SBA # 17: Plan and Design (Proposal) (YOU CAN REPLACE ALL “Rate of water loss” with “rate of

transpiration”)
Problem Statement: Farmer John cultivates a plot of land with sweet pepper plants. Upon planting his crops
throughout the year, he noticed that the cost of his water usage fluctuated as year progressed even though he
used the same plot of land for the three years. He thinks that at some point of year certain weather conditions
cause the plants to use more water than usual. Plan and design an experiment to determine the weather
condition and intensity that is suitable for farmer john to plant his sweet pepper plants.
Lab # 1: Temperature
Hypothesis # 1: the sweet pepper plant that is placed under direct sunlight will lose water the fastest as
compared to the plants placed under a translucent cloth, the shade, and an air-conditioned room, over a 2-hour
period.
Hypothesis # 2: the sweet pepper plants under sunlight will transpire the fastest as compared to plants under a
translucent cloth, the shade, and an enclosed air-conditioned room, over 3 hours.
Aim # 1: To determine the rate of water loss by sweet pepper plants under different temperature conditions
during a 2-hour period.
Aim # 2: To determine the rate of transpiration of sweet pepper plants under varying temperature conditions for
3 hours.
Materials/Apparatus:
1. Graduated measuring cylinder.
2. Distilled water
3. Water bottle
4. Sweet pepper seedlings
5. Stopwatch
6. Labels
7. Translucent cloth
Method:
1. Gather all relevant materials necessary for the experiment.
2. Label four 50cm3 glass graduated measuring cylinders A-D.
3. Place a sweet pepper seedling in each cylinder, root first and upright. The leaves should be outside the
measuring cylinder.
4. Fill each measuring cylinder with distilled water up to the 40 cm3 mark.
5. Place plant A in the direct sunlight, plant B under a translucent cloth under the sun, plant C under the
shade, and plant D in an air-conditioned room as the control.
6. Record the initial volume of water in a suitable table of each plant.
7. Start the stopwatch and start timing for two hours.
8. After two hours record the final volume of water in the measuring cylinder.
9. Using the previous observations calculate the rate of water loss.
10. Record all observations in a suitable table.
Diagram: Draw it on your own.
Observations:
Sweet pepper plants Volume (cm3) Rate of water loss
Initial Final Difference (cm3/min)
A 40
B 40
C 40
D 40

Table showing the expected volume changes for the experiment

Expected results:
The plant that would be expected to have the highest rate of water loss would be plant A. This is because high
temperatures are one of the key factors that promote transpiration. This high temperature happens naturally due
to direct sunlight. A higher transpiration rate means that the plant would have to absorb more water from the soil
to recover the water lost through the stomata of the leaves. Hence the amount of water used by sweet pepper
plants under direct sunlight would increase.

Possible source of error:

1. Too much sunlight exposure may damage the plant thus affecting results.
2. Roots of the plant may be damaged due to transplanting it into a measuring cylinder.
Possible limitations:
1. Seedlings may have prior diseases which may affect the results.
2. High wind speeds may affect the results of the experiment.
Possible suggestion:
1. Different plants can be used instead of sweet pepper plants.
2. Multiple trials can be done to ensure efficiency and accuracy of the results.

Lab # 2: Wind speed

Hypothesis # 1: the sweet pepper plant that experiences 1500 rpm of wind speed will lose water the fastest as
compared to the that experienced 500 rpm, 1000 rpm, and 0 rpm of wind speed, over a 2-hour period.
Aim # 1: To determine the rate of water loss by sweet pepper plants under different wind intensities during a 2-
hour period.
Materials/Apparatus:
1. Graduated measuring cylinder.
2. Distilled water
3. Water bottle
4. Sweet pepper seedlings
5. Stopwatch
6. Labels
7. Fan
Method:
1. Gather all relevant materials necessary for the experiment.
2. Label four 50cm3 glass graduated measuring cylinders A-D.
3. Place a sweet pepper seedling in each cylinder, root first and upright. The leaves should be outside the
measuring cylinder.
4. Fill each measuring cylinder with distilled water up to the 30 cm3 mark.
5. Place plant A in front of the fan and turn the fan on at 1 which corresponds to 500 rpm.
6. Record the initial volume of water on a suitable table of the plant.
7. Start the stopwatch and start timing for two hours.
8. After two hours record the final volume of water in the measuring cylinder.
9. Repeat steps 5-8 with plants B-D at speeds 2 (1000 rpm), 3 (1500 rpm), and 0 (0 rpm) which is the
control.
10. Using the previous observations calculate the rate of water loss.
11. Record all observations on a suitable table.
Diagram: Draw it on your own.

Observations:
Sweet pepper plants Volume (cm3) Rate of water loss
Initial Final Difference (cm3/min)
A (500 rpm) 30
B (1000 rpm) 30
C (1500 rpm) 30
D (0 rpm) 30

Table showing the expected volume changes for the experiment

Expected results:
The plant that would be expected to have the highest rate of water loss would be plant C at 1500 rpm. This is
because high wind speeds are one of the key factors that promote transpiration. A higher transpiration rate
means that the plant would have to absorb more water from the soil to recover the water lost through the
stomata of the leaves due to the wind blowing on the leaves and taking away the water droplets. So a higher
wind speed results in the loss of more water from the leaves. Hence the amount of water used by sweet pepper
plants under strong wind conditions would increase.

Possible source of error:

3. Too much wind may damage the plant thus affecting results.
4. Roots of the plant may be damaged due to transplanting it into a measuring cylinder.
Possible limitations:
3. Seedlings may have prior diseases which may affect the results.
4. Exposure to sunlight may affect the results of the experiment.
Possible suggestion:
3. Different plants can be used instead of sweet pepper plants.
4. Multiple trials can be done to ensure efficiency and accuracy of the results.