Germination is the first stage of life in a plant.

The birth of a plant is when the seed germinates and begins to grow. During germination the seed begins to awakening from its resting state. In technical terms, germination means and is considered the process of whereby a seed sprouts. This process cannot be scene to the naked eye because it forms underneath the soil. This is similar to the growing of a fetus in a womans uterus. This baby growing cannot be scene until the baby is born or the plant sprouts above the soil. Unlike the beginning growth of plants or germination, a baby can be scene with the technology of an ultra sound. Germination can be found by digging up a plant before it sprouts above soil.

The biological process that takes place under the soil and makes the seed sprout or germinate happens through diffusion. The diffusion that involves water is called osmosis where water travels in and out of the solution and the plant cells in order to create equilibrium. In osmosis, water is given to the plant through. There is a high concentration of water outside of the seed when the ground is watered and there is a lower concentration of water that is naturally inside the seed. Many living organisms are comprised of some water which allows for osmosis to occur. As osmosis occurs, the high concentration of water wants to find a lower concentration. The water molecules move when there is a lower concentration to be found. The lower concentration of solids in the water is considered a hypotonic solution, making it have more liquid than solids. A hypertonic solution has a large amount solids and a low amount of liquid. In osmosis the hypotonic solution wants to diffuse with the seed because it has a larger amount of water. In this case, the plant cells semi-permeable membranes allow water to pass through, similarly to a chain link fence.

X & Y table Days Since planting Height

0 1 2 4

0 0 0 0

Stage 1: Germination
1 Height (mm) 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 Days Since Planting

Germination: Change in height

Chnage in Height 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 Days Since Planting

X & Y table Days since planting Change in height

0 1 2 4

0 0 0 0

Osmosis occurs until both the seed and the solution have the same percentage of water. The same occurred in an Eggsperiment. It was shown that when an egg was put into a cup of the water the egg grew and gained mass because of the same process that is happening in seed germination, osmosis. Similarly, an egg may gain mass, and a plants seed may absorb water. This process plays a crucial role in turning the on switch to initiate germination. Additionally, in a recent leaf lab the cells of the Elodea underwater growing plant was tested on the see the effect of salt water on plants and their cells. Initially, the elodea cells in the hypotonic solution were spread freely. Once the hypertonic solution was added, the higher concentration of water inside the cell moved to the solution outside the cell. This process of osmosis resulted in the chloroplasts shriveling and bunching together, giving the cell an appearance of being shriveled compared to when a hypotonic solution was added to it.

Math Connections and Problem solving The function that best represents the data for the germination stage of a plants life is a linear function. The of growth is happening all underneath the soil making the actual growth un able to be measured unless dug up, however even doing so would cause human error to the growth process. The plant could be physically damaged in this and that could disrupt the natural germination.

Once a plant has germinated the stage of life known as growth and development occurs. Concurrent to plants, humans also experience this stage of life. While looking at the life cycle of a human it is easy to see the similarities of growth and development in plants. From a toddler to a teenager, animals grow comparatively like plants. During a childs infancy growth is shown at a rapid rate as well as in plants. The growth seen with the naked eye is comprised of millions of cells that have reproduced at a molecular level. This process that occurs in both animal and plant cells is called mitosis. Mitosis is the process of one cell dividing into 2 cells and it occurs in the life cycle of a cell, otherwise known as the cell cycle. The cell cycle is devised into 6 stages, 4 out of the six being a part of mitosis. Before mitosis can begin the cell must undergo interphase. This is the stage in which small cells grow in size and duplicate their DNA. This coping of DNA is the reason why in any crime investigators can take a sample of anything that something from your body has touched and be able to trace it to the exact person it belongs to. This happens because of the duplication of DNA. In this way, a copy of your DNA is in every cell in your entire human body which really shows the importance of interphase. Even though it is not considered a part of mitosis or cellular division it is important to the development of a cell. Once the DNA is synthesized the chromosomes begin the coil neatly, organized, and then they are ready for mitosis to begin. In the fast plant cells the nucleus begins to disappear in the stage called Prophase. This phase is the second stage in the cell cycle but marks the beginning of mitosis. In prophase the spindle also begins to formulate outside of the disappearing nucleus. The spindle plays an influential role in mitosis because it acts as electric charges pulling at the chromosomes, eventually splitting the cells. However, this does not occur yet.

