1. The Lady Bugs BY: Kendra Riding, Alexis O'Leary, Jennifer Jones, and Theresa Miller

2. Question/Purpose Does a seed grow faster in organic soil vs. regular soil? It is stated that organic soil tends to be better for plants and makes them grow faster because of the way organic soil reserves the nutrients and water for the plant. With the organic soil reserving the water it stops the soil from drying out and cracking.

3. Experimental Hypothesis We learned from our research on soil that plants grow faster and taller in organic soil than regular soil therefore… If we grow a seed in organic soil, then it will grow faster than the seed in regular soil, because organic soil is more natural and contains nutrients.

4. Experimental Design Using the same seed but two different soils. One will contain organic soil and the other will have regular soil. We will watch and measure which seed will grow faster. Each plant will be placed under a grow light, watered every other day with 75 ml of water. At the time they are watered they will also be measured in inches from the soil up.

5. Materials needed Sunflower seeds Organic Soil Regular Soil 2 flowering pots A ruler Grow light

6. Procedures 1.Label the pots by the types of soil you are using. 2.Put the same amount of soil in both pots. 3.Add two sunflower seeds to each pot of soil. 4.Press them down with index finger to get them under the soil. 5.Place under grow light or directly in the sunlight. 6.Water with 75ml every other day. 7.Watch for results. 8.When plants begin to grow we will measure in inches from the soil up.

7. Data 3/19/133/21/133/23/133/27/133/29/133/31/13 Organic #1 No growth 1.5 3.5 4 4.5 Organic #2 No growth 1 2 3.5 4.25 Inorganic #1 No growth 1 2 3.5 4.5 Inorganic #2 No growth.5 2 2.5 4

8. Data

9. Organic on left and Regular on right

11. Organic

12. Regular

13. Analysis According to the data presented the seeds planted in the organic soil (organic #1 and #2) grew faster and taller than the seeds that were planted in the regular soil (regular #1 and #2). The difference was not big but the organic did grow faster and taller. It took both plants a while to get started sprouting but once they did they took off. They both grew tall and fast.

14. Analysis continued… To make our project better we should have planted more sunflowers. Maybe 6 organic pots and 6 regular pots. More plants would have given us more variability making our project more accurate. Also if we had put both plants in natural light instead of the grow light maybe they would have grown different. Everything with the experimental design would be the same except the lighting.

15. Conclusion From the data that was collected we can conclude that organic soil is better for the growth/ germination of the seeds. With that being said our hypothesis was correct. Sunflower seeds do grow better in organic soil than regular soil.

16. What we learned We learned that organic soil gives off nutrients to things like bacteria and fungi, which in return, transports the nutrients into a form that the plant can use. Also organic soil prevents the cracking of soil and water run- offs that occur in regular soil.

17. Background Sources http://www.santacruzsandhills.com/plant_ad aptations.html http://www.santacruzsandhills.com/plant_ad aptations.html http://www.Sciencefairprojects411.com http://www.livestrong.com www.reneesgarden.com www.plantingscience.org http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf /ec/ec1561.pdf http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf /ec/ec1561.pdf