Part A of my Experiment [aka: DIE, PLANTS, DIE!!!]

[Note: All allelopathy & allelopathic traits mentioned in this entry are negative, unless mentioned otherwise. Hehe.]

For Part A, I want to investigate IF negative allelopathy actually occurs; and, if so, WHEN and WHERE the allelopathic plant secretes its allelochemicals. I looked up examples of plants that use allelopathy [on Wikipedia, I admit, but also on sites like this one: http://apps.caes.uga.edu/sbof/main/lessonPlan/allelopathy.pdf]; and the plants that use allelopathy include: black walnut trees, sagebrushes and desert shrubs. Thus, it looks like the easiest plants for me to use are either sweet potatoes, alfalfa or sunflowers....perhaps I will use two of the three, to see the effect of two different allelopathic (yes, that is a word. I looked it up.) plants on each other. But I will research more about the different types of allelochemicals they release, and when they release them, before deciding which ones to plant close together.

The next biggest question is: which plants should I test for where the allelochemicals are released? That is, which non-allelopathic plants should I place near the allelopathic ones to see what happens to the non-allelopathic plants? I think I want a range of different plants - I researched modern classifications of plants, and one method of classifying them was by the way the plants took in water - whether they get water from the ground through their roots or simply absorb water through their surfaces (leaves, etc.).

"Plants are either vascular or non-vascular. Vascular plants have tube-like structures that transport water from the roots to the stem to the leaves. Non-vascular plants absorb water only through their surfaces." - Source: http://www.fi.edu/tfi/units/life/classify/classify.html

I believe that it will be helpful to have both a vascular and non-vascular plant that are non-allelopathic so that I can tell whether the allelopathic plant releases its allelochemicals into the ground (in which case the vascular plants would be more affected) or into the air or somewhere else. If the allelochemicals are released into the air, I believe that the non-vascular plant will be more affected by it.

In this case, the independent variable would be if the allelochemicals are actually released. The dependent variable will be the effect on the other plant - how its will growth be impacted on by the allelochemical, and things like that.

I will take observations on the plants every few days, as I said in my last entry....perhaps every 4 days? I'll also take photos, because I want to know when the allelopathic plants start to produce allelochemicals - according to my research, it could be when the plant is actively growing OR even when it's decaying. Does that mean I will have to kill the plants at the end of my experiment and wait until it decays to see the effects of the allelochemicals? I really hope not....that would be really troublesome. =="

BUT I think I will modify my experiment to see when the allelochemicals are released in the lifespan of a plant. That would be better. :D

Since it is March right now, I still have three months to get started on this experiment. It should be enough time.

ALLELOPATHY!

SO! I have finally decided to investigate negative allelopathy - a naturally occurring phenomenon in which some plants, algae, bacteria, coral and fungi release chemicals (called allelochemicals) that affect the growth and development of plants near them in a bad way. The site that gave me inspiration for this was:

http://chemistry.about.com/od/sciencefairprojects/a/sciprohigh.htm
I looked up "science fair projects" on the internet, as Ms Zhang said we should if we needed ideas.

I talked to Ms Zhang about my idea at the canteen the other day, and I got to see Ms Zhang have a brainfreeze. It was fun. >:D

Okay. Although it was fun; sorry, Ms Zhang. :D

But she said that my idea was okay, I just had to think it through more. I want to investigate if the allelopathic plants actually secrete/release allelochemicals, and I think I will do that by planting other plants near an allelopathic plant. I'll take observations every few days, and that way I will find out if the allelopathic plant affects plants around it. Should I plant the allelopathic plant first, though? And the non-allelopathic plants after, so I can see how well they grow? I'm not sure. Too many questions and choices!! Argh!

OH! Also, Ms Zhang told us in her email that we need to show "whether we have thought through several different project designs". Will it be okay if I simply add a Part A and Part B to my experiment? Then I will have thought through two project designs....

I can't think of any other project designs that check if allelopathy actually occurs.
So is that okay? I've looked at other people's blogs, and most of the time they've only thought of one way to do their experiment. I hope my stuff's okay.