Student Worksheet

Thought-starters: What is the difference between tap water and grey water? What factors influence plant growth? Is a plant alive and if so, how do you know?

What you need

Access to the internet, a camera, an electronic scale
Tap water, grey water
Mung beans, or wheat seeds, cotton balls and a cup

What to do…

Step 1

In this activity you will design and conduct an experiment to compare how well plants grow when watered with grey water and with tap water.

Step 2

You will have access to a range of supplies with which to conduct this experiment; you may use as many of these items as you need.

Step 3

Before you begin the experiment, decide exactly what your experiment will involve. Write down the steps you plan to take (the procedure/method) and the materials that you plan to use. Share your procedure and materials with the teacher and get your teachers approval BEFORE you begin your experiment. You may need to modify your procedure to get your teacher’s approval.

Things to keep in mind when designing and conducting your experiment: 

Only test ONE variable, not multiple variables. In the case of this experiment, you are testing the type of water, not the type of soil or the sunshine available or the growing temperature. Try to keep all these other factors stable and the same for the plants watered with tap water and the plants watered with grey water.
Decide how you will measure the rate of plant growth and health BEFORE you begin your experiment: will you measure plant height or stem diameter or plant mass? Will you record these with sketches or photos (remember, in either recording process you will need to include your measurements for determining plant growth and health)?

Step 4

Once you have the approval of your teacher for your experiment procedure and material and you have recorded it in the student worksheet, you can begin your experiment. Before you begin, write a short statement about what you think the outcome of this experiment will be and record it in the Student Worksheet: What is your hypothesis?

Step 5

Set up your experiment and take a before photo. Each day you will be required to collect data and record it in your student worksheet.

Title:

Group members:

Aim:

Hypothesis:

Materials required:

Method:

Results:

Table 1: Data collection of plant growth using tap and grey water. Adjust dates for the length of your experiment. Ensure you add units to your data table.

Questions…

1. What was the outcome of your experiment? Which plants grew better: the ones watered with tap water or the ones watered with grey water?

2. How does the outcome compare to your hypothesis?

3. Why was it necessary to control all the variables (apart from the one being tested) in an experiment?

4. Explain how you controlled the variable of temperature.

5. In your group’s opinion, is grey water a good option for growing plants?

Reflection

1. Write two or more things your group found out about using grey water and tap water that surprised you.

2. Make an assessment about how your group worked together to achieve the aim of this experiment.

Grey Water and Data Collection

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