Semester Project Pre-Proposal

|10 scientific inquiries (all must be specific and directly testable using the scientific method; 30 points total) |
|1. What should the optimal water frequency be for a tomato plant? |
|2. Does more or less water keep an orchid alive and well? |
|3. What is the productivity of an ant colony in warm vs cold temperatures? |
|4. Which is the best fertilizer to help keep tomato plants alive longer and foster better growth? |
|5. Do purple flowers or pink flowers attract more hummingbirds? |
|6. Do ladybugs keep insects from eating leaves on plants? |
|7. Does beer or tomato juice keep bugs away from eating tomato plants? |
|8. What type of soil causes saguaro cactus grow the highest? |
|9. What is ant food preference for proteins, lipids, and carbohydrates? |
|10. Does sunlight affect the growth rate of strawberries? |

Select the two best inquiries from above and complete the following table:

|Selected inquiry: |1. What should the optimal water frequency be for a |3. What is the productivity of an ant colony in warm vs cold |
| |tomato plant? |temperatures? |
|Hypothesis: |The water amount will affect the tomato plant |Ants prefer to live and work in a warm temperature. |
|(10 points total) |growth. | |
|Predictions: |Watering the plant everyday will allow for growth. |Ants in a colony will be more productive in a warm |
|(16 points total) |Watering the plant every other day will not allow |temperature. |
| |for growth. |Ants will not be as productive in warm temperature. |
|Experimental approach |I will purchase four separate tomato plants. Two |Two ant colonies will be studied. One will be kept in a cold |
|(24 points total) |will be kept in a dark, cool place and the other two|temperature and the other will be kept in a warm temperature.|
| |will be kept near sunlight. One plant from the dark |Any other variable will remain constant for each of the two |
| |and one from the sunlight will be watered everyday. |colonies. The only independent variable will be the |
| |The other two plants, one from the dark and one from|temperature. This way it can be measured to see which one is |
| |the light, will be watered every other day. |more productive. |
|Data & analysis |I will measure the tomato plants by the height of |The data I will collect in the study would be how much the |
|(10 points total) |the plant and the number of leaves on the tomato |ants had performed tasks such as nest defense and by viewing |
| |plants. The plants will be analyzed based on the |their tunnels. The data will be compared by contrasting the |
| |height of the plant and number of leaves criteria. |two colonies being viewed and analyze them from the results |
| |In addition, the number of tomatoes that grow can |that are discovered. The ants with a more developed colony |
| |also be measured to compare the results of the |will decide whether they prefer warm or cold climates. |
| |experiment. | |
|Journal article used |O'Carrigan, A., Hinde, E., Lu, N., & Xu, X. ( |Barriga, P., Sloan, J., Porter, S., & Sagers, C. (2013). |
|for background info |2014). Effects of light irradiance on stomatal |Stable isotope enrichment in laboratory ant colonies: Effects|
|(10 points total) |regulation and growth of tomato. ENVIRONMENTAL AND|of colony age, metamorphosis, diet, and fat storage. |
| |EXPERIMENTAL BOTANY, 98, 65-73. doi: |ENTOMOLOGIA EXPERIMENTALIS ET APPLICATA, 149(3), 265-272. |
| |10.1016/j.envexpbot.2013.10.007 |doi: 10.1111/eea.12126 |

Succinctness is important. Do not exceed the two page limit. Ten points will be deducted for exceeding the page limit.