Research Project Proposal

In groups of 5, we will conduct a greenhouse research study focusing on how agronomic crops are affected by different environmental factors such as light, water, temperature, soil type, or soil fertility. You will apply the concepts we are learning in class to develop a testable hypothesis, design an experiment to test that hypothesis, execute the experiment, analyze the data, and summarize the findings in a presentation for the class. A comparison study across different crop species is another possibility, but you must manipulate at least one of the environmental factors.

Response/dependent variables (choose at least one of the following):

Aboveground plant biomass
Aboveground leaf tissue nitrogen content estimation (with SPAD meter)
Plant morphology (plant height, number of leaves, stem length, numbers of tillers, etc.)

Independent variablescrop (choose at least one of the following):

Alfalfa
Soybean
Canola
Cereal rye
Austrian Winter Pea
Corn
Sunflower
Sorghum
Wheat

Independent variablesenvironment (choose only one of the following):

full light vs. 40% shaded light (under a shade cloth)
Water (you chose some reduction in watering amount or frequency)
Temperature
Soil type (different greenhouse mediasandy type (perlite/vermiculite), high organic matter type (pro mix has 60% peat moss + pearlite; starter mix has 60% peat moss + vermiculite))
Soil fertility (manipulation of fertilizers)

You will then have at least two distinct treatments for the study. Each group must prepare three replicates of each treatment and commit to caring for these plants and taking any relevant measurements over the course of the project. Photosynthesis can be measured repeatedly throughout the course of the experiment, but biomass can only be harvested once at the end of the experiment.

Requirements: whatever you think is good i think its suppose to be

WRITE MY PAPER

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