I plan to monitor the growth of three samples of grass which I will place in different locations in my home. I will give these three samples an equal amount of water on a regular basis and I will chart their growth at the same time each day.

I want to find under what conditions grass will grow best.

Hypothesis

I hypothesize that sample number two will grow the best due to the high light and the temperature.

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my mother, Jean Gabler, for providing the pots, the soil, and the seeds, as well as numerous other materials. I would also like to thank the helpful staff at the Merriam Park branch library in St. Paul, Minnesota for their aid in the researching.

Review of Literature

I consulted five books that included material related to my experiment.

In Lawns and Ground Covers, Michael MacCaskey says that the more sun a lawn gets, the healthier it will be.

In Jerry Baker’s Lawn Book, Baker says, “a little dab will do you…you’ll have to start thinking that way.” He means that less water is better for most grasses.

In Lawns & Ground Covers, we read that “sandy soil [the type I will use] has huge particles that allow good aeration, quick passage of water, and rapid temperature change…provides plenty of air for plant roots.”

Robert Schery, in his book Lawn Keeping, writes, “…keep the surface moist by regular light sprinklings.”

Finally, in Spragne’s Turf Management Handbook: “As…temperatures fall, the need for water should decrease.”

According to these books, my sample number two should fare the best of the three.

Materials and Methods of Procedure

On day “zero,” I placed approximately the same amount of fertile soil in three identical pots. I then tossed approximately the same number of seeds in each pot. I placed sample number one in my attic, where the temperature is generally cool and where it would get medium light.

I placed sample number two in my kitchen, where it would receive a great amount of sunlight and would be in room temperature.

Finally, I placed my control sample in my basement, where it would get low light and would be in room temperature.

Each evening at nine o’clock, I gave each patch two tablespoons of warm water and measured the highest blade. I also observed the general health of each patch each night.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I think that my experiment has proved that grass grows best in room temperature and high light.

My first sample did fairly well in a low temperature but did not look healthy because of the inadequate light conditions.

My control sample grew very poorly due to the low light.

My second sample flourished due to the great amount of light it received.

Although all of the samples had approximately the same height, they were not all equally healthy — at the end of my experiment, my control sample was almost dead, except for a few tall strands, sample number one was tall, but yellow in color, and sample number two was healthy and green.

– Originally submitted by Jay Gabler as a tenth-grade science project, St. Agnes High School

Photo by James Cridland (CC BY 2.0)