Science Fair Q&A 7th Grade Life Science

Progress Update The deadline has passed (March 26th) to turn in your project planning sheet. The NEXT DEADLINE: May 1st  Data and Results Section  Rough Draft of your conclusion The final project including 3D Board, Research Paper, and Lab Report is due June 1st!!

Choosing a Question (Revising if necessary) It must be a QUESTION.  “Fire” is not a question! It must be TESTABLE--we can’t test organ function or DNA! You must be able to obtain the materials! (We don’t have x-ray machines etc.) It must be a topic found in your life science book.

Question In science class, I learned that white light is made up of all the colors of light. I also learned that plants need light to grow (because of photosynthesis). That got me thinking… Does the color of light effect plant growth?

Research In order to test my question I need to learn a little bit more about photosynthesis in plants and about how light and color works. First, I go to my book. I look for color, light, and photosynthesis in my textbook. Then, I’m going to go to the library and use my computer to search the internet. Once I have gathered my research--I’m going to write up my findings as a research paper.

Research --> Hypothesis In my research, I found out that the reason why plants are green is because they reflect green light. I also learned that plants grow best in sunlight--which is made up of all the colors.

Hypothesis If plants appear green because they reflect green light, then plants under green light will not grow.

Procedure/Design First, I need to identify the INDEPENDENT variable and the DEPENDENT variable. The INDEPENDENT variable is the variable that I CHANGE. The DEPENDENT variable is the variable that we measure. The IV is the COLOR of LIGHT (because I am going to change this) The DV is plant growth. I’m going to measure this by height in millimeters.

Procedure/Design Make sure your experiment is CONTROLLED--this means make sure the ONLY thing that changes in your experiment is your IV. Every plant is given the SAME amount of water, soil, and is kept in the same location.

Procedure 1.Select 7 of the same type of plant 2.Measure each plant with a ruler and record its height in millimeters. Also, record the number of leaves on each plant. 3.Label the plants: W, R, O, Y, G, B, V 4.Place 7 lamps on a table in a warm, dry location. In each lamp, place a colored bulb (except for 1 lamp which will be white light). 5.Place each labeled plant under the correct lamp. 6.Water each plant with 1/2 a cup of water every day for 2 weeks. 7.Measure and record the height of each plant’s height every day for 2 weeks. Record the number of leaves. Now, that I have designed my experiment, I need to write a rough draft of my procedure. G

Data/Results First, I will record my results in a table. Later, I will use this table to make a graph. ColorDay 1Day 2Day 3Day 4Day 5Day 6Day 7 Total Growth W 210mm 211mm213mm215mm218mm222mm12mm R 211mm211mm212mm213mm214mm215mm216mm5mm O 215mm215mm215mm216mm217mm217mm219mm4mm Y 212mm212mm213mm214mm215mm215mm216mm4mm G 214mm214mm214mm213mm212mm210mm209mm-5mm B 209mm209mm209mm211mm212mm213mm214mm5mm V 213mm214mm215mm217mm218mm219mm219mm6mm

Data/Results Now, I’m going to use the Total Growth column to create a bar graph on excel. Total Growth 12mm 5mm 4mm 4mm -5mm 5mm 6mm

Conclusion Using my bar graph and my observations, I am now going to write a conclusion. In my conclusion, I will be sure to re-state my hypothesis, and to tell the reader whether I accept or reject this hypothesis. I will also share any important results that lead to my conclusion. (In this case, the plant growing under green light actually died!).