Australian International Academy

Kellyville

Assessment Task
Cover Sheet
2020
Name: Anousha Ibrar
Year Level: 8A Date: 23/4/2020

Subject: Science Word Count: 2019

Task Name: Student Research Project
Unit Name: Science in Action + Atom’s Family

Student Checklist and Declaration:

 Every student must complete and tick each section before submitting their work.
 This process is in accordance with the School’s Academic Honesty and Assessment Policies.

 I confirm that this is my own work and is the final version.

 I have acknowledged each use of the words or ideas of another person, whether written,
oral, or visual.
 I have completed and submitted all work requirements for this tasks.
All work has been submitted online via Managebac.

Teacher Declaration:
I confirm that, to the best of my knowledge, the individual oral commentary submitted is
the authentic work of the candidate.
TEACHER NAME:

Assessment Task Cover Sheet 10/06/2020 V2

 How does the liquid used to hydrate a plant, affect the plant’s growth?

Background Information:
Tap Water:
Plants are 80-95% water. Water helps the plant photosynthesis, cool down and carry nutrients from the
soil to the plant. Water helps the plant stand. If the plant does not receive water, it will droop to the
side and eventually die. Water helps the roots of the plant stay healthy.
Natural Apple juice:
Natural juice is better than using juice that has added sugar because the sugar will harm the plant. It
does far more harm than good to the plant. It can cause reverse osmosis to the plant and make it loose
water then die. Citrus juices such as orange juice, used for an extended amount of time, will kill the
plant eventually. It might help the plant grow if it has no added sugar.
Salt Water:

Sodium chloride (salt) is hygroscopic which basically means that it seeks & holds onto water molecules
from surrounding area when salt is pure, it is colourless, odorless but can contain some colour when
impure. Salts are important for the survival of the plants. When they are in the excess, they can cause
harm to the plants & even kill plants with low salt tolerance. This is done because when salt dissolves,
the sodium and chloride ions separate. The ions then get absorbed by the roots of the plant and quickly
travel up the shoot causing harm to the plant.

What is the Salt tolerance level for a cauliflower plant? How much water needed and when? What
height when fully grown?

Cauliflower has moderate salt tolerance and needs about 50 mL of water each week for it to grow. It
grows into a cauliflower head, 30-90 cm in height an 30-60 cm in width if grown & taken care of
properly.
Aim:
To investigate which liquid out of saltwater, natural apple juice and normal tap water is best for the
growth of a cauliflower plant.
Hypothesis:
According to the research above, the plant that will grow first and be the tallest, will be the plant that
has been hydrated with water because all plants need water as their main source of nourishment and
nutrition. The second tallest plant will be the plant hydrated with saltwater because cauliflower plants
have a medium salt tolerance and there is a chance of the plant growing. Lastly, the plant hydrated with
natural apple juice because even though, there is no added sugar, there might still be natural sugar from
the apples used to make the juice which will affect the growth of the plant.

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Assessment Task Cover Sheet 10/06/2020 V2
Risk Assessment
Risk Safety
Getting dirt and bacteria on my hands which can Wear gloves while planting and watering.
lead to an infection on my hands or other
people who I come into contact with.
Bugs such as flies coming in the house and Make sure the door for the backyard is closed
sitting on food, such as raw meat or even when coming in and out so the bugs do not come
people’s dinner or lunch. inside.
Liquid spillage on the floor which could lead to Mop up the spill as soon as possible or advise
someone slipping and possibly breaking a bone. people in the house to not go to the wet area
until it is dry.

Independent Variable:
● Different types of liquid used such as natural apple juice, water, and saltwater.

Dependent Variable:
● The height of the plant in cm.

Controlled Variables:
● Same type of soil & fertiliser
● Same amount of liquid given to each pot
● Same size and type of pot
● Same amount of liquid given to each pot at the same time.
● Same amount of sunlight given to each pot.
● Same amount of soil and fertiliser in each pot.

Control of the experiment

The control of this experiment is water. Water is the control because it is one of the main sources of
nourishment and nutrition for all plants. So, if the rest of the plants that were hydrated by natural apple
juice or saltwater, do not grow, then I know that the plants that were hydrated with water are sure to
grow and I can compare the results from the them to the other 6 plants, hydrated with different liquids.

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Materials:
● 9 x plant pots
● 9 x cauliflower seeds
● Nitrogen rich fertilizer
● Soil
● Water
● Natural Apple Juice
● Saltwater
● 1 x 50 cm Ruler
● Sunlight

● 5 ml syringe

● Plastic Tray

Procedure:
1. Fill the 9 pots ¾ full, with 1 teaspoon of soil and 1 teaspoon of fertiliser.
2. Dig a hole that is 0.5 cm in depth in the middle of each pot.
3. Place one cauliflower seed at the bottom of each hole and fill the hole back with the soil &
fertiliser.
4. Label 3 pots with water, 3 pots with Natural Apple Juice and 3 pots with Saltwater.
5. Pour 5 mL of water in the 3 pots labelled ‘water’.
6. Pour 5mL of saltwater in the 3 pots labelled ‘saltwater’.
7. Pour 5mL of Natural apple juice in the 3 pots labelled ‘natural apple juice’.
8. Place all the pots in a tray, outside where the plants get enough sunlight to grow.
9. Pour 5 ml of each liquid required in every pot as done on the first day of the experiment. Do this
every week on the same day the experiment was started.
10. Observe the pot every 24 hours and measure & record the growth of the plant.
11. Record the observations and measurements for 2 weeks.

