Temperature and Plants Essay

Submitted By 2015mentchal
Words: 2472
Pages: 10
Open Document
How Air Temperature Affects the Growth of Arugula

Students Name
Teacher Name
Honors Biology
Month day, year

Table of Contents
Abstract……........................................................................................................…………….…...3
Introduction………….........................................................................................................…….…4
Materials and Methods….........................................................................................................…....6
Results………......................……...........................................................................…....…….…....9
Discussion…...........................................................................…..........................……………….11
Conclusion…….................................................................................................…....……………13
Acknowledgements….................................................................................................…....……...14
References………..................................................................................................…....…………14

1. Abstract
This lab compared the temperature differences between the normal fall temperatures, and the temperatures inside a cold frame and how that affected the growth of arugula plants. If the air temperature around the arugula is increased by the cold frame, then the amount of growth of the arugula leaves in grams will increase because the cold temperatures of the fall will reduce the growth rate outside the cold frame. After constructing the cold frame and planting the arugula seeds, the minimum and maximum air temperatures were recorded every day, along with the ground temperatures. Then, three of the largest plants were picked every week to compare their heights and weights. Throughout the experiment, the temperatures inside the cold frame were warmer, which caused the plants to increase in size and weight. The plants that were exposed to the fall elements were smaller due to the colder temperatures. The results supported the hypothesis of this experiment because the plants inside the cold frame were heavier than those outside. The experiment was extremely useful in demonstrating the difference that a few degrees can make on the amount of growth in plants. Agriculturally, this extends the season of crop harvests by several weeks.

2. Introduction
This experiment was meant to test how the air temperatures inside a cold frame affected the growth of arugula in the fall. Arugula, or Eruca vesicaria sativa, is a vegetable with leaves similar to lettuce. It can be eaten raw in a salad, or cooked. This plant is known for growing in cool weather and can endure frosts. It grows best in dampened, fertile soil, and likes full sun (“How to Grow”). Because arugula grows so well in conditions such as these, it was a perfect candidate for growing in the autumn. Also, knowing that it likes full sun, it supported my prediction that the cold frame would help the arugula grow. A cold frame is a wooden box surrounding the plants, and a pane of glass as the roof. The southern side of the cold frame is twelve inches high, and the back (northern) is eighteen inches high. The difference in heights produces about a ten degree angle of the glass top which increases the sun exposure by minimizing the shadows from the southern side of the frame (“Growing Vegetable in a Cold”). Also, variations of cold frames have been used for hundreds of years as a way to extend the growing season, such as in Britain. Glass coverings called cloches (Figure 1) were commonly used to warm the earth and help grow more foods from the Mediterranean area (“Victorian Cold Frames”).
The fact that lower temperatures slow down photosynthesis, which in turn, slows plant growth was the basis for the idea behind cold frames. Figure 2 shows that as temperature increases, so does photosynthesis up to a
Show More

Related Documents: Temperature and Plants Essay

Why Do Monarchs Enjoy Basking In The Sun

conducting a research study, on whether or not, monarchs would prefer the shade or the sun. Arianne and Alexis measured how many monarchs were attracted to the plants grown in the sun and compared them to the number of monarchs that were attracted to plants grown in the shade. They both believed that the monarchs are more attracted to the plants grown in the sun. Therefore, their hypothesis stated that the monarchs will prefer being in the sun rather than being in the shade. They based this prediction…

Words 508 - Pages 3

The Rate Of Photosynthesis

environmental temperature. In order to see how exactly different temperatures affect the rate, we can experiment with cotyledon plants. First, gather all the materials: 5 same size cotyledon plants, 5 clear closed containers to place the plants inside, and oxygen sensor to measure the rate of photosynthesis. Make sure to have 5 rooms with different temperatures but same amount of light and water for all plants. Control the temperatures in the rooms. Have one room be room temperature, one 10 degrees…

Words 334 - Pages 2

Essay on Germination of Cress Seeds

internal conditions that affect the germination of seeds, even though this is quite rare. The most common and the most important external conditions and factors that affect the germination of seeds are oxygen, water, temperature and also in some cases light or darkness. Some plants require several variables for successful seed germination. As this is quite rare, this often depends on the individual seed and its natural habit. Let’s focus on the most important factors that affect germination of…

Words 3453 - Pages 14

Essay Carbon management

deals with the optimization of the pulverized coal fired power plant based on the design parameters and the overall performance of the generated power from the plant. The model developed was based on the concepts of coal combustion, energy balances, enthalpy changes, entropy changes, heat transfer and mass transfer of the steam power cycle. It was found from the study that the overall performance of the power plant depends mainly on the main steam, reheated steam, steam pressures…

Words 3992 - Pages 16

Related Literature About Photosynthesis

energy, which plant can actually use. Only plants, or autotrophs, can do this. Autotrophs are simply organisms that can produce their own food. They harness their energy form the sun to carry out photosynthesis (Miller and Levine) However, other things are needed to do photosynthesis as well. Carbon dioxide and water are the key components to process photosynthesis. Chloroplast makes photosynthesis happen. They are organelle, or a specialized structure that performs important task in the plant cell. Cell…

Words 1589 - Pages 7

Biology: Germination and Seed Essay

in which plants develop from seeds and begin to grow. The first process of germination is the uptake in water. Water is a key factor of rehydrating the Taraxacum through the process of germination. The next step, gibberellin is formed in the cotyledon. Then, maltose is transported to the embryo root from the food storage. Two important factors of seed germination in the Taraxacum are sunlight and temperature. Temperature is the first key factor, if the temperature is too high and the plant isn’t in…

Words 504 - Pages 3

Warrior Pond Water Experiment

Pond, we recorded water temperature, pH level, DO levels, nitrate levels, and others over the past few weeks. One change over time was the water temperature, another was Dissolved Oxygen level (DO) and the last one was pH level. The first thing my group observed out at Warrior Pond was water temperature. The water temperature was recorded in degrees Celsius so it could correspond with everything else easier. I noticed over the course of about a month the water temperature stayed pretty much consistent…

Words 762 - Pages 4

Photosynthesis Lab Essay

from the end of the sheet, the Rf values would be similar. 3. Since plants absorb red and blue colors on the spectrum and reflect green (that’s why we see it as green with the naked eye) the unabsorbed wavelengths are seen in the spectrum. 4. The rate of photosynthesis will be affected by the intensity of the light, the solvent the discs are placed in (water, salt or soap), the size of the photosynthesizing area and the plant that it was tested on. 5. If light were to be removed from the setup…

Words 739 - Pages 3

Essay about Biomes Poems

Biomes Poems By: Ashlynn Lloyd April 20, 2015 2nd period Biomes Biomes share animals, plants and climates. In rainforest, tropical flowers will bloom. Oceans temperature very by depth. Many trees, attract precipitation. Every day animal habitats are affected in different location. Tundra Tundra means treeless lands. Unusually cold temps. 3 to 12 c No night Deep snow stops trees from growing Rainfall averages 10in a year Animal population changes during seasons Taiga The largest terrestrial…

Words 485 - Pages 2

Biological importance of water Essay

Water is a medium for transporting substances around a body or plant. For example, in human bodies, useful substances like glucose and oxygen first dissolve in fluid plasma, they are then transported by plasma, a body fluid with water and protein, to different body cells for respiration, so energy will be produced. Carbon dioxide, released from cells after respiration, dissolves in plasma and is transported out the body by diffusion. In plants, water helps transport nutrients into their bodies. Water…

Words 1006 - Pages 5