Germination Lab
Introduction
In the spring, flowers begin to bloom, and you may see sprouts in the garden. How do plants
know when it's spring and when to grow? If a seed grew too early, it might be exposed to a harsh
cold environment. If it grew too late, it might not have enough water to survive. The process by
which an organism grows from a seed into a plant is called germination. The seed of a plant is
the embryo, and it contains enough energy for the plant to survive until it is time to start
growing. In some cases, these seeds can survive for years.
What triggers the seed to start growing? It varies by plant and by the environmental conditions
where the plant grows. The giant sequoia trees of California require fire to germinate. This
adaptation ensures that new trees will grow when there is an opening created by the death of
other trees. If the seeds germinated without fire, the seedlings would be too shaded to grow.
Not all plants need fire to start growing, but most do take the cues from the environment.
Several variables might affect the germination, these variables include light, temperature,
water, soil type, air quality.
Question: Will the ___________________beans or the ____________________ beans grow more after 7
days?
Hypothesis:
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
____
Materials:
2 baggies
10 beans (5 of each type)
2 Paper towels
Pipette
Water
Procedure:
1. Pick any 2 beans
Small red
Kidney
Great Northern
2. Pick 5 nice beans of each (10 total)
3. Label each Ziploc baggy with your names, period and bean type
4. Place beans in paper towel
5. Use pipette to wet paper towel (not too wet)
6. Place baggies on the cart up front
Variables:
Variables
Independen
t
Dependent
Control
(5)
Data:
Measure the length your beans grew over the past 5 days in cm using a ruler. If they broke the
seed coat measure them as 0.1cm. If they didn't grow or break the coat at all then measure
them as 0.0cm.
Growth of Beans after 7 days
Trial __________________Bean ________________ Bean (cm)
(cm)
1
Processed Data Table: (Calculate averages, standard deviation, p value, and make a bar
graph with error bars.)
Graph: (Bar Graph)
T-test: (explain why you would use a t-test and what the results mean)
How could you change this experiment? (List 5 ways you could change this lab)
