Project 4 SATURDAY SCIENCE ACADEMY MEASUREMENT OF WEIGHT AND VOLUME CHANGE BY IMBIBITION OF WATER BY DRY BEAN SEEDS Project 4 SATURDAY SCIENCE ACADEMY

Group Members Candace Greene Mario Walker Darrius Wallace Marsha Webb Ashley Williams

Definition Imbibition is the process of water absorption by dry seed before germination. It is a very important pre-germination event that initiates the biochemical process leading to germination of seed.

Definition (Continued)  Ancient Egyptian used the forces generated by imbibitions to crack large block of rock stone into smaller blocks for the construction of pyramid. They used to make a hole in large block of stone and pack the hole with dry wooden stake and then would soak the stake with sufficient water. The stake would absorb the water and would increase in volume and generate tremendous force. This force of imbibitions would eventually crack the block of stone.

Objective Water Imbibitions by dry seed is very important for the initiation of complex biochemical process that initiates seed germination. Force generated by Imbibitions of water by seeds was used by early Egyptian civilization to crack huge block of stone for building pyramid. This exercise would give an understanding about of the important factor of seed germination

Method This exercise used two species of bean seeds; black eye bean and navy bean. Three sample each consisting of ten seeds were used. Initial weight of the samples were taken by an electronic balance.

Method (Continued) A foot rule was used for each sample of the ten seed. Seeds were lined up and their length, width and height were recorded against the ruler.

Method (Continued) The seeds were then soaked for 40 minutes. Subsequently the weight, length, width, height were recorded. The rate of water uptake and the volume change was recorded for statistical analysis.

Data

Data (Continued)

Results on Black Eye Pea

Results on Navy Bean

Conclusion Weight and volume of the both species of bean seeds changed following water imbibition. Due to time limitation, significant change in weight and volume was not observed.