Diagram:

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Assessment Task Cover Sheet 10/06/2020 V2
 Results:
Table 1: The table shows the height of the plant in each pot recorded every 24 hours for 14 days.
Average growth of Cauliflower plant over a period of 14 days

Saltwater Natural Apple Juice Water

Pot Pot Pot Average of Pot Pot Pot Average of Natural Pot Pot Pot Average of
Day 1 2 3 Salt water 4 5 6 Apple Juice 7 8 9 Water
1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
9 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
11 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
13 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
14 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

There was no growth over the period of 14 days. This was the 2nd time this experiment was conducted &
there was no growth for this one or the previous one.

Assessment Task Cover Sheet 10/06/2020 V2

Graph 1: The graph shows the average growth of the plants over 14 days.

Average Growth of Cauliflower Plant in cm over a period of 14 days

1
0.9
0.8
0.7
Height in cm

0.6
0.5
0.4
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
Number of Days

Average of Salt water Average of Natural Apple Juice Average of Water

There was no growth over the period of 14 days. This was the 2nd the experiment was conducted, and
there was no growth for this one or the previous one.

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Discussion:

Graph 1 shows no growth for all the plants with all 3 liquids over the period of 14 days for the
cauliflower plant. These results do not reflect the hypothesis which suggested that the plant that would
grow first will be the one that had been hydrated with water, followed by the plant hydrated with
saltwater and lastly the plant hydrated by natural apple juice.

There was no trend or pattern in the results because there was no growth. As water is the main source
of nourishment for all plants, the plant that was hydrated with water; if the plants were hydrated
properly, they should’ve grown but these plants didn’t which means there must have been a problem
with the amount of water given.
When the experiment was conducted, most of the controlled variables were kept constant for each pot.
However, once the experiment was over, and there was no growth, there was multiple reasons that
came to my head for no growth. The reasons included seeds could have had low germination rate.
Although my research showed it takes 10 days for the seeds to sprout, there could have been a
possibility that the germination rate for the particular seeds I used was low. The 2 nd and most obvious
reason was that the plant did not receive enough nourishment. As water being the main source of
nourishment, for all plants, the pots that were being hydrated with water must have had to have grown
in the 14-day period if they were receiving enough of it. But since my pots were very small, I thought 50
mL every week would have drowned the seed in the tiny pot, so I made an adjustment and reduced the
amount of liquid to 5mL every week once. But then after the experiment was finished, I realised I should
have divided the amount and gave each of the plants, 7 mL every day for 14 days, they would have
grown.

The weaknesses in this experiment could have improved by ensuring the fertiliser and soil were added
to the pots in the same amount. This could have been done by making a mixture of soil and fertiliser
(both in equal amounts) before putting it in the pots so that the measurements were precise.
Furthermore, dividing the 50mL of liquid by 7 for one week would have ensured that all the pots were
receiving enough nourishment to allow them to grow.

Here are some future experiments similar to this one to considerate:

 Does the amount of liquid given to nourish a plant affect the plant’s growth?
Plant 9 plants again and give different amounts of the same liquid to every 3 of them and then
see if the plant grows faster with more liquid or slower.
 Does the amount of fertiliser and soil added affect the plant’s growth?
Add different ratios of fertiliser to soil to 9 different plants (3 of them the same) and then see
which one grows the fastest.
 Does the type and size of a pot used for a plant affect its growth?

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 Grab 9 pots, all of them different sizes (every 3 the same) and plant plants in them and see if the
plants in the smaller pots, grow faster or slower than the plans in the larger ones.

In conclusion, the average results of all the cauliflower seeds planted in the plant pots given the same
amount of different liquids did not grow. These results do not reflect the hypothesis. The results are not
accurate because the amount of liquid was not sufficient enough to nourish the plants and help them
grow. Therefore, this experiment was reliable, but it was not valid and should be conducted again with
all the improvements suggested above.

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Bibliography (Harvard Style)

Andrew, Ceonzo, 6 February 2008, The effect of saltwater on Plant Growth, Background research,
viewed 28 February 2020, <https://prezi.com/akadkn8-a8ja/the-effect-of-salt-water-on-plant-growth/>

Can You Grow Plants With Apple Juice? , viewed 28 February 2020, <https://www.reference.com/world-
view/can-grow-plants-apple-juice-bfe261b5b65b129d>

Cauliflower, viewed April 5 2020, <https://www.bhg.com/gardening/plant-

dictionary/vegetable/cauliflower/>

Shari, Armstrong, 4 May 2018, How does water affect plant growth? , viewed 26 April 2020,
<https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/special/children/how-does-water-affect-plant-growth.htm>

Sugar Water in Plants, viewed April 26 2020, <https://abc11.com/science/sugar-water-in-

plants/3823534/>

Theresa, Badurek, March 28 2014, Salt Tolerant Vegetable Gardening, viewed April 5 2020,
<http://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/pinellasco/2014/03/28/salt-tolerant-vegetable-gardening/>

Water is essential for food production, 27 February 2018, viewed 23 April 2020,
<https://serc.carleton.edu/integrate/teaching_materials/food_supply/student_materials/1090>

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Appendix

Cauliflower plants
(at the top) saltwater observation: you cannot see in the
photo, but if you look closely, you can see little salt crystals
(middle) natural apple juice
(at the bottom) water

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