How
does caffeine influence soybean plant growth?
The independent variable is the solution
used to water the plants, which are water, caffeine solution and a coffee
mixture.
The dependent variable is the growth
of the soybean plants.
The
amount of sunlight and water are constants, as are the sizes of the plants’
containers, temperature of environment, and the
concentrations of caffeine and coffee.
Coffee can certainly stimulate growth in plants, because of its high
concentration inessential ingredients that promote plant growth that can be
found in many commercial fertilizers.
ü1 packet of soybean seeds
ü1 measuring cylinder
ü1 digital weighing scale
1.
Fill the three pots with equal
amounts of soil. Plant ten soybean seeds in each pot and allow them to
germinate. Additional seeds can be placed in the pots in case some of the seeds
do not germinate; the additional plants can be removed later.
2.
For the first 5 days, water the 3
pots with tap water only. Allow the seeds to germinate for the first 5 days.
3.
After 5 days, measure the height of
the 10 plants in each pot. Add up the individual heights and divide by 10 to
obtain the average height. Record the average heights in a table, as shown
below.
4.
Prepare the caffeine solution by
dissolving 10g of caffeine tablets in 100ml of water in a beaker. Label the
beaker ‘caffeine’. Similarly, add 10g of coffee to 100ml of water in another
beaker and label it ‘coffee’.
5.
Label the 3 pots ‘water’, ‘caffeine’
or ‘coffee’. Over the next 10 days, water the pots once a day with 100ml water,
caffeine solution or coffee mixture, according to the labels on the pots.
6.
Measure and calculate the average
height of the soybean plants every day for the next 10 days.
The results show that the soybean
plants grew faster when they were watered using the coffee mixture, but the
growth was slower when the plants were watered using the caffeine solution.
Nonetheless, soybean plants that had caffeine additives grew faster than plants
with no caffeine additives.
Solution Height of Soybean Plants (mm) Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4 Day 5 Day 6 Day 7 Day 8 Day 9 Day 10 Water 38 46 53 61 68 77 85 92 99 107 Caffeine 37 43 48 52 56 59 62 65 68 71 Coffee 39 47 55 63 72 81 92 102 113 125 |
The hypothesis that soybeans watered using a coffee mixture
will grow the fastest has been proven to be true. However, the effect of caffeine on plant
growth is still a work in progress. Experiments on plant growth using only
caffeine have resulted in the plant leaves becoming wrinkled, turning brownish
and exhibiting deferred growth.
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