What is the effect of saltwater on pumpkin seeds?

Saadman Chowdhury Science Lab Report

Research Question:

What is the effect of salt water on pumpkin seed germination over the course of 29 days?

Background Research:

During the early 18th and 19th centuries, before the invention of the modern day refrigerator.

Humans used salt to preserve various foods and materials. Amongst this list was meat,

vegetables and many others. From my perspective, I think that salt mixed with water does have

the ability to preserve various materials. This allows for the solute of salt and water to preserve

contents such as meat and vegetables. Therefore I believe that the salt water will not only

preserve but somewhat add to the nutrients of some seeds, presumably very few of them. I also

discovered from reading past experimental data results that there were always fewer seeds that

germinated comparatively. Salt water contains many nutrients such as Potassium and calcium

which add to the growth of a plant, therefore from my deduction I can state that there will be

some plants that will grow throughout the course of a 21 day salt water immersion.

Science Topic Research:

The seed that I used for my experiment on the effect of salt water on seeds was a pumpkin or a

curcurbita maxima (Abbat, Pierre) . This seed, once germinated will produce a fruit called a

pumpkin which will develop a bright orange color at full maturity (Abbat, Pierre). The size of

the essential vegetable is also quite large comparatively. This plant species belongs to the

curcurbitaceae genus, which roots out of the gourds family. Majority of curcurbitaceae

vegetables and fruits are often produced at large sizes and vibrant colors. By using the scientific

method and utilizing scientific tools I can make exact measurements of the water, the amount of

dirt and the air temperature, furthermore making my experiment more accurate.

Personal Engagement:

My research question is a very general but interesting question in my perspective. It talks about

the effects of salt water on pumpkin seeds. This question has a specific significance in relation to

plant evolution and the wide spread of plant species by means of oceanic transportation.

Therefore I wanted to know more about how one seed can travel thousands of kilometers worth

of salt water and survive the immense pressure and habitual dangers, and germinate in a new

region, expanding its own range, by comparison, the oceanic transportation of plants, if

successful, is somewhat similar to urbanization within humans. Where when we are prepared, we

move from one area to another. In result, learning about how the ecosystem underwater can

affect a single seed is quite important not only in our learning on evolution but also towards our

knowledge on the world we live in.

Hypothesis:

Null:

If I store 24 pumpkin seeds in a glass bottle filled with 150 ml of salt water

Then the seeds will no germinate in the soil after 21 days

Because salt water can potentially kill of any plant life

Alternate:

If I store 24 pumpkin seeds in a glass bottle filled with 150 ml of salt water

Then some seeds will germinate after 21 days

Because the salt water can help supply nutrients and water to the seeds

Variables:

Variables Manipulation

X, Independent Variables - The type of seeds For this experiment I will be

using approximately 24-27

pumpkin seeds

Y, Dependent Variables - Plant

growth/Germination

I will observe plant growth

over time and make

observations consecutively in

a chronological order.

Afterwards I will average the

value that germinated

compared to the value that

did not germinate.

Controlled Variables - The volume of water

- The type of bottle

- The number of seeds

- The volume of salt in

the solute

- The amount of time I

will observe the bottle

for

- The temperature of

the growth

environment

I will control the volume of

water by using a graduated

cylinder

I will control the type of

bottle by using the same

branded bottle for every

experiment. This is important

because a bigger bottle will

have more space and more

air.

I will control the number of

seeds by picking out seeds

one by one and confirm by

counting again

I will control the volume of

salt by inserting a controlled

amount of salt into the water

I will control the amount of

time by observing the bottle

for 21 days exact

I will control the temperature

by setting an air conditioner

or heater to 20 degrees celsius

Materials:

- 1 glass bottle

- 150 milliliters of salt water

- 24 Pumpkin seeds

- 1 piece of cotton to block the top of the glass bottle

- 1 vessel

- 2/3 of a pot worth of soil

- Sufficient water to supply the seeds for 21 days

- 1 Funnel

- 1 Filter

- 1 300 ml beaker

- 1 500 ml graduated cylinder

Procedure:

1. Collect all equipment required for the salt water seed experiment

2. Collect one packet of any seed species (depends on what you prefer)

3. Next cut open the packet and take out 24 seeds

4. Continue the experiment by cleaning out the singha glass bottle, clean out any dirt or dust

inside the bottle

5. Head over to the salt water collection area and pour 150 ml of salt water using a

graduated cylinder into your glass bottle

6. Next, go back to your work station and insert exactly 24 seeds into the water filled bottle

7. Close off the bottle using a strand of cotton, which can be found around your workstation

8. Finally, using a black colored permanent marker, inscribe your name, your seed type and

the number of seeds that are in the glass vessel

9. Keep the bottle stored away at a closed off room, set the room temperature to

approximately 24 degrees Celsius

10. For 21 days, check back to observe the changes in the glass bottle every week. You

should have 3 sections of data observations and notes.

