bio ia 2021

What is the effect of soil salinity to the growth of lima bean sprouts, specifically the growth effects over a 2-week span of growth? Introduction: Soil salinity is the biggest problem that the agricultural business and gardeners face with their plants. Soil Salinity effects the ability to keep plants hydrated. Specifically, many biologists state that the greater the salinity there is in a plant the harder it is for the plant to stay hydrated. This happens as result of when soil has more salinity in the water the plant has a harder time drawing up the water through the roots. This happens because of osmosis. Research done by Prime facts illustrates how “Under normal conditions, plants readily obtain water from the soil by osmosis (movement of water from a lower salt concentration outside the plant to a higher salt concentration in the plant). As soil salinity increases this balance shifts making it more difficult for plants to extract water,”(Podmore). Therefore, after reading all of the studies I sought out to test these studies on Soil Salinity firsthand. To test the effect salinity had on plant, I chose to use a lima bean plant, due to its popular and simplistic nature. The “ U.S. Department of Agriculture that they prize lima beans for their fast growth and easy maintenance,” (Weinblatt ). While it is easy to grow many experts say it is the least complex plant to understand anatomically what is happening. Throughout the time I am in contact with the plant I will be touching the pot to ensure zero damage to the plant. 2 Investigation: Hypothesis: H1: As Soil Salinity increases, the rate of growth of Lima bean plants will decrease. H0: As Soil Salinity decreases, there rate of growth of Lima bean plants will increase. Background Information: Proper Irrigation is essential to all plants and is of course a huge attribute to the growth of plants. Furthermore, when plants do not get proper irrigation because of soil salinity the growth can be extremely detrimental. Therefore, before experimenting the implications of soil Salinity it is important to note the specific characteristics of Lima Plants. Specifically, “ Lima bean seeds grow best when you water deeply after sowing. Once established, in the absence of rain, they need about 1/2-inch of water per week before blossoming and about 1 inch of water per week from blossom to harvest. Insufficient water during flowering and pod set will reduce the harvest because the plant will drop the flowers or pods.” (Weinblatt). Variables: Independent Variables: Soil Salinity Concentration (1 gram of salt) Dependent Variable: Rate of Growth (0.1 cm)

Controlled Variables: The Amount of Water given to each seed everyday : Every day I will water each lima bean plant with 200 ml of water. The Plants will all be located under a white light lamp to assure a consistent light source on all the seeds and plants throughout all the maturity of the plant. All lima bean plants were from the same company and the same type of lima bean plant. To assure any predetermined growth factors, we weighed all seeds to assure more validity in the study. The time of day when the readings were taken at the same time (5:00pm); this happened to ensure the time gap between records was precisely 1 day. The temperature of the environment of all the plants was 72 degrees Fahrenheit. This is within the optimal temperatures for a lima bean plant to grow. Preliminary Experiment: Apparatus:  6 small pots to place all your plants and to separate the soil salinity  Gravel or small stones to increase good drainage in bottom of pot  Perfect Mix garden soil.  Lima Been Seeds  200 ml Water.  Varying Salt concentrations  Container and spoon to mix water and salt solutions.  A warm, white light area to grow the plants, protected from pests.  Ruler  72-degree environment for plants Protocols: - Start off with adding a small layer of gravel/stones at the bottom of the pot, on top of the gravel put soil, until you reach close to 3 cm from the top of the pot. - Put 1 seeds of beans into each pot of soil, at a depth of 1cm for each seed and push soil back over hole, and firm down.

Justification: The variance between the independent variable was issued for specific reasoning. The controlled group was made to represent the everyday gardener and elite irrigation systems at organic farms. The 10% soil salinity represented an average salinity concentration in an industrial field or in a garden with slight run off. The 20% and 40% soil salinity groups represent industrial fields with bad irrigation systems or possible run-off issues. Lastly the 60% soil salinity concentration group signifies detrimental run off issues in an irrigation system that happens as response of a salt water source being close. Furthermore, 5 separate lima bean plants were planted for each soil salinity concentration to assure accuracy of the data that was acquired. Tap water was utilized for all the soil salinity water solutions since tap water lacks any salt presence. The dependent variable was chosen because soil salinity directly influences the growth of plants. Based on research done by the US Science institute the more soil salinity presents the plants stem would become more dearth. Therefore, the height of the plant would be the best interpretation of the growth of the plant. Risk Assessment: Safety Issues: There were no safety issues to be considered. Ethical Issues: There were no ethical issues to be considered. Environmental Issues: All the plants were placed in pots to assure that there would not be runoff of the soil salinity into the ecosystem. 5.1 Raw Data Raw Data Table 1: A table showing how the height of 5 Lima Bean Plants (± 0.1cm) varies over 12 days in a 200 ml solution of water with a 0% soil salinity concentration Sample Day 3 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) Day 6 Height (cm) (± 0.1 cm) Day 9 Height (cm) (± 0.1 cm) Day 12 Height (cm) (± 0.1 cm) 1 1.2 3.3 6.5 15.3 2 0.9 3.5 6.9 17.1 3 1.1 3.7 7.0 16.4 4 0.7 3.9 7.2 16.9 5 1.0 3.8 6.6 16.8 Raw Data Table 1: A table showing how the height of 5 Lima Bean Plants (± 0.1cm) varies over 12 days in a 200 ml solution of water with a 10% soil salinity concentration

