Seed Stories, Semester 1: Grace Euerle

Grace has learned a number of things about gardening what is involved in plant growth, like biotic and abiotic factors and reproduction and the process of meiosis. She was suprised about how big the Kolrabi got, considering how small it was at first and thought it was crazy how fast it grew, and how so many types of Brassica Oleracea occured from the origial. She thought deeper about what effect the enviroment had on out plant and what effect our plant has on the enviroment. She looked forward to gardening because she hadn't experienced it in a while, and enjoyed taking care of our very own plant and watching it grow.

How Does Our Garden Grow?

Our plants continue to get larger everyday, which leads to increasing biomass. This growth can be caused be mitosis, the division of cells. This happens in reproduction, which adds to the population. Photosynthesis also adds to plant growth because the plants can make their own food through that process. Reperation adds to increase as well. This turns sugars into energy.

One of a Kind: The Wonders of Biodiversity

My group's plant is Kolrabi, which is a plant in the broccoli family that has broad leaves, purple stems, and a large purple bulb in the center. I can tell that the parent plants probably had large leaves and were larger plants.You could probably predict what the offspring will look like based on the parents; it will inherit many of the same traits. The plants aquire traits from the process of meiosis, which mixes chromosomes of each parent cell and passes it down to the off spring. This will happen again and again, from generation to generation. However, none of the offspring will look exactly like its parent or any of its relatives because it is a combonation of both, not an exact replication of one parent. Some plants in the same family can look very different becuase of mutations and adaptations. The original Brassica Oleracea has passed down many traits to its offspring, which eventually spread to create many types of plants related to it.

Living or Not

Our little kolrabi plant has come a long way since the beginning of the semester. Anyone could see that it has been healthy and growing well, from a small seedling with only a root growing out of it to a full-fledged leafy purple and green Kolrabi plant. It doesn't have dead leaves or any signs of illness, so it is obviously living healthily.

Ecological Analysis of the Garden and Our Plants

           Our plants depend on abiotic, like certain weather, and biotic factors, like living creatures, to survive. A plant needs sun and warmth to grow and other animals in the ecosystem are need to help reproduce. However, not all animals are good for the plants; some are competition. You can tell the some animals have been eating the plants. The other plants are also competition because they all want to get as much nutrients as possible. The winner in these situations would be the plants that grow to their full potential, but sometimes it is hard to tell because a plant may not seem like it is failing to survive at first when it really is. Animals, like insects for example, help plants reproduce by spreading pollen from one plant to another. Secondary succession is occurring in our garden because new plants are growing in the soil where old plants once were.

Our plants depend on a number of factors to survive. Some abiotic factors are the temperature, water, and weather. Some biotic factors are animals, bacteria, and other plants. I know that our plants are in competition because there are other plants all around it. When other plants are around a plant they all will be in competition for sunlight, water, and space. The "losing" plants will failing to survive. Plants also interact with insects by providing food for the insects and the insects spread the plants pollen by flying from one plants to another. The way we know that succession is occurring is that the plants are growing and it is secondary succession.

Our plants have gotten bigger and grown more leaves in the past week. Our plants take in water through their roots and use it to make energy. They also take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen. The plants also take nitrogen from the soil and the animals that eat that plant get the nitrogen.

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Our plants are getting bigger and bigger and increasing biomass. They are creating new cells in a process called mitosis where the cells divide. They get the energy for this process with photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, plants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen into the air. 

Is It Alive?

          In this project, our group is growing Kohlrabi, which is a vegetable that is part of the Brassica Oleracea family. Kohlrabi is a purple turnip looking plant that kinda tastes like broccoli. We will water and take care the plant, and harvest it when it is done growing.
  Our plants started as tiny little seeds before we planted them, and they have grown into large plants. Their stems are thick and purple and their leaves are broad and green. We can tell that our plant is living, because is has grown from a tiny seed into an almost fully grown Kohlrabi plant.

Kohlrabi     

About Page Link

Here is a link to a page explaining our project -->  About Page Link

Biogeochemical Cycles

           Our plants have gone from seeds to growing plants. They have gotten very big. They have large leaves and are taller then they were before. When our plants are watered, they will absorb the water through their roots. The rest of the water will evaporate from the soil. Our plants will use photosynthises to suck carbon dioxide out of the air. When they take in carbon dioxide, they will release oxygen into the air. Nitrogen is a very important element to a plant. It helps them carry out many  functions of life. The plants absorb nitrogen from the soil. These cycles help our plants and other plants survive.

Biogeochemical Cycles and Our Plant

        About a week after we transferred or little plants to the garden, we went to check on them. In that short amount of time they grew to be about half a foot tall. They are still small, green and leafy, but will soon grow to their full hight, width, and the base will become purple. When watered, our plant absorbs water through the soil and into its roots and leafs for nutrients. This water is then can transpire and return to the atmosphere where it continues onto the next stage of the water cycle. Plants play the part of absorbing carbon and giving out oxygen in the carbon cycle. In the nitrogen cycle the plants receive it from the soil and incorporate it into animals. All of these cycles contribute to the growth of the plant because of the producers' intake of nutrients.

An Ecological Analysis

         Now that our plants are finally planted in the garden, they are being exposed to more biotic and abiotic factors. They will have to depend on the amount of sunlight they get, the rain, and how much growing space they have. They will have to defend themselves from harmful insects and weeds.

        Also, our plants will compete with each other and other plants. there is only so much room and resources, and they will have to struggle with each other to get to these resources to survive. If a plant loses, they could die or whither out. 
  Our plants will interact with each other and the other factors. They will be effected by the weather, insects, and other plants.

All About Me- William Segarini-Jeffries

My name is Will and I've never had much experience with gardening before but so far this project has been really interesting. I have lived in California my whole life and I like to play drums and guitar.

All about me- Anna Garcia Jones

My name is Anna Garcia Jones I live in San Jose, California and I mostly have family here and in Texas, so we go there usually at least once a year. Many people in my family have moved before, however I've lived in the same spot my entire life.

I haven't had much experience with gardening before, but on occasion I've helped out various family members with their garden. My dad and I always talked about starting a garden and planting flowers but we never really got around to it. One person in my life who knows a lot about gardening is my aunt. She is also good at cooking. Sometimes I'll watch her cook and use different ingredients for different things. Her garden mostly consists of flowers and plants but sometimes she will grow food and use it in her cooking. I've had some experience cooking and so far I've been good at it but I'd really like to learn to garden and grow my own food. 

All About Me- Grace Euerle

  My name is Grace Euerle and I live in San Jose, California. I have lived in california my entire life but I really want to move to London. 

  When I was little I would grow flowers with my mom, and I used to grow strawberries. I have some experience with gardening, but not as much as my aunt. When she lived in Santa Barbra, she grew her own fruits and vegetables. My mom is really good a cooking, and has taught me how cook many meals. Maybe after we finish this project, I'll make another garden.