Satge 2: Growth and Development

140 120 Height(mm) 100 80 60 40 20 0 0 5 10 15 Days Since Planting

X & Y table Days Since planting 5 Plant Height (mm) 27 37 38 40

5 13
y = 1.4504x2 - 14.16x + 64.636 R = 0.9934

6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13

105 125

1 1 5

1 1

This summation is not completely accurate in discovering the area under the curve because of the way the summation was solved. In order to solve area under the curve rectangles were used with right end points. These rectangles had small gaps making the sum of 504.1 actually larger than the real sum of the area under the curve.

Math Connections and Problem solving

Change in Height
25 Chaneg in Height (mm) 20 15 10 5 0 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Days since planting Series1

5 13

A polynomial function best represents this growth and development because the plants growth is continuous and consistent. A source of error found is measurement error. This occurred because the rulers that were prohibited to us could not have been exactly the same. With this error already presented during the entire course of the experiment, it shows a clear reason as to why the measurements for the plants height could be varied and not consistent.

y = 1.0196x2 - 9.2482x + 22.458 R = 0.9229

X & Y table Days Since Planting 5 6 7 8 12 13 Change in Height 0 6 1 2 16 20

The next stage, number 2 in mitosis is metaphase. Metaphase is when the chromosomes line up at the very center of the cell in an imaginary line considered the cells equator. The spindles are controlling the large segments of DNA preparing them for division. Metaphase is so important in mitosis because these sister chromosomes lined up in the middle of the cell need to be split up evenly in order for the cell to be duplicated. They each must be split up evenly and specifically into just two cells. If these cells for some reason split into three or twos we would be growing down. This seems ironic because there would be more cells but what would actually happen is there would not be the same amount of genetic code in each of the three cells. The process that occurred in interphase was the duplicating of DNA not triplicating or somethingplicating. The process is duplicating only because the amount of DNA would decrease continuously until our body wouldnt understand what needed to function because the genetic code instructing the body wouldnt even fully be present.

Having the sister chromatids is important also to metaphase because metaphase is again preparing the cell to be split. With sister chromatids, the genes that contain information for body traits, there are 2 of the same gene present. Every gene replicated on one side of the chromosome is the same on the other side. That is why in metaphase lining the sister chromatids on the equator will allow for equal split coming up in the next few stages. In the next stage anaphase the spindle begins to pull the sister chromatids apart, making a better name for them just chromosomes now. They are pulled into opposite polls. These spindles are not finished pulling though. The cell membrane pinches in finishing off the last stage of mitosis with the stage called telophase. A new nucleus forms around the chromosomes at each end of the cell. The importance of this stage is because it marks the very beginning of two completely new cells. Finally, to finish off the cell cycle, the last stage is called cytokinesis. Now that mitosis is completed the daughter cells have the same number of chromosome as the original cell.

Flowering, the next stage of a plants life, takes place in preparation for a plants reproduction and pollination. In order to flower the plant needs to divert some of its energy it has been using to grow and develop into energy for producing flowers. How do plants gain or receive energy? Where does this energy come from? The particular way plants make create cellular energy is through a biological process called photosynthesis. This process is what fuels the flowering and the overall growth of the plant, yet flowering can be considered a plant growth. During photosynthesis a plant uses its chloroplasts, and organelle specific to this task, to absorb sunlight. Along with sunlight, carbon dioxide and water is used to make the plants food. This food is where the plant receives its energy. Parallel to humans, we get much energy from the food consumed. When the bonds of the molecules from carbon dioxide and water break the chemistry finishes in the molecule of glucose, a sugar which becomes the plants food for itself. This process was apparent in a floating leaf lab. In the lab small pieces of leaves without oxygen in them were placed under a lamp in a cup of water submerged along with a carbon dioxide solution. The process of photosynthesis was apparent to the naked eye when the leaves began to float. When glucose is created during the process of photosynthesis and excess of oxygen is being produced and released back into the atmosphere. This is why it makes sense when people say trees are important because they feed our atmosphere with oxygen but in reality all plants do and all plants are important for the atmosphere because they all participate in photosynthesis. The leaves rose in the water because the state of mater they were producing was a gas (oxygen) which rises when enveloped in water.

In this equation, carbon dioxide taken from the atmosphere and hydrogen dioxide from the soil comes into contact with each other, fueled by sunlight, to create a molecule of glucose that happens in a chemical reaction and then produces an excess of oxygen therefore making the plant give off oxygen.

