Graphic of Gibberellic Acid

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    What is this activity?

    Weekly Activity Guide:
    • Week 1
      • Graph the generic set of data below using Excel.
        Day: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
        Plant Growth: 0 0.65 1.34 2.12 2.82 3.1 3.96 4.52 5.23 6 6.71 7.3 8.2 9.3
      • Select and gather appropriate equipment for measuring and recording plant growth.
      • Assign jobs to group members. (Jobs will be rotated weekly.)
        1. Recorder - records data
        2. Data Gatherer - measures height of plants and temperature
        3. Gardener - applies hormone and waters plant
      • Journal Entry: Write a summary of what materials and tools will be needed and why.
        Attach the graph from Excel.
        Indicate the person who has been assigned to each job.
    • Week 2
      • Lab Preparation:
        • Plant several seeds in each pot.
        • Water each plant as needed (check daily).
        • Spray each pot with their designated "mystery solution"
        • When plant is visible measure the height.
      • Journal Entry:
        • Analyze Graph completed in Week 1.
          1. What relationship do you see?
          2. What can you conclude about the topic after reading the graph?
        • Record data (plant height and spraying of "mystery solution" daily.
        • Research via internet the life cycle of the fast plant.
        • Review data and make a conjecture about which plant is receiving the gibberellic acid solution.
    • Week 3
      • Lab Instructions:
        1. Continue measuring and recording data.
        2. Water if necessary.
        3. Spray with "mystery solution".
      • Journal Entries:
        • Record data from lab.
        • Reflection:
          1. What can you conclude from your data?
          2. Do you still support conjecture about which plant is receiving the hormone, why or why not?
          3. Draw diagram representing the life cycle of a plant.
          4. Record where your plant is according to the life cycle diagram.
    • Week 4
      • Lab Instructions:
        1. Continue measuring and recording data.
        2. Water if necessary.
        3. Spray with "mystery solution".
      • Model Evaluation:
        • Go to the website Run Model.
        • Run the model.
        • Change the level of Gibberellic Acid used.
        • Changel the Growth Rate.
        • Answer questions related to the model in the journal entries section.
      • Journal Entries:
        1. Record data from lab.
        2. What variables do you think would change this experiment? What are they and what would be their effect?
        3. Questions related to the Gibberellic Acid Model on the website.
          1. What happens when you change the level of Gibberellic Acid? Why do think this happens?
          2. What happens when you put the Gibberellic Acid level at zero? Why do you think this happens?
          3. What happens when you increase/decrease the growth rate?
          4. What is the appropriate growth rate if we know the fast plant will grow to 20 cm in 40 days?
    • Week 5
      • Lab Instructions:
        1. Continue measuring and recording data.
        2. Water if necessary.
        3. Spray with "mystery solution".
      • Excel:
        1. Enter your plant growth data into Microsoft Excel.
        2. Graph the growth of each plant.
          • Label each of the axis and name the graph.
          • Make a graph showing both plants growth on one graph (for comparison).
        3. Attach the graph to your journal entry.
      • Journal Entries:
        1. What type of relationship does the graph show? Is it linear, exponential, quadratic, explain your answer?
        2. Find the line of best fit.
        3. Do you still support your conjecture about which plant is receiving the hormone, why or why not?
        4. What enables the emerging plant to shift its dependency from stored energy to the energy from light?
    • Week 6
      • Lab Instructions:
        1. Continue measuring and recording data.
        2. Water if necessary.
        3. Spray with "mystery solution".
      • Excel: Enter this weeks data in Excel.
      • Journal Entry:
        1. Do you still see the same relationship in your graph from last week and this week?
        2. Does your line of best fit from Week 5 still match the data including Week 6?
        3. What is your guess to how high will grow at the end of Week 8?
        4. Has your conjecture concerning the plant receiving hormone changed, why or why not?
        5. What is the role of the environment in regulating plant growth?
    • Week 7
      • Lab Instructions:
        1. Continue measuring and recording data.
        2. Water if necessary.
        3. Spray with "mystery solution".
        4. Check equipment to make sure it is working properly.
      • Excel: Enter this weeks data in Excel.
      • Journal Entries:
        1. Do you want to change your guess for the height of the plant at the end of Week 8?
        2. Explain why you have or have not changed your guess. Does it have to do with the line of best fit?
        3. Why is it important to check equipment? How might this affect the results of your experiment?
        4. How does a plant know when to produce leaves and when to produce flowers?
    • Week 8
      • Lab Instructions: LAST WEEK OF DATA!!!
        1. Continue measuring and recording data.
        2. Water if necessary.
        3. Spray with "mystery solution".
      • Excel: Enter the last week's data :).
      • Journal Entries:
        1. Was your conjecture about the plant height at the end of Week 8 correct?
        2. How does the graph support your answer from number 1?
        3. Which plant has been given the "mystery solution" containing gibberellic acid?
        4. How does the graph support your conjecture from number 3?
        5. Write a short summary about what a reader can conclude after looking at your graph.
        6. Why does a plant have flowers?
        7. Draw and label the parts of the flower and indicate their functions.
    • Week 9
      1. Lab Report:
        1. Title Page
          • Title of Lab
          • Date
          • Lab Group Members' Names
          • Lab Question
        2. Hypothesis
        3. Research References
        4. Procedures
        5. Observations
        6. Self Evaluation
        7. Conclusion
      2. Presentation of Lab Findings
        • 3-5 minutes
        • Based on the lab report
        • PowerPoint
        • Include Graphs
      3. Assessment
        • Go to Quiz 10.
        • Take the Quiz.
        • Immediately report grade to teacher.

    Developed by
    Team 8 Westville, IL
    Copyright © 2001
    This project is supported, in part,
    by the

    National Science Foundation

    Opinions expressed are those of the authors
    and not necessarily those of the National Science Foundation.
    		NSF