of living things (organisms). There are many different parts to biology. It can be divided into 12 sub-categories.

• Botany: The study of plants.
• Microbiology: The study of microscopic organisms such as bacteria or viruses.
• Zoology: The study of animals.
• Taxonomy: The study of classification (groups and categories for organisms).
• Genetics: The study of variations and inheritance in organisms.
• Evolution: The study of how organisms change and differ over long periods of time.
• Embryology: The study of how the fertilised egg develops in organisms.
• Ecology: The study of living things and their environment.
• Biotechnology: Using live cells or part of them to create useful products for humans.
• Anatomy: The study of the organs, usually done with dissection.
• Physiology: The study of the body systems of organisms.
• Biochemistry: The study of the chemistry in organisms.

To study or practice any science, one must use the 'Scientific Method '. It starts with an observation which leads to a hypothesis. The observation can be anything, but there is always a question of "Why?". This is where the hypothesis appears. The hypothesis is a guess at why the observation happened. To prove or contradict this guess, an experiment is carried out.

Experiments must be planned and controlled. It must also be a fair experiment. If chemicals are used, make sure they are of the same concentration and quantity. The experiment is very important in the Scientific Method. It is used to prove that a hypothesis is correct (or incorrect). A controlled experiment is when factors and variables are the same, except for the one tested. This means that say for your experiment you had to heat apple juice at exactly 95° Celcius. If one of your samples of apple juice got heated less or more, the result would change and be false. It is also useful, when testing to see if there is something present in your sample e.g. starch, to use a control. That means to test a different sample which you know doesn't contain any starch. It shows the negative reaction and the positive reaction.

It is important to publish your work if you have found something new. Your hypothesis isn't accepted until others can replicate your experiment. As soon as your experiment is supported by a large number of people and has so far not been proven wrong, your hypothesis becomes a 'Theory'.

Sources: http://bit.ly/7KJAS0, http://bit.ly/DSRX6

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