Ecological Analysis of the Garden

1. What are some abiotic factors on which your plant depends for its survival? What about biotic factors that affect your plant? Describe some of these factors

Some abiotic factors our plant depends on are soil, sunlight, and climate. Different plants are better suited for different climates because they need more water or cooler temperatures to survive. The amount of wind on a plant also has an affect on its growth, as shown in our initial experiment. Some biotic factors that affect our plant are others plants, insects and birds. They are engaged in different types of interaction.

2. How do you know your plants are engaged in competition? For what are your plants competing, and who is the competition?

We know our plant is engaged in competition because other plants in the garden have the same biological niche as ours, and their are limited resources in the garden. The plants are competing for many things, including water, sunlight, and space. Space is very limited in the small garden box, so it is one of the resources that is most fiercely competed for. The limited space also has an affect amount of sunlight available to our plants, because taller, more spread out plants could block other plants from getting sunlight.

3. How are "winners" and "losers" determined in this struggle? Is it always so clear cut who "wins" and who "loses?" What makes that determination complicated sometimes?

Winners can be determined by which plant grows fully for as long as it can. Losers would be smaller plants that can’t get the resources they need, and therefore die first. It is not always clear cut as to who wins and who loses. It can be complicated because some plants naturally die faster than others. Other plants don’t grow very big, but are still winning against much bigger plants.

4. Describe other types of interaction (besides competition) in which your plants are involved. Make sure to explain how this interaction affects each organism involved.

Competition is just one of the different types of interaction that our plants are involved in. One other interaction is pollination from bees. This is mutualism because the bees help the plants reproduce by pollinating them, and the plants produce nectar for the bees to eat. Another example could be insects including aphids that feed off of the plants. This relationship would be parasitic.

5. What evidence is there in the garden that succession (or something like it) is occurring in the garden ecosystem? Does it seem more like primary or secondary succession?

The evidence that succession could be occurring in the garden is that the plants are adapting to the garden ecosystem and growing where there was a previously existing garden. It seems more like secondary succession because primary succession starts on new land. Secondary succession happens when there was already a community that was destroyed, like in the garden.

1. What changes do you notice in your plants this week? Describe the overall appearance of your plant.  Our plant has grown very big and has very spread out leaves; 38 cm tall and is 34 cm wide, with the leaves having a sort of dark mint green color. What I also noticed was that we have the biggest and tallest plant in the garden, therefore it tells us that it is getting plenty of water and sunshine. Something else we observed was that some of the leaves have been munched on by our neighboring pests(insects). We don't think they will have any affect knowing that our plant is growing very well and healthy and it will find a way to regenerate.

     2. How do your plants participate in the movement of water in the biosphere? How do               your plants' roles in the water cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants           this week?Our plant absorbs the water, then releases it back into the atmosphere                 from the small pores in the underside of it's leaves. This is called transpiration. This is           letting the plant release the water it doesn't need so it doesn't drown or get too soggy           if that's a thing. Also, it may be the reason why it's leaves aren't a bright green like                 most plants. The amount of water it releases is sufficient for the plant to stay healthy             but not enough to give it that bright green other plants.  
   
     3.How do your plants participate in the movement of carbon in the biosphere?  How do           your plants' roles in the carbon cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants         this week?  Plants are pretty much the starting point of the carbon cycle. They do this           process called photosynthesis. This is where they absorb the carbon dioxide from the           atmosphere and mix it with water. Using the energy of the sun of course. During this             process, they also make their own food, so I'm guessing that our plant is                               photosynthesizing exceptionally and that explains how it has grown so big. 

     4.How do your plants participate in the movement of nitrogen in the biosphere?  How do          your plants' roles in the nitrogen cycle relate to the changes you observed in your                plants this week? The bacteria turns the nitrogen in the soil into ammonia, this is                    called fixation. Then they go through the process of nitrification which lets the bacteria          turn the ammonium into nitrates which the plants can absorb through their roots.                    Plants need certain minerals for healthy and one of them being nitrate. Nitrates help              the plant make amino acids which are needed to make proteins. This must mean that            our plant has plenty of nitrogen in it's soil and enough bacteria to make these two                  processes which keeps it healthy and growing wonderfully.

Lab Report

Lab Report

“The Affects of Wind on the Germination Rate on Broccoli”

Group 1-1 Names

JT Wellman,  Gabriella Lasserre, Katarina Myers,  Lupe Castillo

Abstract

In the story of the seed, we decided to test six broccoli plants, three of which were in front of the fan to test how plants germinated in the wind factors of real life.   We used materials including soil, plant containers, water, a fan, and aqua light meter and the broccoli seeds, using 75 milliliters of water on each plant. We watered them equally every other day and watched how the factors impacted the plants. In general, the control group was healthier, with moister soil, longer stems, and larger average leaf area. These facts show that if we keep wind off of plants then they will germinate more. In conclusion, the amount of wind on a plant does affect its growth negatively.

