Here's my lesson plan and reflections

I really like this--as I have already said. Question-Where can I purchase these fast plants? I also tried to open the time lapse stack. Does this use the ImageJ program? I am using another computer that does not have it loaded.

Hi Suzanne - I just checked out the PowerPoint the kids made. Very nice job! They did a nice job with the documentation and observations! I also found it interesting that the Growth Hormone had the opposite effect on the fast grow plants. I wonder why? Are they already treated with a growth hormone hence the FAST GROW so that the addition of this chemical is counter productive?

I had a problem with my time lapse animation on my PowerPoint also. One thing is you have to keep the file with the PowerPoint and redirect it to the file if you rename or move the file. Otherwise PowerPoint has a problem with the file.

When I downloaded the time lapse stack it is seen as a Unix Executable File for a Unix based PC so that might be why others are having a problem seeing the stack. I did try opening it from within Imagej but that didn't work either. You might try saving the stack as a Quicktime file with a .mov file extension or an .avi file. Usually people have a program to open either of those files on PC or Mac platform.

I noticed the students are using white laptops. Are they Macs or the new small Netbooks? If they are the netbooks that might be why you are getting a stack as a Unix exectable stack.

Really nice lesson with the students and you can tell from the PowerPoint they really enjoyed their assignment!

Anne Marie

Suzanne, Great experiment. It is always nice when the results do not support the hypothesis. It really show students that even if the experiment doesn't go as planned that it hasn't failed and they just need to rethink just like scientists do.

Nice graphs and powerpoint. Looks like they really enjoyed working with you!

Hello Suzanne,
This looks like a great lesson! Kids love to see things grow and since they designed their own experiments, measured the plants, and photographed their results, they will remember this lesson for years to come.

I do not teach plant growth in my curriculum, however, my students develop science fair projects and this could be a useful tool for some as part of their experiment presentation.

Great job!

Hello Suzanne,
This looks like a great lesson! Kids love to see things grow and since they designed their own experiments, measured the plants, and photographed their results, they will remember this lesson for years to come.

I do not teach plant growth in my curriculum, however, my students develop science fair projects and this could be a useful tool for some as part of their experiment presentation.

Great job!

Hi Suzanne, I liked the lesson, especially the time lapse. You can use great northern beans which you can find at the supermarket(bean section) to grow things very quickly also. They sometimes sprout over a weekend. Thank you for the links to image sites. I checked out one on anatomy and will probably use it when I do human body systems. See you next week.