Max's Seed Story

What I learned:

Max's group got Kale for their Brassica Oleracea seed plant. What Max learned was that his germinated seeds grew faster than the none germinated seeds, and that you can plant seeds in different places instead of soil.

What surprised or amazed you?:

What amazed Max was that all the plants grew at such a fast pace. He had never really grew anything before besides tomatoes and sunflowers. This was a long time ago, he was around 5 years old. Since he never really planted all of this was pretty new. He thought that you needed soil and constant sunlight to grow plants. In this project we didn't have any soil and we kept the seeds in a dark cupboard. He also was surprised that you can plant seeds in a paper towel. Overall, he enjoyed the experience and it was very educational.

Makayla Bush

Ariel's seed story

I have not learned a thing from this project because i switched from 6th period to 5th period with almost no knowledge.Nothing amazed happened because i have been in agriculture in 5th grade and 8th.The only thing that made me think was the cycles i just had a basic knowledge of the plant cycle.

It has given me more info about a plants cycle and therefor changing the train of thought on that subject.

Cell Analogies Project of Christian Valencia & Desiree-Hoa Nguyen

https://docs.google.com/a/sjusd.org/presentation/d/1mpCaVWkNtDziqevMhY0T1mxBoBJeeFoG6eo2J_v2Pug/edit?usp=sharing

1. What changes do you notice in your plants this week? Describe the overall appearance of your plant. The difference is that are group plant grow a lot seance we plant it.

2. How do your plants participate in the movement of water in the biosphere? How do your plants' roles in the water cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants this week? The plant suck up they water and that in the water cycle and it relate to the changes because the plant sucks the water in the soil and the air.
3. How do your plants participate in the movement of carbon in the biosphere?  How do your plants' roles in the carbon cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants this week? The plant participate in movement of carbon cycle by taking air from the earth and providing it for food for itself. It relate in our observation by growing heath and strong.
4. How do your plants participate in the movement of nitrogen in the biosphere?  How do your plants' roles in the nitrogen cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants this week? It participate in the movement of nitrogen by taking in what we breath out and without nitrogen it wont grow and it will die.

1. What are some abiotic factors on which your plant depends for its survival? What about biotic factors that affect your plant? Describe some of these factors.  Same abiotic factors is water because present in the plants  to remain healthy, soil because its a combination of all difference organic and inorganic matter.
2. How do you know your plants are engaged in competition? For what are your plants competing, and who is the competition?  You'll know if your plant is engaged in competition whenever two niches overlap, competition in resources  by two organisms.
3. How are "winners" and "losers" determined in this struggle? Is it always so clear cut who "wins" and who "loses?" What makes that determination complicated sometimes?  You can determined who's the winners and losers by seeing who has more resources and who has more nutrients. You can tell who's the winners and losers by looking at the outside of plant and if they produce food u can see which one looks healthier.
4. Describe other types of interaction (besides competition) in which your plants are involved. Make sure to explain how this interaction affects each organism involved. It can also be a parasitism because the plant effects other plaint by getting the same resources.  
5. What evidence is there in the garden that succesion (or something like it) is occurring in the garden ecosystem? Does it seem more like primary or secondary succession? It seems more like secondary succession because it was growing from somewhere and it wasn't growing from a places where a seed can't grow from like a hot place and a really cold places.

An Ecological Analysis of the Garden and your Plants

1. What are some abiotic factors on which your plant depends for its survival? What about biotic factors that affect your plant? Describe some of these factors. Plants depend on a few crucial abiotic factors. Those factors being soil/dirt, water, oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, etc. Plants need these abiotic factors because they are needed for photosynthesis. Without photosynthesis plants won't grow, and will cause it to eventually die. There are a few biotic factors that affect our plant. Those factors being other plants, insects/bugs, humans, etc. Other plants affect our plant because
2. How do you know your plants are engaged in competition? For what are your plants competing, and who is the competition? I know that our plant is competing with other plants because if weren't our plant would of been way bigger. Our plants are competing for space, water, oxygen, nutrients, etc. The competition is the other plants that are in the planting box.
3. How are "winners" and "losers" determined in this struggle? Is it always so clear cut who "wins" and who "loses?" What makes that determination complicated sometimes? Winners and losers are determined on who gets the most nutrients and needed resources. The plant that gets more nutrients are considered the winners because they get to grow the most. It can be subtle who the winner and who the loser is. It can because you can see on the outside, but also things are happening inside the plant that we can't see.
4. Describe other types of interaction (besides competition) in which your plants are involved. Make sure to explain how this interaction affects each organism involved. There are multiple types of interaction. There is Parasitism, Commensalism, and Mutualism. Parasitism is when one organism lives in or on another organism and harms the host. Commensalism is when one organism benefits and the other is not helped or harmed. Mutualism is when both species benefit from the relationship.
5. What evidence is there in the garden that succesion (or something like it) is occurring in the garden ecosystem? Does it seem more like primary or secondary succession? There is evidence that garden succession is happeing because my plant is growing very well, and it looks pretty healthy. Secondary succession is happening because the plants are already growing from something. Primary succession is when something grows out of nothing, usually when there is a lava flow

