Experimental Plant Breeding in HyperGravity (LS-PL-638)
STEM Experiments
If you want to take your experiments to a higher level of commitment, combine several fields of science. We add biology to STEM, first we build scientific equipment and use it in research work. We will try to build a Hypergravity_Centryfuge and then grow plants in it in conditions simulating extreme gravity. We will learn about autonomous systems for plants.
EM Equipment
The lesson will result in creating a scientific aid which is Hypergravity_Centryfuge and then growing plants in increased and normal gravity. A simple and inexpensive experimenting system for student project applications will be presented. The last step will be to create a report on the growth of plants under various gravitational conditions. The report / presentation will be presented in both technical and biology lessons.
The lesson presented is the first in a series of exercises in the laboratory, the next lessons are continuation of programming. In the first classes, more emphasis should be placed on the theoretical introduction and interest of the young person in new technologies and making their own structure. More practical applications should be provided.
PROGRESS of the lessons
During the course of the classes, it turned out that more time was needed to build the equipment for the experiment than it had been assumed at the beginning.
The students themselves (or with the help of a physics teacher if needed) converted the centrifugal force into overloads. All parts needed to build the equipment are widely available (online stores). The construction was just a formality as the check-list was well prepared. Each team knew what to do. The last stage of the construction was tests of the device, which were successful.
After the construction was completed, the influence of increased gravity on plant growth was investigated. The cultivation of the cress in agar lasted a week. The conclusions and observations were presented by the students in the attached presentation in the Polish-English version.
Would you like to know more about this learning scenario? You can download it below:
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CC BY 4.0: the featured image used to illustrate this article has been found on Europeana and has been provided by the Wellcome Collection.