Two Areas Where They Nailed it Scientifically-
Two Areas for Improvement in the Scientific Process-
Questions Raised-
- Regular, Thorough Measurements- This group posted updates every week that contained both qualitative and quantitative data. Their quantitative data tracked the growth of different plants in a deep water and an ebb and flow aquaponics system and measured the height of the plants. Their qualitative data focused on the overall healthy appearance of the plants in their system. Additionally they had a control group and three of each plant in the control, the ebb and flow, and the deep water culture. This meant they could accurately compare data across both systems.
- Straightforward setup- This group’s setup was optimized to measure the variable they wanted to test, namely the effect of the type of aquaponics system on the growth of plants. They did a good job of integrating the deep water culture into the ebb and flow bed that allowed them to place one on top of the other and supply both from the same water source.
Two Areas for Improvement in the Scientific Process-
- No theorizing on the causes of dying plants- Though this group took regular measurements of their plants, one of the most common observations was “shriveled and broken” followed by no measurement of height. At no point did this group put forward a hypothesis as to why their plants might not be doing well. Additionally, they did not take any data relating to water quality that could have assisted them in optimizing the system for plant growth.
- No Conclusions drawn- Working off my previous point, this group did not present any conclusions as to which aquaponics system worked the best. While their measurements were regular and consistent, they did not draw any conclusions that were apparent in the data. The lack of a conclusion leaves their experiment without any summation of data that a reader could go to and use to get an insight into the results of the experiment.
Questions Raised-
- As it was never fully answered: which aquaponics system, ebb and flow or deep water culture, grows plants the best?
- Since water first circulated into the ebb and flow bed then drained into the deep water culture, could the use of nutrients in the ebb and flow bed have depleted the nutrients available to the plants in the deep water culture?