Biogeochemical Cycles and Your Plants

1. What changes do you notice in your plants this week? Describe the overall appearance of your plant. My cabbage plant has made a huge growth in the last week. The biggest change that I see is the overall size of the plant. It has very large round leaves that stretch out from the center of the plant.
2. How do your plants participate in the movement of water in the biosphere? How do your plants' roles in the water cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants this week? My plant does play a big role in the movement of water in the biosphere. They suck up the water that is in the air. They then use that water that they sucked up to make food. It relates to the changes because it used that water for food, and this in turn caused the cabbage plant to grow.
3. How do your plants participate in the movement of carbon in the biosphere?  How do your plants' roles in the carbon cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants this week? Plants are very important in the movement of carbon in the biosphere. They suck up any carbon that they can get. They use that sucked up carbon to make food for itself. It relates to the changes in the plant because it got bigger. It got bigger because it used the carbon as food. 
4. How do your plants participate in the movement of nitrogen in the biosphere?  How do your plants' roles in the nitrogen cycle relate to the changes you observed in your plants this week? Plants need nitrogen in order to grow. It is very crucial for a plant to have nitrogen because nitrogen is needed for photosynthesis to happen. Without photosynthesis the plant won't grow, and eventually die.

Brief Bio

My name is Brianna Flores. I am 13 years old and I have lived in San Jose, California all of my life. I have little to no gardening experience so this project will be one of my first times gardening except the time I grew stuff in the first grade.

Brief Bio

Hi my name is Makayla Bush and I live in San Jose California. I was born here

Gardening is a good way to learn where your sources came from, and it teaches you responsibility. I have grown some plants. My aunt Janny lives on a farm in Chowchilla. She grows grapes, apples, cherries, plums, and pears. My mom grew lavender and tomatoes. I helped out and I grew potatoes and it went really well. My dad would farm when he was little and so did his two sisters and brother. They own a farm and that's where my aunt lives. They built there own houses, I'm really close with my family on my dad's side and some on my moms. My grandma used to live in Los Gatos and moved too Hawaii. 

Brief Bio

 My name is Shellie Gillespie I am 13 years old. I have 3 sisters no brothers and live with my wonderful mother Bobbie Rodriguez. When I was 5 years old I moved to Texas because my dad got a job out there we stayed there for 3 years. I was born in San Jose,California and have been here since the move from Texas. My experience with gardening is well nothing at all. My grandparents grow their own veggies in their backyard but I don't really help. My grandma always talks to me about the process of  how a plants and veggies grow,sometimes it can get really really boring. Most of the time I just look at the progress. 

Brief Bio

My name is Christian Valencia and I am 14 years old, and I have always lived in San Jose, California. I am of Mexican descent. I am Mexican, and so is all my family. Most of my family lives in California, but I have a few relatives that live in Mexico. I am glad that I was born to a Mexican family because it is my favorite kind of food. I just love all the flavors Mexican food has.

Before I moved houses I would garden every so often, but I was very little so I don't really remember much. One of the foods I do remember gardening were tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers. I did enjoy gardening because I found satisfaction and enjoyment seeing the plant grow. I do have an idea of where food and plants come from, but I wouldn't consider myself an expert. Then since my old house had a lot of plants I would water them a lot. I don't cook a lot, but I do like cooking. I don't cook a lot because I don't know how too. Some people that I think know a good amount of gardening are my godparents/ uncle and aunt. Every time I visit them they are always growing food in their backyard. They also grow a lot of plants on their front yard. They like growing a lot of their food, and whenever she makes food for my family it tastes really good and fresh. They are really into eating fresh and organic foods. Hopefully, after this project I learn how to plant food, and have a better idea where it comes from.