X & Y table Days Since Planting Height (mm)

18 19

240 252 265 280 290

Growth in Stage 3: Flowering

350 300 y = 12.8x + 9.4 R = 0.9971

20 21 22

Height (mm)

250 200 150 100 50 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 Days Since planting

18 22

Change in Height in Stage 3: Flowering

25 Change in Height (mm) 20 15 10 5 0 0 5 10 15 20 25 Days since planting y = 0.9286x2 - 39.443x + 430.17 R = 0.642

X & Y table Days Since Planting Change in Height (mm)

18 22
Series1 Poly. (Series1)

18 19 20 21 22

23 12 13 15 10

Math Connections and Problem solving For the average growth of flowering a linear function best represented the normal growth rate. For the change in height a polynomial was the only line of best fit even though the data is very scattered. The number of flowers line of best fit can be resembled in a polynomial function as well. There is additionally no source of error present because the flowers were easily seen and counted with the naked eye.

X & Y table Days since planting Number of flowers

Number of Flowers 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

Stage 3: Number of Flowers

y = 0.5x2 - 23.1x + 269 R = 0.996

18 19 20 21 22

15 11 7 4 3

18 22

Series1 Poly. (Series1)

10

15

20

25

Days since planting

Pollination marks the fourth process in the stages of a plants life cycle. Pollination is when a plant starts reproduction and the beginnings of making seeds. In order to reproduce plants flowers must be pollinated. This pollination process is all possible by insects. For a Wisconsin fast plant bees are normally used to pollinate the flowers. Strangely, animals are used to create more plants. These bees are essential for the plants generations to come and this pollination process demonstrates the real importance of bees in the animal kingdom. Plants are considered producers. Being a producer means plants are at the bottom of the food chain because they dont eat any other organism to keep its energy. Instead animals, known as consumers do that. The real question that arises is, Why cant Wisconsin fast plants pollinate on their own? This answer lays in the biology of these organisms cells. Plant and animal cells have several key differences. A plant cells has several aspects that make it incapable of functioning like the average bee. What makes plant cells difference is that they have larger vacuoles but most importantly chloroplasts and cell walls. Each of these differences has a specific task. Plants contain chloroplast to create their own energy while animals get their energy through eating (refer back to flowering stage). In this way of creating energy on their own the plant must store extra nutrients because it cannot get these nutrients whenever it feels like it. This is why plants have larger vacuoles, otherwise known as organelles that store nutrients and waste. Plants have stiff cells, they stand strong and help a plant maintain growth and stability. They cannot move around like animals do because first of all their cell walls. Cells literally are restricted by these rigid structures that protect them. In comparison, animal cells only have cell membranes which allow them to move much easier with more fluid movements. This can explain why bees can move while plants only grow tall. Animal cells can move around more easily then plant cells which is why bees have to go from flower to flower to pollinate for the plant. Because of the biological information known, it can be better understood why bees pollinate for plants. Plants are dependent on consumers. If it were not for bees there would be little to no producers.

Producer and consumer

355 350 345 Height (mm) 340 335 330 325 320 315 310 24

Growth in Stage 4: Pollination

y = -0.8409x2 + 53.986x - 508.57 R = 0.9949

25 29

26

28

30

Days since planting

X & Y table Days since planting 25 26 27 28 29 Height (mm) 315 328 335 ---350 X & Y table Days since planting 25 26 27 28
24 25 26 27 28 29 30

14 Change in Height (mm) 12 10 8 6 4 2 0

Change in Height in Stage 4: Pollination

y = -0.2765x2 + 14.319x - 175.6 R = 0.2065

Change in Height (mm) 8.3 13 7

25 29

29

7.5

Days since planting

Math connections and problem solving The line of best fit found in the growth during the pollination stage of the fast plants life was a polynomial function. It had the best regression. For the Change in height the data was fluctuated making for a regression close to one very difficult. In all, a polynomial function also best represented the change in height values. In terms of problem solving error, there seemed to be none present. The plant was continuously growing steadily. Plus, no other plant had much of a chance is disrupting my plants growth because mine was one out of the two tallest fast plants out of all the classes. There was just measurement error present (refer back to growth and development problem solving.

Websites used for pictures with content

http://static.ddmcdn.com/gif/i rrigation-photosynthesis.gif http://www.macroevolution.ne t/images/sister-chromatids275px.jpg http://alevelnotes.com/content _images/i77_dwa_1_mitosis.gif http://scienceaid.co.uk/biology /cell/images/osmosis.png