Plants require sunlight, nutrients and water to grow.
Science fair experiments for students investigating plant growth through water requirements can be conducted at any grade level. Students in elementary school can focus their experiments on how plants grow and the requirements needed, such as water and sunlight. Middle school and high school students can perform experiments incorporating other variables, such as fertilizers, acidic solutions, or other nutrients. The type of experiment, therefore, depends on the students' grade level, experiment requirements and materials available to them.
Water and Sunlight for Plant Growth Experiment
Experiment to find out which type of plants grow better, plants with or without water and sunlight. This is a good experiment for elementary students as they learn the necessity of water and light for plant growth. Get three and fill them with soil. Place seeds in the center of the soil in each pot. Add water to two of the flower pots. Leave one flower pot without water to serve as the control. Place the two pots with water into direct sunlight. Place the pot without water into a dark room. Allow the plants to sit for 3 to 5 days. Take pictures daily. Observe and record the results. The seeds in the flower pots with the water and sunlight should grow since germination, which is the growth of the seed into a plant, has occurred. Water and sunlight is necessary for seed germination to occur, therefore, the plant without water and sunlight should show no growth. Illustrate the experiment results on a poster board. Include an introduction, methods, results and conclusion section. In addition, post the pictures on the poster board of all three plants.
Effects of Vitamins and Fertilizers versus Water on Plant Growth
Crush up vitamins to make a vitamin solution.
Explore the effect of plant growth through the addition of vitamins and fertilizers. Obtain twelve plants containing Lima bean seeds. Three plants will be used for each group, such as three plants for vitamin C, three plants for vitamin D, three plants for fertilizer and three plants for the control group. Create three solutions of 200 ml of water plus 25 grams of vitamin C, vitamin D, and fertilizer in 250 ml beakers. Make sure to mark each beaker with the appropriate label, such as vitamin C and water, vitamin D and water and fertilizer water. Add 50 ml to each of the three plants in the appropriate group daily. For the control group, add 50 ml of water only. Place the plants in sunlight for 1 to 2 weeks. Observe, and measure the plant growth daily. Take pictures and record results. Create a bar graph to illustrate which plant showed the most growth.
Effects of Acidic Water on Plant Growth
Pollutants released into the atmosphere cause acid rain.
Investigate the effects of acid rain on plant growth. Acid rain occurs from air pollutants that reach the atmosphere and form dense clouds which leads to acidic rain. Acid rain can deter the growth of plants and is a good topic to investigate for a science fair experiment. Label three jars as "A" "B" and "C," respectively. Create two different concentrations of "acid rain" using lemon juice and water. Place 1/2 cup of lemon juice into jar "A" and 1/4 cup into jar "B." Do not place any lemon juice into jar "C." Jar "C" will serve as the control. Add 1 cup of water to each jar. Get three bean plants and label, "A" "B" and "C," and place into an area where there is direct sunlight for 12 hours of the day. Add 10 ml of the solution to each plant. Make sure you add solution "A" to plant "A" and so forth. Allow the plants to grow for 1 to 2 weeks. Observe and add solution daily. Take pictures. The plant receiving the most acidic solution should begin to show detrimental signs first. The plant with no acidic solution should grow healthy. Present your results on a presentation.
Compost and Plant Growth
Compost is rich in nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.
Investigate the effect of the addition of compost on plant seed germination and growth. Compost is nutrient-rich soil that is used to facilitate plant growth and health. In this experiment, compare the growth of plants in the presence of water only, compost only, and water and compost. Obtain three plant pots and label as "Water," "Compost" and "Water + Compost." Add soil to each of the pots. Add compost to the soil in in "Compost" and "Water + Compost" pot. Add the same amount of seeds to each of the pots. Add about 50 ml of water to the "Water" and "Compost" pot daily. Place the plants in sunlight for 5 days. Observe and measure the plant growth. Create a chart to indicate the growth in each pot. Determine the best growing medium. Prepare a poster board presentation and discuss results.
Tags: plant growth, poster board, Water Compost, without water, acid rain, flower pots, lemon juice