Lab #4: Germination of Radish Seeds – Prep Earth
Science (Focus Band 16-19)
Skills Objective 2.3.1, 2.3.2,2.3.3 Design, conduct,
and collect data from a simple experiment; construct a
graph based on that data
***All work should be done in your lab
notebooks.***
Objective: The purpose of this experiment is to
germinate the greatest amount of seeds in a period of
3 days.
Materials:
50-100 radish seeds
4 Petri dishes
Graduated cylinders
Wax marking pencil
Identify the following variables and controls before
beginning your experiment:
a. Dependent Variable (choose the appropriate
option below)
1. The number of seeds that germinate over ____
days.
2. More light will increase the rate of germination.
b. Independent Variable (choose one of the
following options)
1. Room temperature vs. refrigerator
2. Water vs. soda
3. Window vs. box
c. Controls – after you have chosen your variable,
all other parts of your experiment should be
constant (temperature, liquid, light…)
Write your Hypothesis in the “if…then…because…”
format
Procedure (list, in number format, the step-by-step
‘recipe’ for your experiment; someone who is
unfamiliar with your work should be able to follow your
procedure and carry out your experiment EXACTLY
the way you did it)
Data Table (construct a table like the sample below,
with title, in which you will put all your data when you
collect it; on reverse side)
 Decide if the data you need to collect should be
quantitative (numbers/measurements) or
qualitative (observations)
Seed germination
Dish #
# Of seeds germinated
1
2
3
4
Graph (construct a bar graph based on your data)
 Be sure to title your graph
 Be sure to label all axes and include units
 The X axis should be your dependent variable
 The Y axis should be your independent variable
Analysis of Data: (answer in complete sentences)
1. Which dish germinated the most seeds? The
least?
2. Infer why you might think this happened.
3. Refer back to your hypothesis—were you correct
or incorrect? Explain using your data. If you were
to repeat this experiment, how would you change
or tweak your hypothesis?
4. Write a relationship about how one variable
affected the other.
5. Other than your independent variable, identify
other “hidden” variables or possible errors that
might have affected the overall results of your
investigation. How might you correct for these if
this investigation was repeated?
6. The purpose of “doing science” is to advance our
knowledge of how our world works. What did you
learn about our natural world by doing this
experiment? Who else would benefit from
this knowledge?