Research Project

 Question: What temperature does the vegetation decrease most?

Background Information: 
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/weather/tempeffect-plants.html

Hypothesis: If I continue to take data of the amount of green vegetation until winter, then the amount of vegetation will decrease dramatically because of the low temperatures which will cause the plants to slowly stop growing.

Materials 
- camera
- vegetation 
- laptop
- adobe photoshop 
-bright colored string

Controlled Variables:
 - same camera
 - same location of pictures
 - same person taking the pictures
 - same angle of picture taken
 - same type of vegetation

  

Procedure: 
Step 1: Go out into a highly vegetated area (not only grass) and bring bright colored string. 

Step 2: Find three different areas in which you can take a picture. 

Step 3: Mark each area by tying a bright colored string to the place in which you will be standing to take the picture. 

Step 4: Take a picture of each area. 

Step 5: Save the photos to your laptop. 

Step 6: Put the photos into Adobe Photoshop and create a grid on top of them by going to View<Grid<Show. 

Step 7: Annualize the photo to see what percentage of the photo has vegetation in it by seeing how many squares have green in them. 
Step 8: Record data in a document and save the photos in a folder for later.
Step 9: Continue steps 1-8 with all three photos. 

Data Table

Graph

Conclusion

My data supports my hypothesis because as the cold temperatures began to arrive, the plants slowly began to die because they do less photosynthesis. Every time I went outside, the vegetation slowly dwindled and became less and less present. The first visit I had, everything was completely green, and by the last visit, you can see from my chart there was a significant drop in green vegetation. The biggest drop of green vegetation was from the 4th to 5th visit, it was from an average of about 65% to an average of 8%.

If I were to do this experiment again, I would put a smaller grid over top of the photos to get more accurate results from every trial. Also, I would change the area of every location where I took the pictures to a place where the environment around them were more similar (sunlight and water availability) and take the picture more angled downwards at the ground rather than having some trees and sky in the picture. By doing these things, I would get more accurate data.

I got the results I did because when there are lower temperatures, the plants can not do as much photosynthesis. This is because the enzymes responsible for photosynthesis have very little energy so the process of photosynthesis goes much slower. When they cant do photosynthesis very fast, they stop growing. If the temperature reaches freezing point, it can be very harmful for the plant and cause it to die. This all connects to my results because as the lower temperatures arrived, the plants slowly thinned out and eventually all died because it reached freezing point.

Sources: 
http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/weather/tempeffect-plants.html
http://www.rsc.org/learn-chemistry/content/filerepository/CMP/00/001/068/Rate%20of%20photosynthesis%20limiting%20factors.pdf

All in One - Field Study Picture

This is picture that as a slice of each of the 6 photos I took throughout the Field Study Unit. Enjoy!

6th Field Study Entry

Date and Time: Sunday, November 24 2013 at 2:10
Temperature: 24 degrees
Conditions: Party cloudy, no breeze, 
Length of Day: 9 hours and 27 minutes
Observations: It was sunny with a few clouds out and it was very still out. It was really cold out and there was no vegetation anymore. There was about 6 inches of snow and there were oak leaves all falling on top of the snow. The river wasn't yet iced over and it was very quiet out. 

Data Table 

5th Field Study Entry

Date and Time: Tuesday, November 13 2013 at 4:30
Temperature: 35 degrees
Conditions: Cloudy, windy, very cold
Length of Day: 9 hours and 46 minutes
Observations: Once I got into the woods, all I could hear was the sound of running water, the fast wind, and a few distant birds that were crazy enough to be facing the cold air and wind. I also saw a hunter in a hunting stand looking for deer.

Click here to view table

4th Field Study Entry

Date and Time: Tuesday October 29 2013 at 4:35

Temperature: 54 Degrees
Conditions: Mostly clear, few clouds, cold, no wind.
Length of Day: 10 hours and 24 minutes
Observations: It was a slightly cloudy day and very chilly. The trees were very colorful and most are staring to lose all their leaves. The ground had lots of leaves covering the trails and the river had a steady flow as I heard the water traveling down stream. I saw a few tiny fish swimming in the steam, otherwise the woods seemed absent of active animals.

Link to Data Table

3rd Field Study Journal Entry

Date and Time: Thursday October 10 2013 at 5:50
Conditions: warm, sunny, no breeze
Temperature: 64 degrees
Length of Day: 11 hours and 15 minutes
Observations: Odd how warm it is for October! Its warm and sunny day out in which the wind was very still as well. The leaves are just beginning to change and the days are getting shorter. They're are several birds out and little animals scurrying around.
 

2nd Field Study Journal Entry

Date and Time: Monday September 12, 2013 at 4:20
Conditions: Sunny, somewhat cloudy, warm
Temperature: 70 degrees
Length of Day: 12 hours and 27 minutes
Observations: after a long day at school I went outside to find out that it was a perfect day outside. It was sunny with a few of those big puffy clouds and several birds out singing and squirrels roaming around. Inside the woods it was very still and hadn't changed a bit from last time.