JK

IB Biology Germination Design Task

Background information
After reading an article by EndHunger.uk about the alarming statistics of the UK’s ‘hidden
hunger’, I have become interested in understanding how the UK could make itself more
efficient and productive agriculturally. The United Nations have estimated that over 8
million people in the UK are ‘insecure’ about food.

Approximately 2000 food banks and food bank centres are in operation. There are rising
levels of hospital admissions due to malnutrition cost the NHS £12bn per year with14%
worrying about not having enough food to eat. Financially a majority of adults (3 in 5) have
seen food bills go up in last 3 months, reflecting higher food inflation. People are now
seeing higher food bills, with 59% of adults seeing their groceries costing more in the last
three months compared with the same period before.

These statistics are mainly due to economic reasons as employment poverty is it an all
time in 2018. With the UK due to leave the EU on March 29, 2019 - an economic union
they have been part of since
1973 - it is almost inevitable
that Britain will have to
become self sufficient. This
is due to the several threats
of a ‘No Deal Brexit’ where
Britain leaves without any
agreements agreed about
the Anglo-EU relationship;
including trade. HM Revenue and Customs have said to businesses that there will be
“likely changes to customs procedures” meaning that there will be a limiting import of food
into the UK.

With 29% of the food consumed in the UK being imported from the EU, more than 7 times
any other continent. Now 77% of adults agree the Government should measure household
food insecurity. There must now clear worries that the crisis of hunger in the UK will grow
even further as production of wheat and barley have continued to decrease - the most
arable crops in the UK - meaning that the government and farmers will have to come up
with ideas to farm efficiently. To understand how to do this, it is important to understand
germination in plants.

Germination begins with the absorption of water, which synthesises gibberellin. The
gibberellin produces amylase which breaks down the branched starch into maltose. The
maltose is hydrolysed into glucose for energy or is polymerised into cellulose for cell wall
formation. These consequences eventually promote cell division, cell elongation and the
growth of an initial shoot. Once the seed is activated metabolically the testa of the seed
ruptures and the radicle grows into the ground, where it extracts nutrients and minerals for
the seed. These go towards the emergence
of the cotyledon, which the first leaves grow
from. At this point the seed is divided into
the epicotyl with developing roots and
hypocotyl with developing shoots.
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For germination to occur, the plant requires oxygen for aerobic respiration as it needs
large amounts of ATP to grow but cannot photosynthesise yet. Water is also required to
metabolically activate the seed as a dormant seed only contains 6-15% water in its living
cells, the addition of water triggers the synthesis of gibberellin (growth hormones that
stimulate cell elongation). In addition the correct temperature is required in order for the
plant to sprout as around 25-30°C is the optimum temperature for enzymatic activity in
crop plants.

A suitable pH is vital for plant growth and germination, this is due to enzymes, similarly to
temperature, working most efficiently at an optimum pH. In a lower pH, nutrients in soil are
more available as H+ displace them from the soil meaning they are ingested more easily
into plants, however this is undesirable as some ions such as Al3+ and Mn2+ are toxic to
most plants. At a high pH plants have less access to nutrients leading to growth
deficiencies like lime-induced chlorosis. However, most plants need some form of acidity
to kill microorganisms and bacteria that may enter the plant and inhibit growth. This means
that the optimum pH for most plant crops is around 6-6.8.

A Cornell University study reported 60 percent of the fields in New York State had soil pH
levels below the recommended range. These same fields also yielded 16 percent less than
those fields with a soil pH in the desired range. This being the only experiment on yield of
crops in comparison with the pH soil that I could find online, I wanted to do an experiment
testing germination success with wheat seeds.

The experiment will have wheatgrass seeds, which are related to the most cultivated crop
in the UK, the common wheat plant. There will be 9 soils of varying pH from 5 to 9 in
intervals of 0.5 (5, 5.5, 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9).The pH of a substance is the measure of
the hydrogen ion concentration of a solution. Solutions with a high concentration of
hydrogen ions have a low pH and solutions with a low concentrations of H+ ions have a
high pH. Fortunately, an increase of 1 pH leads to a 10x increase in hydrogen ion
concentration, making it easier to measure out the pH pf the soil. However these methods
will take time to work as the soil needs to absorb the minerals and we have to get the
exact pH from a pH reader throughout the soil samples in order to have a fair test. To
increase the pH, calcium hydroxide will be added as it is easily absorbed by the soil and as
a base it can increase the pH of the soil, as lime has little effect of dry soils, water will be
applied often. To lower the pH, I will add aluminium sulphate as when it reacts with the
soil, aluminium ions make the pH higher.

