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Cucumber Worksheet-Data Collection and Analysis

The document summarizes an experiment comparing the growth of cucumber plants grown with and without exposure to light. Students measured the stem and root lengths of cucumber plants in each condition and analyzed the class data. The results showed that while stems were longer for plants grown in the dark, roots were longer for those grown with light exposure. A t-test found the difference in lengths between light and dark conditions to be statistically significant for both stems and roots. The document also discusses explanations for these results based on plant physiology and proposes ideas for future related experiments.

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nadalwannabe
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543 views

Cucumber Worksheet-Data Collection and Analysis

The document summarizes an experiment comparing the growth of cucumber plants grown with and without exposure to light. Students measured the stem and root lengths of cucumber plants in each condition and analyzed the class data. The results showed that while stems were longer for plants grown in the dark, roots were longer for those grown with light exposure. A t-test found the difference in lengths between light and dark conditions to be statistically significant for both stems and roots. The document also discusses explanations for these results based on plant physiology and proposes ideas for future related experiments.

Uploaded by

nadalwannabe
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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SP2015 - BIOL 1307

Cucumber Experiment II: Data Collection and Analysis


Name: Shree Deshpande
1. Carefully remove plants from the vermiculite. Rinse off vermiculite in tub
of water.
2. Describe any difference in the appearance of the plants.

3. Measure (in centimeters) the stems and roots of each plant from your
group. Input measurements to the Google document on TLearn.

4. Copy and paste ALL of the class data to your own excel file. Analyze the
data from the entire class (Light vs. Dark). What should you compare?
The data I will be comparing for this experiment will be the lengths of stems
for cucumber plants grown in the light vis--vis the length of the stems for
cucumber plants grown in the dark. Additionally, I will be comparing the
lengths of roots for cucumber plants grown in the light vis--vis the lengths
of roots for cucumber plants grown in the dark.

5. Was there a significant effect? What were the differences, explain? What
are the p values?
Yes, whether the plants were grown with exposure to light or in the dark
proved to have a significant effect on the length of roots and stems for
cucumber plants. While growing in the dark gave the cucumber plants
longer stems than plants grown in the light, exposure to light gave the
plants longer roots than plants grown in the dark. Cucumber plants grown
with exposure to light generally looked much healthier compared to their
counterparts grown in the dark. After using t-tests to compare the datasets,
the p-values for were both 0. This is most likely due to the fact that StatPlus
rounds down after a certain point.

6. Revisit your original prediction. Was it correct?


My original prediction was that cucumber plants grown in the light would be
longer, under the assumption that we were only measuring stem length.
Ergo, my original prediction was incorrect.

7. What explains the results you obtained? Do some research and see if you
can come up with an explanation for the results obtained by the class.
According to a hydroponics website (http://hydroponeast.com/en/previousissues/13-2013/growing-cucumbers-on-hydroponics), cucumber plants grown
without enough lighting in early stages of growth leads to extending and
general weakness of the plant. That makes sense, given that the stems of
the plants grown without light were long but the roots were not long.
Additionally, the plants grown without light looked much less healthy.

8. What future experiments would you propose?


More time to grow.
Comparing rate of growth in light and dark environments.
Testing to see if vermiculite makes a difference as a soil.
Charts:
Light
Stems

Dark
Stems

Light
Roots

Dark
Roots

4
3
3
3
2
3
3
3
3
3
3.4
3.3
3.4

13
13.2
14.6
12.5
12.9
9.5
13.4
14.6
6.4
9
15
15
15

11
12.5
13
7
9
12
10
12
7.5
11
6.9
11.2
12.5

8
6.5
7.5
6.5
6.5
5.5
7.6
7.8
4.4
6.4
6
7
7

3.5

10

8.4

4
3.3
2.7
3.7
2.8
3
2.5
3.4
2.9
4
3.3
4
4.1

14.5
14
14
12
12
11.5
12
10
10.5
9.5
13
13
11
12.5
10

11.8
9.5
8.3
11.7
9.4
5.9
11.4
9.3
4.1
9.1
6.9
12.2
11

7
6
8
8
8
6
4
3
6
4
5
7.5
6
5
4.5

mean
std.
dev.

light
stem
3.23333

dark
stem
12.1931

0.50459

2.15273

mean
std.
dev.

light
root
9.8

dark
root
6.12759

2.32247

1.49759

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