Question

A biology student wanted to study the effect of fertilizer on the growth of tomato plants. He obtained 40 of the same type of tomato plant and placed them into separate containers, each containing the same amount of soil. Each group (10 plants) received a different watering solution, containing varying amounts of fertilizer.

The table below shows the average height of the plants by the end of one week.
Plant group Fertilizer amount (g) Average height of plants (cm)
1 0 3.0
2 5 3.2
3 10 4.4
4 20 5.0

1. Propose an observation that might be the impetus for this experiment.
2. What key question can you ask about the observation proposed in question 1?
3. Propose a hypothesis for the experiment.
4. Which group serves as the control?
5. Identify the independent variable of this experiment.
6. Identify the dependent variable of this experiment.
7. Controlled variable 1:
8. Controlled variable 2:
9. What conclusion can be drawn from this experiment?
10. Do you think that the further addition of fertilizer will continue to result in improved growth? Propose another experiment that would help support your answer.

Answer 1

In this biology experiment, the effect of fertilizer on the growth of tomato plants is studied. Different amounts of fertilizer were applied to separate groups of tomato plants, and their average height was measured after one week.

Step-by-step explanation:

In this experiment, the biology student wanted to study the effect of fertilizer on the growth of tomato plants. The student obtained 40 tomato plants and placed them in separate containers with the same amount of soil. Each group of plants received a different amount of fertilizer in their watering solution. The average height of the plants was measured after one week.

1. The impetus for this experiment could be the observation that plants may grow differently when exposed to different amounts of fertilizer.
2. A key question that can be asked about this observation is: How does the amount of fertilizer affect the growth of tomato plants?
3. A hypothesis for this experiment could be: Increasing the amount of fertilizer will result in increased growth of tomato plants.
4. Group 1, which received 0g of fertilizer, serves as the control group in this experiment.
5. The independent variable of this experiment is the amount of fertilizer.
6. The dependent variable of this experiment is the average height of the tomato plants.
7. Controlled variable 1: The type of tomato plant used in the experiment.
8. Controlled variable 2: The amount of soil in each container.
9. A conclusion that can be drawn from this experiment is that increasing the amount of fertilizer has a positive effect on the growth of tomato plants.
10. Based on the data from this experiment, it is likely that the further addition of fertilizer will continue to result in improved growth. To support this answer, another experiment could be conducted where various amounts of fertilizer are added to different groups of tomato plants, and their growth is measured over a longer period of time.