HYDROPONICS WORKBOOK FINAL2

FOOD FOR THE FUTURE HYDROPONCS INITIATIVE WORKBOOK

Table of Contents 2 11 Comparing plant grown in soil with plants grown in a Hydroponic system 14 Comparing plants grown in sunlight with plants grown without sunlight 14 pH levels 15 Plant deficiency 16 Worksheet 1 18 Worksheet 2 Hydroponics Crossword Puzzle 1

Experiment 1 Part 1 Title: Comparing plant grown in soil with plants grown in a Hydroponic system Aim: To determine if lettuce seedlings of the same size and type the grow when planted i) in soil or ii) in a hydroponic system. Materials and apparatus: 8 lettuce seedlings of the same size and type, Miracle gro fertiliser, hydroponic system, paper tissues, scale Procedure 1: A. Growing lettuce in soil 1. Dig holes in rows 16 inches (40.6 cm) apart, just deep enough to plant the root balls underground. 2. Lift four lettuce seedlings from the seed tray and place them into the holes. Gently pat soil around the roots so that the seedlings stay upright and planted to the same depth they were in the trays. 3. Add three scoops of miracle grow to one gallon of water and water the seedlings thoroughly. 4. Water the seedlings every 2-3 days with water only. 5. Measure the height of each plant from the top of the soil to the top of the plant shoot. 6. Measure the length and width of the longest leaf from lettuce plants. 7. Record the plants growth every other day for 30 days in the appropriate tables below. B. Growing lettuce in a Hydroponic system 1. Prepare the hydroponic solution by adding 3 scoops of Miracle gro to the water in the reservoir of the hydroponic system. 2. Remove four seedlings out of their trays and carefully wash away most of the soil from the roots. 3. Secure the clean seedlings in the growing medium in the hydroponic chamber using pool noodles which contain small hydro stones and into the hydroponic solution container. 4. Monitor the plants daily for 30 days. 5. Measure the height of each plant from the top of the soil to the top of the plant shoot. 6. Measure the length and width of the longest leaf from each plant. 2

7. Record the plants growth every other day for 15 days in the appropriate tables below. N.B. Record any observations on changes or differences in plant colour. Results A. Growing lettuce in soil TABLE 1: LENGTH OF LONGEST LEAF (cm) Day Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3 Plant 4 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 30 3

TABLE 2: WIDTH OF LONGEST LEAF (cm) Day Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3 Plant 4 Plant 3 Plant 4 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 30 TABLE 3: PLANT HEIGHT Plant 2 Day Plant 1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 30 4

B. Growing lettuce in a Hydroponic system TABLE 4: LENGTH OF LONGEST LEAF (cm) Day Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3 Plant 4 Plant 4 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 30 TABLE 5: WIDTH OF LONGEST LEAF (cm) Day Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 30 5

TABLE 6: PLANT HEIGHT Plant 2 Plant 3 Plant 4 Day Plant 1 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 30 Analysis 1. Plot a graph of shoot height vs no of days for (i) plants grown in soil and (ii) plants grown in the hydroponic system on the same grid. 2. Plot a graph of leaf length vs no of days for (i) plants grown in soil and (ii) plants grown in the hydroponic system on the same grid. 3. Plot a graph of leaf width vs no of days for (i)plants grown in soil(ii) plants grown in the hydroponic system on the same grid. Discussion 1. Using the graphs drawn, compare the growth of plants in hydroponics system and soil over the 30-day period. 2. State any limitations or sources of error. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6

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Experiment 1 Part 2 Procedure 2: Lettuce grown in soil 1. Remove the plants from soil and wash off any loose dirt. 2. Blot the plants with tissue removing any surface moisture. 3. Measure the shoot and the root of each plant and record the measurements in the appropriate tables below. 4. Count the number of leaves of each plant and record the number in the appropriate table below. 5. Weigh the four plants individually using a scale and record the masses in the appropriate table below. Add the plant masses together to obtain the collective plant mass. 6. Record any observations on changes or differences in plant colour. Lettuce grown in a hydroponic system 7. Remove the plants from the hydroponic system. 8. Blot the plants with tissue removing any surface moisture. 9. Measure the shoot and the root of each plant and record the measurements in the appropriate tables below. 10. Count the number of leaves of each plant and record the number in the appropriate table below. 11. Weigh the four plants individually using a scale and record the masses in the appropriate table below. Add the plant masses together to obtain the collective plant mass. 12. Record any observations on changes or differences in plant colour. Results TABLE 7: LETTUCE GROWN IN SOIL Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3 Plant 4 Shoot length/ cm Root length/cm Number of leaves Mass /g Collective mass of plants /g 8

TABLE 8: LETTUCE GROWN IN THE HYDROPONICS SYSTEM Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3 Plant 4 Shoot length/ cm Root length/cm Number of leaves Mass /g Collective mass of plants /g Analysis Draw a diagram and label of a lettuce plant grown in (I) soil and (ii) hydroponically. Compare the two sets of plants, stating the major differences. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9

Discussion Explain the major differences identified between the two sets of plants. From your experiment explain why carrots may not be suitable for growing hydroponically. Name two other crop which may be suitable for growing hydroponically and explain why. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Conclusion _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 10