After using a pH probe to measure the exact pH of each sample of soil, ten wheat grass
seeds will be added to opaque 3x5x3 containers, which allow enough space for the seeds
to germinate without being effected by each other and outside factors such as the side of
the container. Wheatgrass seeds take 2-3 days to germinate typically, therefore I will give
the plants 3 days to germinate as the speed of germination is important for the hunger and
efficiency problem at hand. The seeds will be taken out of the soil; successful germination
will be characterised if the plumule (embryonic shoot) and the radicle (embryonic root) are
visible. Due to using pH as the independent variable, a control cannot be used as the pH
of soil cannot be 0. For the germination success and growth, I will use a bar chart to show
the correlation and dependance on pH; standard deviation will be used to see the
precision of results. The soil used in the experiment can be neutralised by the chemicals
and therefore can be safe however if become contaminated will excavate soil and take it to
a disposal site away from human or sensitive ecosystem contact. The chemicals used will
not exposed outside the laboratory due to their irritant and corrosive nature.
JK

Research Question
What is the effect of different soil pH on the germination success of
wheatgrass seeds?

Hypothesis

The growth and speed of the seeds should plateau near 7 pH and
decrease either side as enzymes normally work best at a neutral
acidity.

Variables
Type of Variable Explanation
Variable
Independa pH The pH of the soil will be different from 5-9 with 0.5 intervals,
as we do not need to go to an extreme pH as most plants
nt cannot tolerate them.

Dependant Germination If there is a clear epicotyl with leaves after, at most, 5 days,
then germination has occurred successfully. I will use Seeds
Success Germinated / Seeds planted x 100 to work out rate of
successful germination.

Plant Growth The plants will be taken out after 5 days and measured from
root to tip in order to compare the complete growth of each
plant in centimetres. Using this, the speed of growth will be
attained dividing the growth of the plant in cm by the amount
of hours to get the speed (cm/h).

Control Temperature The temperature needs to be the same for all plants as the
enzymes work best at an optimum temperature, changing this
may damage the accuracy of results and limit how much we
can say that the two factors are dependant on one another.
Therefore, the plants will be in a room with a thermostat set at
standard conditions, 296K.

Water I will control this by measuring 50ml in a measuring cylinder

and watering the plants twice throughout the day.

Oxygen All the plants will be in the same room with windows close, if
there are any, hopefully leading to same concentration of
oxygen in the air.

Depth in Soil I will put each of the seeds at a depth of 1.5cm, using a ruler
to measure the depth of each seed.

Amount of Need more than one seed to avoid anomalies however not
too many so that they do not interact and inhibit each other
Seeds from growing, therefore there will be ten seeds in the 3x5x3
containers.
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Risk Assessment
Substance Hazard Comments Chance of
Occurrence
Aluminium sulfate Irritant Causes serious eye 2
damage. Solutions are
acidic. Used as a
mordant in dyeing.
Added in small amounts
to cloudy water in
reservoirs to coagulate
clay particles. When
large amounts were
accidentally added to a
reservoir at Camelford in
Cornwall, some ill
effects were reported

Calcium hydroxide Corrosive and Causes serious eye 3

Irritant damage and skin
irritation. Reacts
violently with water,
becoming very hot - dust
particles may shoot
out.For a 15-minute
exposure, the
concentration of the
powder in the
atmosphere should not
exceed 6mg /m-3.

Seeds Toxic Seeds bought from 1

commercial suppliers are
often treated with a
pesticide to prevent
attack by insects or
fungi. Seeds from health
food stores will not have
been treated.
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Bibliography
1. http://endhungeruk.org/shocking-figures-showing-hidden-hunger-show-need-find/
2. https://www.foodsecurity.ac.uk/challenge/your-food-is-global/
3. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/farming-statistics-2018-uk-wheat-and-barley-
production-first-estimate
4. http://ib.bioninja.com.au/higher-level/topic-9-plant-biology/untitled-3/germination-stages.html
5. http://www.biologydiscussion.com/seed/germination/factors-affecting-seed-germination-external-
and-internal-factors/15758
6. http://www.thedailynewsonline.com/fandg01/donx2019t-overlook-importance-of-soil-ph-in-crop-
fields-and-gardens-20150220.
7. https://www.wikihow.com/Adjust-Soil-pH
8. http://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resource/SSS045-Aluminium-and-its-compounds.pdf
9. http://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resource/SSS032-Calcium-hydroxide-and-oxide.pdf
10. http://science.cleapss.org.uk/Resource/SSS074-Plants-fungi-and-seeds.pdf