Effect of Climate on Living Organisms Laboratory Activity Purpose: To observe how individual organisms are uniquely adapted to the biomes in which they live by testing how certain organisms respond to changes in one of the primary characteristics of a biome: temperature. Materials 6 small pots plastic zip lock bags (large enough to place the pots in) Potting soil Marking pens 1 package warm weather plant seeds (ex. squash, cucumber, melon, peppers) 1 package cool weather plant seeds (ex. lettuce, spinach, radish, turnip, beet) Refrigerator Incubator (or sunny window if no incubator available) Procedure: 1. Follow the planting instructions on the seed packages. Plant a small number of cool weather plants in three of the six pots and a small number of warm weather plants in the remaining three pots. 2. Label the three pots with the cool weather seeds (Cws) as follows: 1 -Cws/refrigerator, 2 CWS/room temp, and 3 CWS/incubator. 3. Label the three pots with the warm weather seeds (wws) as follows: 4- wws/refrigerator, 5 WWS/room temp. 6 Wws/incubator. 4. Record the number of days that seeds take to germinate (according to the package). 5. Place all 6 pots in separate zip lock bags and water until the water begins to run out of the bottom of the pot. Seal the zip lock bags. 6. Place the two pots labeled \"refrigerator\" into the refrigerator. 7. Place the two pots labeled \"room temp.\" in a temperature controlled climate in a spot that that receives little to no sunlight. 8. Place the two pots labeled \"incubator\" into an incubator. A sunny window can be used is an incubator is not available but this is not ideal as it introduces an additional variable (sun). 9. Check pots every two days until the seeds germinate and record your observations each day.
a)Germination is defined as the process in which a seed transforms into a plant.An example of germination is the process of sprouting of a given seedling which happens from a seed of an angiosperm or gymnosperm.
b)The relationship between germination and temperature is that the Temperature usually affects the huge percentage of seeds that germinate and it also affects the rate of germination. This means that the seeds that are kept at higher temperatures usually deteriorate and dont germinate. Moreover,once the seeds begin to germinate, The higher temperatures stimulate the process of faster germination which usually happens upto an optimal temperature and then the speed of germination declines after this point is reached.
Cold weather plants are the plants which are either frost tolerant or cool temperature tolerant.This allows these plants to flourish in temperatures lower than 70 degrees Fahrenheit. .On the other hand,Warm weather plants are those plants which can be injured by frost and these plants are usually planted well after the danger of frost has passed so that they are not deteriorated. These include cantaloupe, cucumber.
c)The lab is related to this topic as we have to see the germination in different temperatures of refrigerator,room temperature and incubator and then we have to compare the growth in various places
d)The seeds germinate faster in cold environment than hot environment and incubator has the coldest place where the growth is most followed by refrigerator and then the room temperature.
Homework Sourse
