Broad Bean Investigation.

Will these problems affect my overall results?

Yes these problems which I foresee can cause major upset to the investigation also resulting in anomalous results and there is a risk that if there is major damage I may have to abandon the whole investigation. The problems if it occurs can really spoil my investigation but some of these problems can be rectified and made sure that they do not happen during the investigation.

Ways of resolving these problems

1. & 2.   The problem with uneven amounts of light given to the beaker could be resolved by the fact I put in a artificial light to store in the chiller along with the beaker with the bean but then another problem arises- the problem that at night the beakers not in the chiller will receive no light as it is dark but the beaker in the chiller will it will receive 2 hours sunlight but the other two will not.

So therefore I have therefore concluded that it does not matter as I am measuring the temperature not the amount of sunlight received so this matter does not matter.

3. The positioning I resolved by putting both the water bat and the room temperature beaker nearby each other where I believe that in this way both will receive equal amount of sunlight but then again like problem number 1 I am not measuring the amount of sunlight received but the temperature. For the chiller as long as the temperature is constant position does not affect me.
4. The class limitation can be fixed by if I choose to come in everyday to observe the broad bean but I may not be able to so I have come to the resolution that it is o.k. as there will no really be any big major development over 2 days, I will be able to record at least all of what happens to the broad bean during the length of the investigation.
5. For the risk of tampering this I cannot control but precautions taken to ensure to the best of my abilities is that I have written a word of warning on the water bath as it can be dangerous also a note of plead to them not to touch the apparatus. Also I have covered up the switch of the water bath so no one can turn it off and concealed the beaker from view.
6. For the beans I will try my best to find similar beans to keep a fair test but there is a limit of beans so I will have to stick with what I have and  hope that there is no problems
7. For the room temperature this is what I am recording so if there is a range of temperatures this will show me in the results which temperature is ideal for the growth of the bean. Also to avoid the fans I will make sure the beaker is out of the reach of the fan
8. For the problem of the beans slipping is that I have out in a slit in the blotting paper which acts as a pocket for the bean as seen in the diagram below.

9. For temperature difference this does not matter as the beaker will only be taken out for short periods so no major temperature change will occur.

Equipment

3x Beakers                                                                                                 1x Scissor

1x sheet of blotting paper                                                                      6x Broad Bean

1x Ruler                                                                                                         3x Thermometer

1x Water Bath                                                                                          1x Supply of Water

1x Measuring Cylinder                                                                           1x Chiller

Method

How to prepare the beaker

1. Using a pair of scissors cut out three 20cm by 5cm strips of blotting paper.

2. Cut a slit in the blotting paper (see above) and put in the blotting paper around the beaker.

3. Insert the two beans into the pockets made earlier.

4. Fill up the beaker, using the measuring cylinder, up to 250 ml.

5. Put  in a thermometer

Method

For setting up Water Bath Beaker

1. Fill up the water bath to about finger depth with water.

2. Switch Water Bath On

3. Set the water bath then to your chosen temperature e.g. 35° using the knob in the front.

4. And leave for 10-15 minutes in order for the water temperature to rise.

How to Set Up For Beaker at Room Temperature

1. After preparing the beaker place the beaker in a place where sunlight can reach it.(Take care when placing making sure that the beans are not disturbed

How to Set Up For Beaker in Water Bath

1. After preparing the beaker place the beaker in the Water Bath and secure with string so does not fall. As shown below.

2. Then place near the beaker at Room temperature ensuring that sunlight can reach it.

How to Set Up For Beaker in Chiller

1. After preparing the beaker place the beaker take your beaker to the chiller and place at the back (where it is coldest) and close door.

How to Measure the Shoots/Roots

To measure the shoots and roots in a way that you do not cause any damage to them. Also if you’re root has bend or twists this method will help a lot

• You should use a string and copy out including bends your shoot or root ( as seen in the diagram below)

• Then put your measured string along a ruler (see below) and this is how long your string is

Now leave for duration of 3 weeks making sure you record any changes to the beans at regular intervals e.g. every science lessons

 And don’t forget to water the bean at your fair tested day or keep filling up to agreed set water level.

