Plants Without Soil?
Water is actually needed to bring nutrients from the soil into the plant. The challenge of this activity will be to provide nutrients to grow a plant without using any soil!
Growing plants without soil is called hydroponics.
You can look at a package of fertilizer to see what nutrients it provides.
Materials:
- Nutrient solution ( MiracleGro® is a fertilizer which dissolves in water. You could try to use MiracleGro® or another type of fertilizer to make your nutrient solution)
- Container without holes (bottle or plastic container - like a yogurt or cottage cheese tub)
- Small plant (You could buy one at a store, or just carefully pull up a weed from the yard making sure you get the roots)
- Material to pack inside the container to hold the plant upright (examples: styrofoam packing "peanuts," cotton balls, cloth (you might ask permission to tear up an old towel), rocks, gravel, sand, or something you might want to try (remember to make sure it will NOT dissolve in water!)
- Ruler
Procedure:
- Make sure your container is clean and empty.
- Wash all soil off of your plant's roots (remember to not let too much go down the drain.)
- Count the number of roots on your plant and measure the length of each root.
- Count the number of leaves on your plant and measure how the length and width of each leaf.
- Record your data.
- Hold your plant upright inside the container and fill around it with your packing material.
- Measure and record nutrient solution. Pour this over the plants roots.
- Observe your plant daily.
- Watch for any signs that you need to add more nutrient solution (it looks dry, the plant is wilting etc.)
- Record any changes in your plant (number of leaves, length of leaves, width of leaves, or height of plant.)
- At the end of two weeks, carefully remove your plant from the packing material.
- Count the number of roots on your plant and measure the length of each root .
- Count the number of leaves on your plant and measure the length and width of each.
- Record your data.
| Data
Before Experiment |
Data
Before Experiment |
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| Leaf
# |
Length |
Width |
Root
# |
Length |
| 1 |
1 |
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| 2 |
2 |
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| 3 |
3 |
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| 4 |
4 |
|||
| 5 |
5 |
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| 6 |
6 |
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| 7 |
7 |
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| Data
After Experiment |
Data
After Experiment |
|||
| Leaf # |
Length |
Width |
Root # |
Length |
| 1 |
1 |
|||
| 2 |
2 |
|||
| 3 |
3 |
|||
| 4 |
4 |
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| 5 |
5 |
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| 6 |
6 |
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| 7 |
7 |
|||
- Write a conclusion.
Analysis:
- Did your plant grow or did your plant die without soil?
- Why did you need to make a nutrient solution?
- Did the number of leaves increase or decrease during the experiment?
- Did the number of roots increase or decrease during the experiment?
- Did the leaves lengthen or shorten during the experiment?
- Did the roots lengthen or shorten during the experiment?
- Is soil really necessary? (This is a TRICK QUESTION!)
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| Get the plug-ins: Want to share photos of you or your friends doing this activity? Send it in an e-mail with the following information: the title of the activity, the URL (Internet address), and your name. Remember that no pictures can be used which show any student faces or has a student name. Updated
August 18, 2005
by: Glen Westbroek |
