Question

A student notices that a group of ivy plants growing in a cool room of a building grow at a different rate than a group of the same kind of ivy growing in a warm room in the same building. The student wants to find out why the two groups of plants grow at different rates. Explain how she could carry out an experiment using all of the steps of a scientific process.

Answer 1

The student can conduct the experiment with the ivy relatively easy. First, the student should get multiple ivy plants, three would be enough. Than the three ivy's should be planted in separate pots, and put in controlled conditions where the temperatures will be different.

One of the ivy should be put in a room temperature, one in a colder temperature, and one in a warmer temperature. All the ivies should get the same amount of water, have the same soil, and be fertilized in the same manner (if fertilized at all), as well as having pots of the same size.

In this way, the student will be able to monitor the development of the ivies in the three different temperatures, as see which one is the best for the plant.

Collecting data regularly is also very important and recommendable.