Results

Conclusion

From my results I can conclude the ideal condition in which a broad bean will grow in is in fact in room temperature this therefore agrees with my Prediction as I  see from my results that In fact Beaker 1 grew the best  growing to the maximum of 111 mm.

I see that the beaker in the water bath died and I will explain this further in Evaluation, as there is a reason why this happened.

Also I see that the beaker in the chiller did grow and this is an anomalous result and this I shall explain in Evaluation.

Also I have learnt in this investigation I learnt how to take down any changes to the broad. I learnt how to notice if there is any changes and how to recognise then record this.

I learnt how to set up the beakers in a way that they are all fair in,

• size
•  volume
•  How much blotting paper is put in it
•  How to measure out water then add to the beaker in a way which is accurate and fair
•  How to place the broad beans in a way that they will not slip down and become over watered
• How to place the thermometer in the beaker in a way that does not then disturb the investigation going on in the beaker
• How to measure the  shoot and root (see above) that is a way that is accurate and precise
• How to set up a water bath from filling it up to setting the temperature
• How to carry out a fair investigation making sure that all everything I have planned to be equal is kept that way

I have learnt how to how to maintain my beakers for example for the beaker in the water bath was unstable as it kept floating so I fixed it in place with string so it was kept firmly in place

I have learnt how to keep the temperature constant for beakers 2 & 3 I ha to keep the temperature fixed for the water bath at 35° and the chiller at

5°.

To conclude I have learnt in this investigation that the ideal temperature for a broad bean to grow in is room temperature and I will elaborate on this further in my Evaluation. 

Evaluation

In my evaluation I will tell you of the problems faced during the investigation. How if I was to repeat this investigation I would mend these problems. As well as other improved methods of carrying out this investigation.

During this investigation we faced many problems as you may notice from the results table and graph.

 Firstly there was the problem with the water bath. At first the investigation was going smoothly till about day 12 where the growth the bean stopped. This I found was not correct I suspected maybe tampering but after consulting the teacher I found that this was due to the school technicians. I found that at night the electricity in the lab was shut off so this meant that the water bath’s temperature fluctuated. The temperature would be constant at day but drop down at night. This I believe is what caused my beans to die also another factor may be that the temperature of 35° resulted in the enzymes in the bean to die so the bean then basically roasted. But I believe that yes maybe the high temperature from I can see from my limited results that the growth of the beans were steady but not as much as the beans at room temperature. So f I was to repeat this investigation I would make sure that the electrical supply is kept on at all times. Also that the set temperature is lower to guarantee that this time there is no risk of the enzymes in the beans do not die.

For the bean in he chiller as I have said in Conclusion that the beans grew to about 4 mm. This is an anomalous result as it was believed that the cold would make the seeds not grow at all. But I believe that cold has instead just slowed down the growth of the beans.

Also another solution may be that as there is no light in the chiller (see Problems Foreseen) the seed may have been searching for light as it is known that if a plant is in the dark the growth is fast in order for the plant to look for light so this happened but slower due to the cold.

The blotting paper in the bakers we found became too soggy so this may have over watered the beans causing its growth to slow down.  This may have affected the overall results so if I were to repeat this investigation I would ensure that every watering day the blotting paper is also replaced.

I believe that there may have been some tampering with the beans as I could see that shoots looked a bit torn as if so this could have affected the overall outcome. If repeated again I would make sure that the beakers are taken somewhere where they will not be near anything which can harm them.

I asked myself does timing effect anything as maybe if you give water too early the bean could die or too late and the bean is already dead. So I would make sure that timing has a part in the investigation as it could mean the bean dying or not.

There was the problem of lack of sunlight and it did cause some problems to my overall results as seen in the results for the beaker in the chiller. We saw that the bean had grown which was not expected and meant that my results were not totally 100% accurate.