Pat Klaus
Rick Douglas
Grade 12
Tri-County Middle-Senior High School
11298 W 100 S
Wolcott, IN 47995
1
Table of Contents
Abstract
page 3
Introduction
page 4
Review of Literature
page 4-5
Materials and Methods
page 5-6
Results
Tomato
page 7
Soybean
page 7
Growth Change
page 8
Discussion and Conclusion
page 9
Acknowledgements
page 9
Literature Cited
page 10
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Abstract
We obtained 6 tomato plants and 6 soybean plants, planted them all in a similar
we also changed the potting arrangements a little we went from biodegradable pots to
plastic. We also placed them in the same environment. The only difference between the
plants was the type of water that was used to hydrate the plants. We kept the amount of
water the same. We recorded results every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
This fall we conducted the same experiment with four soybean plants. We used
the same experiment template and applied it to four soybean plants. We used the same
creek, de-ionized, and tap water for the watering of the plants. We planted them at the
same depths and in the same environment as our previous experiment using similar soil.
We watered the plants 300 milliliters of the designated water.
Our hypothesis stated that the plants watered by the creek would grow the most.
The only thing that we would have done differently with this experiment is watering the
plants more each time, because they seemed to have gotten a little dried out toward the
end of the experiment time. In our first experiment the tomato plants thrived off of the
creek water. In our second experiment the soybeans had a different outcome; they thrived
off the de-ionized water. We were partially correct with our hypothesis as the data
showed that the creek and tap watered plants grew more than de-ionized watered plants
did.
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Introduction
Water is an essential ingredient for the maturity and health of any living plant.
There are different variations of water such as distilled water, de-ionized water, creek
water, tap water, and ocean water. We will be exploring the effects that de-ionized ,
creek, and tap water have on plant growth. We will test similar tomato plants and
soybean plants to discover these differences. Our hypothesis states that if we water
similar plants with equal amounts of liquid, that the creek water plants will show the most
growth followed by the tap water plants, and the de-ionized water. However, we do
believe that while there will be a difference in the plant growth, that it will be minimal.
We chose to do this experiment because we were interested in the effects that the
varieties of water had on plant growth and wellness. We thought that the creek water
would provide the most nutrients because it is filled with organic material and field
runoff. We thought that the tap water would do better than the de-ionized water because
the de-ionized water is completely stripped of its mineral charge. Tap water still has some
minerals and organic matter within the pipes and water itself. With the amount of organic
matter in the different types of water we came to the conclusion that the creek water
contained the most amounts of run-off fertilizer and nutrients which would influence the
plants the most.
Review of Literature
We came up with the idea to test the effects of different types of water on growth
of a plant. This idea was developed by us without any internet or textbook assistance. We
did find some interesting facts online to help with the experiment.
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De-ionized water is considered to be completely stripped of ions. Not only is it
stripped of ions, but it is also stripped of salts. This is a process called de-ionization. The
DI water is a pure state and we used it to see how much affect the “pure” water would
have on the plants (Wise Geek).
Tap water is thoroughly tested annually by the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA). It is estimated that over 90% of water systems meet the EPA’s standard for tap
water quality. The EPA also set limits on the amount of contaminants allowed in the
drinking water (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency).
Every creek is different, thus no universal conclusions can be made the creek
where collected the water for our experiment was a drainage ditch located a few miles
away from the school.
Materials and Procedure
Materials
1. 3, 6”pots
2. 6 Early Girl-50 Days Hybrid Tomato plants
3. Metro Mix 360 potting soil
4. 1 gallon of de-ionized water
5. 1 gallon of tap water
6. 1 gallon of creek water
7. Masking tape
8. Sharpie
9. Pencil
10. Ruler/Tape measure
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Procedure
1. Fill all three pots with soil leaving 1” space from the top of each container. (We
started the soybeans from seeds.)
2. Transplant the tomato plants into the new six inch pots planting two plants into
each container equally spaced apart. Plant each plant so the biodegradable pot that
each tomato is in level with soil.
3. Label each container with white masking tape as follows:
a. Pot 1-2: de-ionized water
b. Pot 3-4: Tap water
c. Pot 5-6: Creek water
4. Water each plant with the corresponding label with 5ounces of liquid every other
day.
5. Record the results of height, plant node number, leaf count and appearance of each
plant every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
6. Variable is the type of water with controls being type of soybean, stage of growth,
greenhouse condition, soil type and container size.
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Results
Tomato Plant Growth
8
7
Height (Inches)
6
5
D1 1
DI 2
Tap 1
Tap 2
Creek 1
Creek 2
4
3
2
1
0
6/
5/
09
09
09
09
09
09
09
09
09
09
09
09
09
20 /20 /20 /20 /20 /20 /20 /20 /20 /20 /20 /20 /20
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
7
8
9
5/
5/
5/ 5/1 5/1 5/1 5/1 5/1 5/1 5/1 5/1 5/1
Date
Soybean Plant Growth
16
14
10
DI 1
DI 2
Tap 1
8
6
Creek 1
4
2
/2
00
9/
30 9
/2
00
10
9
/2
/2
00
10
9
/4
/2
00
10
9
/6
/2
00
10
9
/8
/2
00
10
9
/1
0/
20
10
09
/1
2/
20
10
09
/1
4/
20
09
0
9/
28
Height (Inches)
12
Dates
7
Amount of Growth - Tomato
3.5
Growth Change (Inches)
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
DI 1
DI 2
Tap 1
Tap 2
Creek 1
Creek 2
Water Applied
Amount of Growth - Soybeans
12
Growth Change (Inches)
10
8
6
4
2
0
DI 1
DI 2
Tap 1
Creek 1
Water Applied
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Discussion and Conclusion
After we performed our experiment and collected results, we
came to some conclusions about the growth of plants using different types of water. Our
prediction was partially correct as the creek water plants grew slightly more than the deionized and tap water plants. However on the second trial with the soybeans we
discovered that the soybean plants were partial to the de-ionized water. This was an
unexpected result of our experiment. Throughout the duration of these experiments we
also did water tests, which include turbidity (cloudiness of the water) and we also
performed a nitrate test. The nitrate test results showed that creek water had 4 PPM of
nitrates while the other types of water had zero. The turbidity test showed that the tap
water had 40 JTU, the creek had 20 JTU and the DI water had 0 JTU.
Our basis for the hypothesis was the amount of the excess matter was greater in
the creek water was greater than the other two. The creek water contained organic matter
which possibly contributed to the growth of the tomato plants. The tap water had some
ions in it and had been somewhat filtered. The de-ionized water had all of the ions
removed and thus was nothing more than moisture to assist the plant in growth.
Acknowledgements
We would first like to extend a special thank you to Mr. Scherer for allowing us
to perform this experiment. Thank you for purchasing the products for us as well renting
out the greenhouse to us. Without you this opportunity would not have become a reality.
Next, we would like to thank Mrs. Scherer for reviewing the critiquing our proposal.
Your advice was greatly appreciated and very beneficial. We would like to thank our
great school, Tri-County, for the use of the greenhouse and facilities.
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Literature Cited
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov/SAFEWATER/faq/faq.html
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. September 20, 2007.
Vernier Software & Technology. www.verneir.com/til/1286.html
Technology, August 04, 2004.
Wise Geek. www.wisegeek.com/what-is-deionized-water.htm
Conjecture Corporation 2009.
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