Title: A Study of Geological Impurity and Hydration in Mixed Wildflowers.

Group name: Canaries

Participants: Eric Saueracker

Valerie Fend

Tracy Colgon

Nuri Mathiev

Intro:

Purpose: To answer the question of how does diversity of habitat affect species survival.

• This experiment will represent diversity of habitat. For this study, the group has determined that habitat is comprised of two main factors, soil type, and the amount of water available. Soil type is controlled largely by the geologic age of the island and will be represented in our study by various combinations of sand/potting soil in which our wildflowers will grow. Second, water and climate also are important aspects of habitat. The Canary Island group will attempt to measure water’s influence by varying the amounts of water given to pots with the same soil composition. Due to the fact that a co-group is testing solely geologic age/soil type, and another measuring climatic affects; by exchanging information it will be very interesting to see how the combination of the two within our tests of habitat compare against the results of the other studies.

Hypothesis: Diversity of habitat affects species development in that the better the habitat the more species will develop and survive there. This experiment should show that the greater amount of pure soil and water will yield a greater number of species and the greater health of those species

Procedure:

Materials:

5 medium flowerpots; sand, soil, and seeds.

Setup:

1 pot: Dirty sand. Water: 1 c/week

2 pot: potting soil. Water: 1 c/week

3 pot: ‡ sand, ‡ soil mixture. Water: 1c/week

4 pot: ‡ sand, ‡ soil mixture. Water: ‡ c/week

5 pot: ‡ sand, ‡ soil mixture. Water: 1 ‡ c/week

• What this arrangement will prove is that pot 5 will be the most successful based in the combination of soil and the amount of water it is receiving. Pot 1, Pot 2, and Pot 3 will act as controls; however, if pot 2 proves to have the most success than the study will have shown whether soil or water is the main trigger for plant species success within habitat. The group does not expect this to happen however, based on the premises that pot 2 is receiving only 2/3-rds the amount of water pot 5 is.

Monitoring System:

Once a week the group will make measurements in each of the following categories: number of plants, size of plants, general well being, and most prolific species. The strength, distribution, and leaf color will determine the general well being of the plants. How turgid or flaccid the plant’s stem and leaves are (turgid constituting greater well being and flaccid lesser well being) will determine the plant’s strength. The plant’s distribution will be determined by how closely grouped its leaves are on the stem. Small leaf intervals will constitute a greater well being and larger leaf intervals a lesser well being. The plant’s leaf color will be determined by how yellow or green the leaves are, yellow constituting lesser well being and green greater well being.

The plants will be stored in the south-facing window at Valerie’s home. Each Sunday near 1pm the group members will meet and each plant will receive the amount of water specified above and at that time the above measurements will be recorded. The result chart and the water-measuring device will be kept with the plants.