Evaluation

Each student will be evaluated on the following:

  • The proper completion of the lab paper in the scientific method form. Special attention will be given to the hypothesis and the content of the step-by-step procedure, data collection, and written conclusion and summary.
  • The successful completion of the observation expressed in the data journals and plant maintenance.
  • The graphs and charts created from the data.
  • Being able to work with and contribute to the group.
  • Knowledge gained by doing the experiment in the form of a written quiz.

Extension

Following are ideas which you may wish to incorporate into this unit:

  • Students can experiment with different amounts of scarification. Example: nick the seed coat, remove half of the seed coat, and remove the entire seed coat.
  • Students can experiment with different ways of scarifying plants to see if one way is better than another.
  • Students can research other plants with hard seed coats and determine where these plants are found.
  • Students can research other internal factors that affect dormancy and do experiments to test them. Example: Test to see which seeds may have growth inhibitors present in the tissues surrounding the seed.
  • Students can determine leaf area of the plants that came up with and without scarification by using graph paper, tracing the leaf, and counting the squares. Other methods could also be used.


    Curriculum Integration
    Science
    Math
    Language Arts
    Social Studies
    practice lab safety
    scientific method
    plants: germination, dormancy,
    artificial scarification, plant maintenance    		 measurement (mass, length, volume, area)
    metric system
    graphing    		 oral presentations
    following instructions
    summarization
    data journal writing
    research (library skills,
    using reference materials)    		 careers
    climate and geography
    economics