Introduction

            Like any project, there will be certain problems that can affect my experiment that should be avoided.  The major problem is that the plants may die, the reason for this being that there may not be enough sun for the plants to grow.  In a process called photosynthesis, plants absorb energy from the sun to change carbon dioxide and water into sugars.  These sugars are the plant’s nutrition.  The plants can also die because they are given too much water or too little water.  Water is a source of food plants need but can die if they are given too much since the plant thinks it needs to drink all the water.

            In the past, crops were the main source of food for most civilizations.  Not many civilizations would hunt for food; instead they would grow their crops.  Growing crops ensured food better than hunting because hunting is based on the hunter's luck. Although most areas were based on agriculture, it did have its disadvantages.  Salt that was brought by floods was the main concern for plant growth; it affected their agriculture and their soil. It caused their land to become unfertile.  They would have to grow extra crops to avoid the shortage of growth.  It would cause people to starve because they would be short on food which would force them to move to another area where the land was more fertile.  The Egyptians, for example, had lots of trouble because the Nile was bringing in too much salt with flood water. The salt was killing the crops which the people needed to survive.  The Egyptians had to work harder to preserve as many plants as they could.

           This experiment will determine if table salt is recommended for plant growth.  I will be growing three plants containing salt , and I will be comparing them to three other plants that will be grown naturally.  All six plants will be given one fourth of a cup of water, one fourth of a teaspoon of vitamins, and they will all be planted with the same amount of seeds.  Three of the plants will be given an extra one fourth of a teaspoon of table salt.

            This project has been conducted by other people in the past.  As with any experiment, there is a good chance that the seeds will not germinate; to try to minimize these chances, the seeds have to be looked after.  These ingredients must be given to the plants every four days.  The reason the plants may not grow is because we are not sure how many seeds must be planted into the soil and how the seeds may react.  Also any minor mistake can affect the experiment and could ruin the entire project that takes a year to complete.  To avoid this, you have to be extremely careful and must concentrate on your work.  You must also be very observant during your experiment to note all the different changes over time.

            If this project succeeds, it will determine whether table salt helps plant growth or if it kills plants just like the salt that is brought to plants and crops from floods.  The size is not what will determine if salt should be used to help plant growth but other factors.  The plants growth is only the first step of completing the project. 

            I believe that after nine weeks, the plants that I will grow naturally will be larger than the ones that are grown with the addition of salt.  My dependent variable is the growth of the plant and my independent variables are whether the plant gets salt or not.