11. After 21 days of observations and note-taking, clear out the salt water out of the bottle

using a funnel.

12. Keep the seeds in a clear space, while you prepare the location for the pot to germinate

13. Next collect a pot from the KIS Science room and fill it with soil and dirt 2/3 full

(remember you will share the pot with someone else)

14. Insert your seeds into one half of the pot, while your partner can insert his/her seeds on

the other half

15. Separate each half using a strand of string and then label each side using a permanent

marker

16. After 7-8 days of germination, check back to the pot and observe changes. Count the

number of seeds that have germinated and insert all data into the central data sheet

17. Insert all Quantitative and Qualitative data into an excel or word document

18. Finally, average all data sets for both classes into data tables and a visual interpretative

graph, Pie charts are perfect for this experiment

Qualitative Observations:

Day: Observations: Image:

7

- The water has changed color

- The seeds and the water share

almost the same shade

- The water smells of turtle water

or aquarium water

- Most seeds have sunk to the

bottom

14 - All seeds have sunk to the bottom

- The water has turned into a

darker yellowish (misty) color

- The odor is quite strong, it

smells of ocean water

- Seeds have remained the same

shape and color

- The seeds released around 3 air

bubbles once shook

- The seeds are very light within

the water, -they move with the

water itself

21 - The color of the water has

intensified greatly

- There are small white flakes

floating around the water

- They seem to be close to the

seeds

- The odor has decreased greatly,

it smells more like ocean water

- Slight headache when smelling

the odor

29 - The plants have fully grown

today

- My seeds have opened up and a

stem has come out

- Only 10/24 seeds germinated

Quantitative observations:

Over the course of the 7 day germination period I observed the growth of the pumpkin seeds and

concluded that my plant grew an approximated 10/24 seeds, furthermore achieving a germination

rate of 42%

After immense salt water immersion, both 9A and 9B concluded with the following results:

244/1196 germinated

Therefore approximately 20% germinated while 80% did not.

Data Processing:

The experiment that we conducted contains a large set of data which can be well represented or

analyzed by calculating the mean average and percentage, then display in a pie chart. This way

the data will be easy to interpret:

Here is how I will calculate the mean average:

�̅� = 𝑠𝑢𝑚 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑑𝑎𝑡𝑎

𝑠𝑎𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑧𝑒

In this case it is the number of seeds germinated divided by the total number of seeds planted,

after averaging out both sets of data into two numbers, germinated and non-germinated… I will

be able to convert it into a percentage.

𝑀𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑃𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑎𝑔𝑒 = 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 ∗ 100

After calculating the mean average, I will multiply the decimal value by 100 in order to calculate

the mean percentage of seeds that germinated vs the mean percentage of seeds that did not

germinate. Finally I will process my data into a pie chart using the Microsoft excel application.

For example: here is my data set, I planted 24 seeds in total and only 10 germinated. Sum of all

data equals to the number of seeds germinated which is 10, and the sample size (number of total

seeds) is 24. Following the equation I will divide 10/24 and receive 0.4166. Afterwards to

convert this to a percentage I will need to multiply the value by 100. In result I get 41.66%

germination rate.

Seed: Planted seeds Germinated seeds

Pumpkin 24 10

Raw Data Table:

Grade Data Sheets:

G9A

name seed type # started

#

germinated

Atom Chilli pepper 35 0

Erin Eggplant 30 2

Cherry Pak Choy 35 1

Jeremy Watermelon 30 8

Maggie Mini Tomato 40 38

Poom Striped Watermelon 48 6

Samuel Chinese Cabbage 34 0

Saadman Pumpkin 24 10

Jacky Tomatoes 25 11

Byte Watermelon 28 6

Daniel Chinese Cabbage 35 0

Jobjab Watermelon 28 2

Samina Watermelon 32 14

Annette Watermelon 32 17

Emily Watermelon 30 5

Mami Red Holy Basil 35 2

Krit Bird Pepper 40 1

Kate Tree Basil 30 1

9A TOTAL SEEDS: 591 124

G9b

name seed type # started

#

germinated

Seara Bush Bean 30 0

Budi Dark Green Pepper 30 2

Levi Dark Green Pepper 30 1

Peem Dark Green Pepper 30 5

Int Dark Green Pepper 30 6

yim Eggplant 30 1

Minsue Bird Pepper 40 0

Abhi Pumpkin Seeds 20 8

Viraj Okra Seeds 34 1

Yo Cerry tomatoes 25 11

Kimberly Pumpkin Seeds 14 9

Ruby Mini tomatoes 40 38

Ping Bush Beans 18 0

Jenny Big Sugar Peas 35 0

Emily Br Wiang Ping Pepper 30 3

Rino Hot hotpepper 40 9

Mint Green Flower Bok Choy 37 2

Faa Wiang Ping Pepper 40 5

Tan Yellow-ZhuchiniSquash 22 12

Prem Wiang Ping Pepper 30 7

9B TOTAL SEEDS 605 120

Grade: Planted seeds (TOTAL) Germinated seeds (TOTAL)

G9 1196 244

Personal Data Sheet:

Seed: Planted seeds Germinated seeds

Pumpkin 24 10

Processed Data Table:

Personal Data:

Seed: Germinated seeds (%) Non Germinated seeds (%)

Pumpkin 40% 60%

Grade Data:

Grade: Germinated seeds (%) Non Germinated seeds (%)

G9 20.4 79.6

(Mean average: GS/PS

244/1196 = 0.204

Mean germinated seeds: 0.204 or 20.4% (0.204*100)

1-0.204 = 0.796

Mean non-germinated seeds: 0.796 or 79.6 (0.706*100))

Graph:

Conclusion:

Throughout the course of this lab’s data results, it is evident that very few seeds, 1/5 specifically

germinated. Therefore the 20% that did grow mainly consisted of watermelon, pumpkin and mini

tomato seeds. The germination rate for my pumpkin seeds was 41%, in this case 10 germinated

while 24 others failed. I would also mention that the pumpkin plants grew the largest sized plants

out of all the plant species. The most successful seeds were Ruby and Maggie’s mini tomato

seeds. These seeds had a germination rate of 95% after salt water absorption while other seeds

such as Dark green peppers had a germination rate of 3%. Therefore there is a large range of

data, if the range were to be calculated, which is the largest value minus the lowest value, we

would find a large gap between each data value. This range can also be recorded using the

interquartile range of the amount of germinated seeds. Which for 9B is 7.75 and for 9A is 9.25.

With this value we can deduce that 9A had a more dynamic set of data comparatively. The IQR

shows the average difference between each value within the set. The higher the value, the more

contrasting the data is. Furthermore with the majority of the plants failing to germinate over the

course of 29 days, I can conclusively state that my alternate hypothesis was correct, since some

survived while others did not.

20.40%

79.60%

Percentage of Germinated seeds

Germinated Seeds

Non Germinated Seeds

Below is a table of genus names and succession rates of the collection of seeds that we used in

this experiment. By performing this deduction I can conclude on which genus of plants can

survive salt water immersion.

Seed: Genus name:

Pumpkin Curcurbita

Chilli Pepper Piper (Evans, Carey)

Eggplant Solanum (Nakisa, Ramin)

Watermelon Citrullus (Abbat, Pierre)

Striped watermelon Citrullus (Abbat, Pierre)

Chinese cabbage Brassica

RH Basil Ocimum

Dark green pepper Piper

Green flower bok choy Brassica

Sugar peas Pisum

Bush bean Phaseolus (Richard, Barlow)

Tomatoes Solanum (Nakisa, Ramin)

Mini Tomatoes Solanum (Nakisa, Ramin)

Tree Basil Ocimum

From the table above we can state that the most used plant species were from the genuses,

Solamum, Ocimum and Citrullus (Abbat, Pierre). From the top most implemented seeds, I can

average out the succession or germination rate and furthermore deduce which genus was the

most effective in travelling from one continent to the other using ocean currents, then I will

research upon the availability of each genus throughout the world, and conclude that the most

available plant species is the most effective seed over the consequences of salt water immersion.