Sample Day 3 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) Day 6 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) Day 9 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) Day 12 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) 1 0.7 2.8 5.5 14.2 2 0.8 3.2 5.8 14.8 3 0.7 2.9 5.3 14.5 4 0.5 2.5 5.7 14.3 5 0.8 3.0 6.1 15.0 Raw Data Table 1: A table showing how the height of 5 Lima Bean Plants (± 0.1cm) varies over 12 days in a 200 ml solution of water with a 20% soil salinity concentration Sample Day 3 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) Day 6 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) Day 9 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) Day 12 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) 1 0.6 1.9 3.8 12.1 2 0.5 2.2 3.9 11.9 3 0.6 2.3 4.9 12.5 4 0.5 2.5 3.6 10.9 5 0.6 2.5 3.8 11.6 Raw Data Table 1: A table showing how the height of 5 Lima Bean Plants (± 0.1cm) varies over 12 days in a 200 ml solution of water with a 40% soil salinity concentration Sample Day 3 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) Day 6 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) Day 9 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) Day 12 Height (cm) (± 0.1cm) 1 0.4 1.4 3.1 7.5 2 0.3 1.2 2.9 6.7

Average Height For plants at 0%soil salinity on Day 3 : 1.2+0.9+1.1+0.7+1.0 =4.9 4.9/5==0.98 Rounded to two decimal points, because of the uncertainty of the height is 0.01cm All values were rounded to two decimal points in the graph for the same purpose. Statistical Test: In order to show the significance in the statistical difference between the 5 different groups, a skew analysis and the standard deviation were calculated on the table is shown above. To find the skew analysis I calculated it through excel, and the skew analysis allows me to test the null hypothesis. Which is if there is no statistical relationship between the growth of lima beans and soil salinity. Furthermore, below a standard deviation was taken to also test the null hypothesis. Skewness Analysis: To calculate the skewness I took the final averages for the five manipulated groups and put them against the amount of grams of salt put into the solution of that manipulated group. Therefore, as a result of the high skewness the null hypothesis was accepted. Therefore, there is stastical relationship between the decrease ofSoil Salinity, and the rate of growth of Lima bean plants increasing. Furthermore, this test does not divulge how these finding come to be so more analysis need to be issued. Standard Deviation: Standard Deviation is a tool that tells you closely your data is correlated and is moving in a specific trend line. Since most of my data is surrounded around my average that is the reason why I have such low levels of standard deviation. Furthermore, signifying how there are trends in my data.  0% Final Growth Standard Deviation 0.641  10% Final Growth Standard Deviation 0.300

 20% Final Growth Standard Deviation 0.536  40% Final Growth Standard Deviation 0.596  60% Final Growth Standard Deviation 0.324 Graph 1: A graph showing how Soil Salinity (grams) affects the average initial rate of growth for each manipulated group.

While the results of the experiment were the expected values, many aspects of the experiments had inherent flaws that could have kindled the results. For example, while each seed of the plants was weighed and were from the same company variants such as genetic variation could have provoked the growth of certain seeds to excel over others. Possible uncertainties with measuring could have been apparent also as repeatedly issuing the same perfect amount of water is impossible and measuring the plants in the same fashion also is impossible. Improvements: If I were to do the experiment again, I would first create more variance in the amount of salt given to each plant. This would allow me to see some dramatic changes in the data and give off a more wholistic idea of the effects of soil Salinity. Since, now all the data points of soil salinity are relatively close. I would also measure out the amount of soil given to each plant. Which would further enhance my ability to receive an accurate reading on all of the plant’s heights since the roots of all the plants would be at the same point. Works Cited: Corwin, Dennis. Soil Salinity Measurement , no. 1747, Apr. 2015, pp. 852–856., www.ars.usda.gov/arsuserfiles/20361500/pdf_pubs/P1747.pdf. Podmore, Cynthia. Irrigation Salinity – Causes and Impacts , no. 937, Oct. 2009, pp. 1–4., www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0018/310365/Irrigation-salinity-causes-and- impacts.pdf#:~:text=from%20the%20soil%20by%20osmosis%20%28movement%20of %20water,it%20more%20difficult%20for%20plants%20to%20extract%20water. Weinblatt, Victoria. “Facts on the Lima Bean Plant.” Home Guides | SF Gate , 21 Nov. 2017, homeguides.sfgate.com/lima-bean-plant-55939.html.