Experiment 2 Title: Comparing plants grown in sunlight with plants grown without sunlight Aim: To determine if sunlight affects the growth of lettuce seedings of the same type and size. Materials and apparatus: 8 lettuce seedlings of the same size and type, Miracle gro fertiliser, hydroponic system, paper tissues, scale Procedure 1: 1. Prepare a hydroponic solution by adding 3 scoops of Miracle gro to the water in the reservoir of the hydroponic system. 2. Remove 8 seedlings out of their trays and carefully wash away most of the soil from the roots. 3. Secure the clean seedlings in the growing medium in the hydroponic chamber using pool noodles which contain small hydro stones and into the hydroponic solution container. 4. Place a black plastic bag securely over 4 of the plants to shade them from the sun. 5. Leave the other 4 plant uncovered. 6. Monitor the plants daily for 5 days. 7. Remove the plants from the hydroponic system. 8. Blot the plants with tissue removing any surface moisture. 9. Measure the shoot and the root of each plant and record the measurements in the appropriate tables below. 10. Count the number of leaves of each plant and record the number in the appropriate table below. 11. Weigh the four plants individually using a scale and record the masses in the appropriate table below. 12. Record any observations on changes or differences in plant colour. Results TABLE 9: LETTUCE GROWN IN SUNLIGHT Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3 Plant 4 Shoot length/ cm Root length/cm Number of leaves Mass /g Collective mass of plants /g 11

TABLE 10: LETTUCE GROWN IN THE DARK Plant 1 Plant 2 Plant 3 Plant 4 Shoot length/ cm Root length/cm Number of leaves Mass /g Collective mass of plants /g Analysis State any differences in characteristics between the plants grown in the sunlight and the plants grown in the dark. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 12

Discussion 1. Define photosynthesis. 2. State the conditions necessary for photosynthesis 3. Write the equation for photosynthesis 4. Explain the differences between the plants grown in the sunlight and the plants grown in the dark. _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________ 13

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PLANNING AND DESIGNS Experiment 3 pH levels Students growing plants hydroponically noticed residue in the reservoir and growing chambers and that the plants are not growing as well as they should. One student suggest that the pH level is too high and therefore the plants are unable to take up the nutrients which have been deposited throughout the hydroponic system. Plan and design an experiment to investigate the students’ observations. Experiment 4 Plant deficiency Students growing plants hydroponically notice that the plant growth is stunted and the leaves are droopy, dull and turning white. Someone suggests that the plants have an iron deficiency. Plan and design an experiment to investigate to determine if this is true. 15

WORKSHEETS ON HYDROPONICS Worksheet 1 1. A student carried out the following experiment to determine the flow rate of a water pump used in a hydroponics system. She measured from the centre of the first hole to the centre of the last hole of the left arm of the hydroponic chamber. She recorded this distance as 150cm. The height of the water in the pipe which was exactly half of the 4-inch pipe (2 inches or 5.08cm). She placed 2 drops of red food dye in the centre of the first hole and started the stopwatch immediately. She stopped the stopwatch at 15s when the red colour reached the centre of the last hole (in the left arm of the hydroponic chamber) and recorded the time in seconds. i. Draw a suitable table to record her results. ii. Calculate the volume of the water in the pipe using the volume of a cylinder = πr2h. iii. Convert volume in cm3 to L (1000cm3 =1L) iv. Calculate the flow rate = volume /time v. The label on the pump’s box states that it has a flow rate of 1200L/h. Based on your calculations, is the pump efficient? 2. Calculate the work done by the pump to move the volume of water in (1), given that the pump has a power of 25 W. Assume that the density of water is 1kgm-3. 3. Calculate the current required by the pump given the voltage of the pump is 220V. 16

Worksheet 2 1. Define hydroponics? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2. Distinguish between hydroponics and conventional agriculture? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 3. Two benefits of using hydroponics for growing food over conventional agriculture are: i________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ii_______________________________________________________________________________________________________ 4. Explain why plants can grow without being in soil? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 5. State the conditions required for plants to grow and survive? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 6. What is the nutrient solution and why is it important to a hydroponics system? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 17

7. What is a medium and why is it important to a hydroponics system? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 8. What is pH and why does it have to be monitored in a hydroponics system? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 9. Why is the use of hydroponics farming most likely going to increase in the future? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 10. Hydroponics is used to grow fruit and vegetables for the astronauts when they are in space. Why do you think NASA uses this method? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 11. Give TWO disadvantages of using hydroponics compared to conventional farming? _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 18

CROSSWORD PUZZLE Across nutrient mixture and aerated using an air pump. 2 A mixture of macronutrients, micronutrients, and water used to nourish 10 An inert anchoring material that supports plants in a soilless growing system. (2 plants in a hydroponic system. Also known words) as a substrate. 6 A group of trace elements that work with 12 The upper layer of earth in which plants grow macronutrients to sustain plants. 14 A plant process that uses carbon 8 A simple hydroponic system in which dioxide and water to turn sunlight into plant roots are totally submerged in a usable energy in the form of carbohydrates (sugar). 19

15 The process of providing oxygen to 14 A scale representing acidity and plant roots to encourage nutrient alkalinity as a numbered range from 1- uptake, root development, and overall 14. health. 16 The development of a plant from a seed Down 1 The shedding or dropping of fruits, flowers or leaves. 3 A soluble substance with a pH above 7. 4 A symptom of adding excess fertilizer which causes leaf tips and margins turn yellow and distort. (2 words) 5 A substance added to soil or other media to improve plants' growth and yield. 7 A receptacle that holds nutrients within a hydroponic system. 9 A solution with a pH below 7. 11 A technique of growing plants (without soil) in water containing dissolved nutrients 13 The dying of plant tissue, usually the result of serious nutrient deficiency or pest attack. 19