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Wingstem Lab Hypothesis

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Wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia) are an unbranched perennial plant that are primarily located in middle and eastern areas of North America. Wingstem grow in habitats that receive large amounts of sun and areas that are shaded. Wingstem thrive in areas with moist conditions, and receive periodic rainfall. Based on our knowledge of the chemical processes in plants, the Wingstem located in the sunlit areas will have greater reproduction, resulting in increased flowering rather than those in shaded locations. To test our hypothesis, we collected Wingstem in various habitats (sun and shaded). We then calculated the number of flowers, followed by weighing the total vegetation. The results demonstrate a significant difference between the number …show more content…

Our class was split into 2 groups. One group collected Wingstem located in the sun, while the other gathered shaded Wingstem. We cut the stems of the plants about an inch above the ground and put each into a paper bag with a card that identified the location it was initially in. Blue cards represented shaded areas while yellow cards were sunlit locations. Each group collected 20 Wingstem, making 40 total plants. Once we arrived back to the lab, each person picked a Wingstem to inspect. First, we calculated the number of flowers that were visible on the plant, picked them off, and recorded the results on paper. Then, we would weigh the flowers (in grams) on a scale, recorded the results, then added the entire plant to measure the vegetation of the full Wingstem. Once the measurements were recorded, we then discarded the used plants in the trash. We repeated these steps for every Wingstem, being sure to record what location the plant was located in before the measurements started. After each plant was measured, we then added our results onto Excel in four different categories (location, flower number, flower mass, and vegetation mass). A few days later, we then put our data that was gathered into separate graphs and calculated the mean, standard deviation and standard error for each category. We then performed T-tests to determine any significant differences between

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