Aquaponics Investigation Plan

Question/Problem: Do strawberries and lettuce grow at a faster rate in an aquaponics environment than the estimated time when grown in soil?

Hypothesis: I believe that the strawberries and lettuce will grow at a faster rate in an aquaponics environment than the estimated time when grow in soil.

Independent variables: Ginger; lettuce.

Dependent variables: soil; Aquaponics environment; how the lettuce and strawberries growing are getting their source of food, rate of the growth of the lettuce and strawberries.

Control Variable: exposure to sunlight (natural and artificial); lettuce, strawberries, pH levels of the aquaponics tank.

What data would be collected: rate of growth of lettuce and strawberries in the different environments

How data would be collected: looking to see which environment is growing the lettuce and strawberries in the first few weeks; measuring the strawberries and lettuce until they have grown into adulthood

When data would be collected: The data would be collected everyday, even in the beginning of the experiment.

How the data would be presented/reported: It would be reported as it was a journal entry. Every day would have a description of what I did, and what I am observing. I will report any changes in the strawberries, lettuce, pH levels, length of exposure to sunlight, etc. I will report in detail what I am doing that day.

How data will be analyzed: The lettuce and strawberries grown in the soil will be compared to the lettuce and strawberries grown in aquaponics environment, comparing the rate of growth between the crops grown in the different environments.