OBSERVATION In order to make my study room more comfortable I decided to take care of a plant from Geranium genus.

Throughout the first year it grew very fast and at the end of the school semester it even sprouted a few flowers. Being proud of my Geranium I decided to water it more often the next year, hoping for even bigger success. The plant, however, became weak and started to wither. Having no experience with plants I didnt know what my mistake was. Only after my plant almost died I found out that it was a massive amount of water that was killing it. In order not to make a similar error in the future I am going to carry out an experiment that will allow me to observe the growth rate of plants. The manipulated variable is going to be the amount of water provided for each plant. Geranium will not grow fast enough, so I will use bean seeds (Phaseolus vulgaris white beens) in my research. I will try to answer the question: Does a plant have an optimum water requirement? HYPOTHESIS There is an optimal water requirement for Phaseolus vulgaris. Providing not enough water will not allow the seed to develop - when there is too little water the process of osmosis cannot take place, so the plant cannot take water from the ground. While too much water will block the access to oxygen and drown the seed. PREDICTION Bean seeds, when given too small and too big amounts of water will grow slower than those with optimal water supply. They may even wither and die. EXPERIMENT The experiment was designed to test whether overabundance or abundance of one of the necessary components of plant development will affect its growth rate. CONTROLLED VARIABLES Amount of light All samples are place on west-exposed window sill. Type of soil In all samples the same soil, from the same bag will be used. Space and competition Each plant will have the same space and the same competition. Bean species Beans of the same species will be used in the experiment. Also beans of the same size and weight have been used in the experiment. Temperature All plants will be in the same room, on the same sill. Room temperature will be maintained. The depth at which the beans are planted During the process of planting a ruler will be used to ensure that all plants rest on the same depth. Time of the experiment and time of watering 3 weeks, watered on 18:00 each day.

DEPENDANT VARIABLE Growth rate of Phaseolus vulgaris measured at the end of 3 week period from wet plant mass. Only the part of the plant above the ground is going to be measured as it is impossible to precisely separate small roots from the soil.

INDEPENDENT VARIABLE -The amount of water provided to the plants. The water will be taken from the tap it will not be boiled. Warm water will be used. EQUIPEMENT Four flowerpots (Rectangular 9cm height and 12,5 cm width) Bag of soil (earth with peat Ph 5,5/6,5) Bean seeds - 20 (Phaseolus vulgaris 2g each) Measuring glass (Allowing for precise measurement of 25/50/75/100ml error of 5ml) Ruler (Error of 0,1cm) Electronic weighing scale (Error of 0,001g)

PLAN OF THE EXPERIMENT 1. Fill the flowerpots with soil up to 6,5 cm 2. Put five beans in each pot on top of the soil. The distribution can be seen on figure 1. 3. Cover them with soil up to 8 cm Fig. 1 Planting the beans and distribution pattern.

4. Water each pot everyday at 18:00 with tapped water (room temperature). In order to maintain same amount of water for each bean the researcher has to do it with circular movement. 5. The first pot should be watered with 25ml of water each day, the second with 50ml, the third with 75ml of water and the fourth with 100ml of water every day. 6. After 3 weeks from the beginning of the experiment the researcher is to cut the part of the plant that is above the ground. That include the stem with leaves and any possible flowers. 7. Each plant should be measured on the electronic weighting scale separately, however it is vital to note which pot does it come from. The results should be represented in a table.