The highest succession rate within the data set was that of the mini tomatoes, at 95% germination

after salt water immersion while the lowest result was the dark green pepper seed which had a

successive germination rate of 3%. While other genus names such as Brassica had a complete

rate of 3% and Solamum having a succession rate of 46%. Other top germinated seeds such as

watermelons had a germination rate of 52% and pumpkins which germinated over 40%. This

shows that the most germinated seeds came from the following genus names:

- Solanum

- Curcurbita

After further researching on both Solamum and Curcurbita I found that the family name for

Solamum was Solaneceae and the family name of the pumpkin seeds was curcurbitaceae (Abbat,

Pierre). This did not play an important role within the context that I had decided to research

upon, but it did have some significance towards the most successful seed within our experiment.

The most successful seeds were the mini tomatoes, which branched out from the genus,

Solamum and shared the same family as eggplants, chilli peppers and tomatoes, some of which

had very low germination rates. Therefore my final statement is that the Solanum genus was only

successful within the growth of the mini tomatoes because of the size of the essential fruit. The

mini tomato is essentially a small fruit therefore the amount of nutrients required to achieve full

maturity, color and taste within the plant and tomato fruit is quite low, therefore the mini tomato

had achieved and absorbed the most nutrients from the salt water furthermore maximizing plant

growth. Other bigger plants such as watermelons and pumpkins had half the germination

comparatively, furthermore the seed and plant size and the nutrient capacity and requirement

were the essential factors of this experiment. They were the main factors which impacted our

results furthermore I can deduce and conclude that my research question was answered in the

process of this experiment, and that the seed size played a big role within the succession rate of

each plant species. Furthermore the binomial nomenclature or biological classification did not

play an important role within the course of this experiment.

I also discovered that tomatoes are found almost anywhere around the world but only selectively

in few seasons. It can be found in western regions, along with Asian and indo Asian areas.

Next Testable Question:

For the next testable question on this experiment I would like to test how the amount of salt we

implement within the salt water solute will affect germination. This can be performed by having

one bottle containing 35 o/oo of salt and having two other bottles with 45 and 55 o/oo of salt.

The unit o/oo is used to measure the amount of salt per 1000 pounds of water. For example, 35

o/oo is 35 pounds of salt in every 1000 pounds of water. Therefore by making different solutes

with different salt implementations, we can confirm whether the growth actually depends on the

nutrients within the salt water. This question should be testable to observe why some fruits and

vegetables are unique to only some areas, and observe whether the amount of salt can affect

future germination or not.

Evaluation:

This experiment was conducted over a course of 29 days. 21 days for the absorption period and 7

days for the germination period. The whole experiment was also performed with only a single

trial, therefore any mistakes made during the preparation or germination stages could not be

retried or fixed in the next rendition. Though both the concept and the end result of the

experiment were successful, there can still be improvements to the overall conduction of the

experiment. I would recommend performing more trials, furthermore we would have a whole

range of data for each seed, and therefore we can average a value from that data set and conclude

with a fair and scientifically valid result. More trials can be easily performed by actually having

seeds in three bottles of salt water and plant the seeds into three different pots. I state 3

DIFFERENT pots because from my deduction a large number of plants failed to grow not only

due to the inability to germinate but also due to interference or lack of nutrients in the growing

environment. If we store two very different plants such as a watermelon and mini tomato seeds

in the same pot, the fair share of nutrients will be consumed by the bigger and sweeter fruit, this

is because in order to grow big in size a plant will need a lot of glucose, which is produced

throughout the process of photosynthesis, the process which was ignored throughout this

procedure of the lab, since we stored the plants inside rather than in an open environment.

Therefore since most of the water, glucose, potassium and calcium are consumed by the bigger

seed/plant, the smaller seeds have a lower probability to survive this germination period and

grow to flourish a fruit or a plant. Furthermore I would possibly re-perform this experiment with

a few more trials, approximately 3 or 4 just to ensure that there was a fair share of nutrients and

to average out the data into an exact concluding value. From Darwin’s rendition and

interpretation of the experiment, he used capsicum seeds. He stored the capsicum seeds in salt

water immersion for 137 days (Darwin, Charles, and John Van Whye). After final observations,

Charles Darwin concluded that his capsicum seeds had a germination of 30/56 or 54% (Darwin,

