1. All About Spinifex Grass
By Phoebe Simmons and Pippa Nott.

2. Our original ideas
Before we started researching, we had a couple of original ideas.
We thought that the leaves had spikes on the ends to protect creatures from predators
We also thought that the plant grows in a circle to pass water around and can have lots of water

3. Habitat of Spinifex
Spinifex grass mainly grows in dry, arid desert environments. They are found in low nutrient soils on sandy, rocky hills, because at the bottom of the hills there is more water and the roots can grow deep enough to reach the water (this is discussed further in the structural features slide). Other types of spinifex grass, such as the beach spinifex, grow on sandy dunes on coasts.
In the picture, it shows the spinifex on its slanted environment.

4. Spinifex Structural Features
One feature the spinifex grass has is that its leaves are tough and spiky so it is hard to bend in the wind. The leaves can cut human skin and pretty much anything that tries to harm it.
The roots and very strong and can go very deep in the ground, approximately 3 times the size of the actual plant. The roots go deep so they can absorb as much water as they can out of the ground to help the plant survive in a dry environment.
After experiencing first rainfall, the leaves of the spinifex grass curl in to make a hollow, cylinder shape so the water is less exposed to sunlight, so the water does not evaporate as quick and the plant can get all the water it needs.
Each root has its own water supply because it develops from the same nodes as the shoots.

5. Key Adaptations The key adaptations of spinifex grass are:
1. The leaves of the spinifex plant are covered in a large amount of silica. This makes the leaves spiky and quite stiff, and do not bend in harsh wind.
2. The leaves of the spinifex are salt tolerant, so the leaves curl up in a hollow, cylinder tube to prevent water loss or evaporation.
3. Spinifex produces and releases seeds after a large rainfall event, because it lets the seeds have a soft, moist environment to grow in.
4. The roots of the spinifex develop from the same nodes as the shoots, giving each shoot its own water supply. This makes sure that each shoot gets a considerable amount of water to carry out the normal functions in the shoots.
5. The roots of the spinifex grass go into the ground approximately 3 metres so they can absorb all the water they can out of the ground.
6. The leaves are tough and indigestible to most animals except termites. This is so that it can be a good habitat to most animals of prey.

6. Our Experiment is:
In the first wet season that the spinifex experiences, their leaves curl up to make a hollow, cylinder shape that keeps their water from evaporating. From this information, Pippa and Phoebe are creating and experiment on water evaporation. We are going to see what might happen if the spinifex leaves were flat. One of the surfaces that the water is going to be in is a plastic plate and the other surface is a plastic tube. They have to be the same material because this makes sure we only have one variable and it makes this experiment fair. See experiment sheet for more details.

7. Hypothesis
Our hypothesis is that the water in the tube will evaporate slower than the water on the flat surface because of how much surface area the water takes up- how compact it is- and also how much direct exposure to sun it has, because when water is on a plate the sun shines directly onto it, but if the water is in a tube then the sun has to go through the plastic to reach the water.

8. Experiment
In our experiment we had water in a plastic tube and water on a flat plastic surface, and every 15 minutes we checked how much they weighed to see how much water evaporated. After an hour and a half. We were going to do 2 hours, but we ran out of time. Our experiment went really well.

9. Reflection and Conclusion
Our prediction was that the tube would lose less water then the water on the flat surface. It turns out that we were right, the tube did lose less water. It only lost one milligram of water, as opposed to he flat surface which lost 2.1 grams of water. This happened because the water in the tube was more compacted and the flat surface one was spread out and exposed to sunlight. Unfortunately, after 15 minutes, the sun disappeared.
Reflection
Our experiment went really well. The results were exactly what we thought, but we had to redo it after half an hour because water was leaking out of the tube and things were put on the flat surface. We would’ve had incorrect results so we restarted. After we restarted, though, 15 minutes in the sun disappeared behind the clouds. We should’ve moved our experiment into the sun but we would’ve risked spilling the water. Another experiment we could’ve done is experiment how the roots work, so we could’ve had a long sponge in water and see how fast in absorbs the water because that’s how he roots of grass work.

10. Credit to: http://www.alicespringsdesertpark.com.au
And the google dictionary

11. Glossary:
Arid- having little or no rain; too dry or barren to support vegetation.
Dunes-a mound or ridge of sand or other loose sediment formed by the wind, especially on the sea coast or in a desert.
Roots-the part of a plant which attaches it to the ground or to a support.
Absorb-take in or soak up by chemical or physical action.
Exposed-make (something) visible by uncovering it.
Nodes-the part of a plant stem from which one or more leaves emerge.
Shoots-consist of stems
Stems-the main body or stalk of a plant or shrub
Silica-a neutral, colourless compound which occurs as the mineral quartz.
Tolerant-showing willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behaviour.
Evaporation-the process of turning from liquid into vapour.
Seeds-the unit of reproduction of a flowering plant, capable of developing into another plant.
Functions-an activity that is natural to or the purpose of a person or thing.

12. Thankyou for watching!
We hope you have learned something new!