Sugar Increases Growth Rate of Rye Grass

Kari D Clapsaddlel
Clarion University of Pennsylvania

Abstract:

I planted 27 Rye grass seeds in each milk carton. The milk cartons were placed in front of my kitchen heater, where they could get natural light. My experimental group received a tablespoon of sugar to enhance growth.

Introduction:

My experiment dealt with two groups of Rye grass seeds. I thought that a tablespoon of sugar, which was placed directly on the soil of one group would enhance the growth of my Rye grass.

Methods:

SUBJECTS:
The subjects were 54 Rye grass seeds.
APPARATUS:
The 54 seeds were divided equally into two milk cartons. The milk cartons contained potting soil and were watered from the bottom.
PROCEDURE:
The seeds were planted in the soil and covered with plastic bags. I placed them in front of the heater, which caused heat and moisture to occur. After the seeds had sprouted uncovered them and exposed one group to sugar. The two groups of seeds grew for three days before I uprooted them.

[Figure 1 About Here.]

Results:

To obtain my results I measured each piece of grass to the inch and performed a Mann-Whitney U. My U obtained was 211.5 and my U critical was 138, so I fail to reject the Null Hypothesis. The average height for the sugar group was 1.717 inches and the no sugar was 1.832 inches. For results refer to figure 1.

Discussion:

The hypothesis: Exposing one group of Rye grass to sugar would enhance itÕs growth. The Mann-Whitney U calculated that I fail to reject the Null hypothesis. This means that sugar does not enhance Rye grass growth.

Return to Paper Directory