Charles, and John Van Whye). Our class did not experiment upon capsicum seeds therefore a

plant species from the same genus will provide similar results. Therefore dark green pepper,

which derives from the same genus as piper (Evans, Carey). Had a contrasting germination rate

of 3%. Whereas Darwin’s seeds had a germination rate of 56% (Darwin, Charles, and John Van

Whye). This furthermore shows that there was either an issue within our procedure or the seeds

themselves. In terms of the seeds, which have obviously faced some changes in the last 500 years

did play a minor part in this experiment but I cannot deduce that only 500 years would cause a

decline in germination rates from 56-3%. This means that over the last 5 centuries, the plant’s

effective germination rates have decreased significantly by 53%. This is not probable since such

a minor change in time cannot lead to a dynamic result such as this. Therefore I think that the

main issue lies amongst our procedure and execution of this experiment. Darwin, who stored the

seeds in salt water for 137 days had more effective germination comparatively to our grade 9

class, while we stored our seeds for 21 days. Therefore I think that the longer the immersion

lasts, the more successful the germination will be with more absorption of salt water. Darwin

also tested other seeds such as canary and cabbage seeds, some of which we did not implement,

furthermore the context is different from that of ours.

Error IB Scale Improvements

Over-consumption of

resources

MEDIUM

Collect soil from the same

environment so that the

nutrients such as potassium,

calcium and nitrogen are of

the same environment.

The room humidity HIGH Insert all pots into an

incubator to maintain same

humidity.

Room Temperature was

unstable

HIGH Insert all the ready pots into a

lighted incubator which will

contain a fixed light and

maintain a stable temperature,

further helping two different

factors of plant growth.

Volume of Soil HIGH The amount of soil is an

essential factor towards plant

germination, therefore we

should measure a specific

weight such as 900 grams or

1kg and then plant the seeds.

Dynamic changes in lumen

values

MEDIUM The value of lumen in a room

is also essential towards plant

growth since light is a key

factor of germination,

therefore when we turn on,

then turn off the lights, the

plants will interpret it as a

day/night cycle, further

impacting oxygen, glucose

production and plant growth.

The plants can be inserted

into an incubator with fixed

in lights so that both the

temperature and the lumen

value stay stable.

Reflection: This was a very time consuming experiment, taking almost a month to conduct, but it

was actually VERY educational and somewhat enjoyable. I really liked to see my own plant

grow in the matter of a week. This also brought back some memories since we also planted seeds

and germinated plants back in Early Years but this time we did it with a LOT more knowledge

on the context. Overall I indeed enjoyed this experiment but there are still improvements that can

be made, such as the incubator. The incubator was the solution to many errors from my

perspective, since many incubators will contain both lights and a temperature adapter, it is the

ideal location to stimulate a tropical environment. The watering can also be maintained by

setting an auto air freshener disposer, with water in the tank. This auto air freshener disposer is a

product created by many companies and businesses such as Air Wick, who will make a

contraption which releases a spray of liquid (in our case, water) into a short range every 30

seconds- 5 minutes or every 10 minutes. The timer can be set using a dial behind the contraption.

This machine is quite small and will fit within an incubator, furthermore fixing it onto the

incubator with a light and temperature adapter is the perfect solution to almost any errors we

might have throughout this experiment. I greatly recommend it for next year’s experiments, just

so we can maximize data accuracy and minimize error frequency.

Work Cited

Abbat, Pierre. "Citrullus." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 5 Sept. 2002. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Citrullus&action=history>.

Abbat, Pierre. "Cucurbita." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 7 Nov. 2002. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cucurbita>.

Barlow, Richard Barlow. "Phaseolus." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 21 May 2003. Web.

07 Mar. 2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phaseolus>.

Darwin, Charles, and John Van Whye. "Effect of Salt-water on the Germination of Seeds."

Darwin, C. R. 1855. Effect of Salt-water on the Germination of Seeds. The Complete

Works of Charles Darwin Online, 2 July 2012. Web. 07 Mar. 2015. <http://darwin-

online.org.uk/converted/published/1855_effect_F1687.html>.

Evans, Carey. "Piper (genus)." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Feb. 2002. Web. 08 Mar.

2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piper_%28genus%29>.

Nakisa, Ramin. "Solanum." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 July 2002. Web. 08 Mar.

2015. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solanum>.

"Pumpkin Seeds." Pumpkin Seeds. WH FOODS, n.d. Web. 08 Mar. 2015.

<http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=82>.