Introduction

Our project is all about the species of plant brassica oleracea. This includes broccoli and many other plants. We made observation of plants, which we created a question out of. We noted that wind factors may affect the growth of plants and how well they produce and thrive. We tested this by our fan to plant experiment. We placed three broccoli plants in front of a fan, and three away from the fan. By the first day, we had already been noticing signs of dehydration in the plants that were in front of the fan. When we had tested their moisture level, they seemed to have extremely low to no moisture at all. Our group also saw that the sprouts were less populated in the plants that were in front of the fan in comparison to the ones that were not in front of the fan. The plant tips were also yellowing and turning dry and flaky.

Materials and Methods

In our project, the materials we used were plant containers, soil, water, a fan, aqua light meter,  and most importantly broccoli seeds. We placed 3 of the broccoli plants in front of the fan and three separate from the fan. We gave each plant 75 milliliters of water.

Experimental Procedure

We used plant containers, broccoli seeds, water, natural organic soil with fertilizer. Specifically speaking, we used 6 plastic plant containers and put 4 seeds in each. We watered it every other day with 75mL. After that we measured the stems every time we checked in which was every other day, and collected other data.

1. Fill plant container with soil
2. plant 4 seeds in the container
3. water it every other day with 75mL
4. Collect data every other day

Results

There were a lot more sprouts in the control group than in the experimental group. Some of the plants in the experimental group were drooping. The soil was also much drier in the experimental group, as shown in the graph above.

Discussion

In this project we calculated the results of how wind will affect are plant. We have been showed that the plant with no wind grow longer stems and bigger leafs. We hypothesized that if the amount of wind on a plant affects its germination rate, then the plants with less wind on them will have a higher germination rate. Are team got the expected results that we wanted. Some thing we did that we will change in the further is, put the same number of seeds in each pot, we will add the same amount of water in each pot daily, and have more than just high wind and low wind. We had some limitations to our project like we did not have enough plants to get complete results. Despite all that we had a number of strengths like, we had no wind gong to the control group and calculated the data for every day but weekends. These results can be used in the real world, we can make it so plants don't have wind and germinate more. This is very significant because we could have more plants and the farms could get more money to help himself of his family.

Conclusion

We now know that constant wind does have an adverse effect on the growth of brassica oleracea plants, most likely because it dries out the soil of these plants.

Sources

• Web page: Wikipedia Everyone who has any knowledge of broccoli. Broccoli. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/broccoli
• http://sprouting.com/product/74/Broccoli-Brassica-Blend.html
• https://www.foodbeast.com/news/kale-broccoli-brussels-sprouts-and-cabbage-are-all-from-the-same-family/

About Our Project

           
                  The purpose of this project is to test to see whether or not broccoli plants will grow under windy conditions. We are conducting this experiment by placing 3 broccoli plants in front of a fan at all times and 3 other broccoli plants in normal room temperature with no fan or wind. The controlled variable is if there is no wind, would the plant grow better and healthier. So far, the wind is drying up the soil and great amount, which is causing the 3 plants in front of the fan to become dehydrated. The other 3 not in front of the fan are  a bit dry too, and need to be watered often enough. In conclusion, the main porpoises is to see if we can grow broccoli in windy environments.

Story of the Seed: Brief Bio

         
        My name is Gabriella Lasserre. I’m from San Jose California and have lived in California all my life. When I was a baby I moved from Campbell California to San Jose California.

I don’t garden very often, but occasionally I will help my mom or my neighbors with some planting and watering. I don’t like cooking because it mostly just tempts me. Cooking requires a very careful and well trained chef, none of which I am. My mom likes to cook with the fruits and vegetables from our garden a lot, which I think is pretty cool. We like to saute the vegetables and put them with meat or fish. My favorite vegetables are carrots and broccoli. I help my mom grow these and harvest them. My mom grows some pretty big and juicy tomatoes during the spring and summer. I am excited to be more involved in gardening for this project and hope I can learn more ways to cook and prepare broccoli.

The Story of the Seed

The Broccoli Bulletin

  I'm Lupe Castillo. I have lived in LA,Ca for about a year(2004-2005) with my mom and dad, then moved to San Jose, Ca.(2005-)

  I grew a bean in a closet as a science project in 3rd grade. We learned that you don't need soil to grow a plant.  I don't really have any experience with gardening except for that. My grandpa might know something about gardening because he used to work in "Los campos" in Mexico but I'm not sure.

Story of the Seed: Brief Bio

My name is Katarina Myers. I was born in San Jose, then moved to Morgan Hill when I was less than a year old, then moved back here at around five years old. Most of my family lives here, too.

My grandma knows a lot about gardening. I used to help her plant flowers and vegetables when I was younger. It was really fun, but she doesn't garden as much anymore. She had an apple tree, two avocado trees, a lemon tree, a pomegranate tree, and lots of other plants. She also has cactus, which is really cool. My grandpa cooks nopales a lot, which is really good. They both use tomatoes, herbs and other things from their garden when they are cooking.