Thay812 Posted March 18, 2015 Report Share Posted March 18, 2015 (edited) Hello, I have to submit my topic and design for my biology extended essay by this Friday (tomorrow! ), and I have a topic and rough idea of what I would like to do, though I was wondering if I can get some advice and guidance for which way to take my experimenting. (an answer asap would be much appreciated ! ) So my topic is within the plant sciences and my research question isHow does exposure to vibration and sound affect the growth rate of Raphanus sativus L.? *(Should I measure the growth rate, or the germination rate? would either be fine? and if they are, what would be the best way to carry out each?) So my plan so far is to place equal amount of seeds in 5 petri dishes and grow them in a controlled environment for five days for each trial. Each petri dish would have their own source of vibration (most likely from a cell phone, unless anyone has another idea ) placed at least 15.24 cm (6 inches away; all distances would be the same as it is a control) from the petri dish, and I would expose each petri dish (except for the control dish) to vibration for different lengths of time (ex: dish one- 2 hrs, dish two- 4 hrs etc) for five days. The same method would apply to the test with sound, only with a new set of seeds. The sound is a single pitch played continuously from the same distance, and is also played from a cell phone. How does that sound? Any suggestions or improvements? Any ideas for the aspect of analysis and things I should mention? Thank you in advanced ! Edited March 19, 2015 by Thay812 Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
susanne Posted March 21, 2015 Report Share Posted March 21, 2015 it sounds like a very feasible idea; (sorry for replying WAY after your EE is due) but a few suggestions1. link this to real-life situations, it would make your EE a lot more enjoyable and IB can see that you are doing an EE for the sake of research and not just to pass the IB.2. I'd suggest take as much data as you possibly can; growth rate, germination rate, change in mass; whatever. This is so that you can have multiple back-up datas (just in case one experiment somehow failed, speaking from experience) and if you can compare the different datas and evaluate the credential of each, it should score you highly in evaluation (I think)3. ask your physics lab if they have anything to help. Try not to use a cell-phone. Worst case scenario, use a tape/recording played from a music player. Also, if you can, get in contact with your local university and see if they have anything that can help you with. Good luck, have fun (PM me if you have more questions) Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thay812 Posted March 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2015 Thank you ! this was very helpful Reply Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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