Words to know before you read

Control- An experimental group that is used to compare the effect of different treatments.  Data - the results (values) obtained in a scientific experiment. Experimental Group - group of individuals (in this case seeds) that are treated the same way in an experiment. Treatment- Treatments are what is done to the different experimental groups, that is, how they are treated. Variable - Factors that may affect a particular experimental group. There are several forms of variables.

Independent variable - variable purposely changed. Dependent variable - the variable that is being observed, which changes in response to the independent variable. Controlled variable - variables that are not changed are called controlled variables. Virtual - things created or simulated by the use of a computer. The plants in this experiment were once real, but now exist only on the computer, living virtually forever.

Dr. Biology has been busy working on a new experiment and he needs your help. He has collected so much information from the experiment that he needs someone to analyze the data. All the results  have been recorded in photographs, including some cool animations. 

To become Dr. Biology's assistant, just read the information below and collect and analyze the data from the experiment. There is also a packet to download and print on your computer. It includes instructions about the experiment, information about seed germination, blank data cards, and graph paper to record your results. You will need Adobe Reader to print the packet which is about one megabyte in size.

Hey, have you read the companion article, Time Traveling Plants, for this experiment? You can learn about seed development and also how seeds are tiny time capsules that survive in suspended animation for hundreds to thousands of years making them little time travelers.

Details of the Experiment