Brant Morgan

Wisconsin Fast Plants Experimental Report

Introduction:
The Wisconsin fast plants have a very short life cycle that lasts
between 25 to 30 days. Day 1-3 usually consists of the seed being
planted to the sprouting of the hypocotyl and into to showing the
cotyledon as being present. From day 5 to day 9 you will see the true
leaves forming and the flower buds starting to come out. Day 11 to
about day 15 is the time when pollination would occur (we did this with
a Q-tip). Day 18 to day 28 is where the pods that will hold the new
offspring of seeds start to form and enlarge to full seed filled pods.

https://www.tes.com/lessons/_yfcNyAxfMakKQ/plant-life-cycle
I feel that Wisconsin fast plants is an ideal model for genetic studies
because of the very quick turnaround for offspring. These plants have
a lifecycle of about one month. The plants can be very helpful for

looking at how the genotypes influence the phenotypes of the

offspring. They are easy to maintain with a very small amount of work
to be done while they are growing. One last great reason would be
how Scientific Inquiry can be used including interpretation of evidence
found during the experiment.
Some different phenotypes that can be examined with this
experiment are examining for anthocyanin (anl/anl is recessive and
ANL/ANL is dominant) which is a purple pigment found in many plants.
Anthocyanin will be observed in the stems, hypocotyls, and under the
cotyledons in days 4 through 7 of the experiment. This gene is
dominant so if ANL/ANL is expressed then it will be a green stem. In
the same regards when anl/anl is shown then the stem will be a purple
color. Yellow-green leaves (ygr/ygr recessive) and green leaves
(YGR/YGR dominant) will be another phenotype that will be observed.
A mutation gene that we will be looking for will be the rosette, which is
a result of the plants being shorter than the normal size. For this
experiment we did not have any mutations come about.
http://www.fastplants.org/pdf/activities/WFPgenetics-06web.pdf
Below will be a general description of how to grow and care for
the Wisconsin fast plants in this experiment.
1. Gather seeds and place them on soil pods.
2. Add fertilizer to soil pods.
3. Place soil pods on a cloth material that sits on top of a plastic tub
filled with water that cloth dips into water. Water can travel up
the cloth to the pods.
4. Place tub with soil pods on it under a fluorescent light.
5. Replace water as needed during the experiment.
6. When plants have emerged pluck out all but two plants in each
pod.
7. Stabilize and secure plants with sticks as needed. Sticks should
be about 12 inches in length.
8. Once the plants have matured use Q-tips to gather pollen from
one plant to spread it to another plant. Try to pollinate all plants.
9. Wait until seed pods are large and developed before you stop
giving them water. Cut off water supply to dry out pods.
10.
Remove pods and extract seeds.
Methods:

The objective of this experiment was to take seeds from an

unknown parent plant and generate offspring so that you could try and
determine the genotype of the unknown parents. Using the ratios of a
known standard di-hybrid cross we compared our offsprings
observable phenotypes to see if the results matched the standard
cross. This experiment teaches about recessive and dominant alleles
that Mendel experimented with using pea plants.
Experiment time line
1. February 4: We gathered the seeds and placed only 3 on each
soil pod. With each seed we placed a tiny amount of fertilizer
next to the seeds. We then placed each soil pod on a cloth that
absorbs water. This cloth was then placed on a closed tub filled
with water. There was a slit cut through the lid of the tub so the
cloth can sit in the water. The tubs with our soon to be plants
were then put under a florescent light that was about 1 foot
away from them.
2. February 9: When the plants started to show growth we
removed 1 of the 3 plants from each pod. The water was
replenished and the tubs were placed back under the lights.
3. February 16: We then used roughly 12 inch sticks with clips to
help stabilize
our plants.
4. February 25: When the plants finally matured and showed
flowers, we then used a Q-tip to pollinate the different plants.
Making sure all the plants were pollinated.
5. March 15: When we noticed that the seed pods were starting to
become greater in size (about 1-2 inches), we took all the water
out from the tubs. This helped dry out the pods, to make getting
the seeds from them easier.
6. March 29: This was the day we extracted the seeds from the
pods of the plants. We then took the seeds and placed them in
an orderly fashion onto paper that was dampened in a petri dish.
We left about one fourth of the paper clear of seeds so that this
section would be placed under water for the seeds.
7. April 5: On this day the new plants were taken off the paper in
the petri dish and counted to tally the different phenotypes.

Results:
Classroom data
Purple
Purple
stemstemgreen leaf Yellow
leaf
Group 1
121
82
Group 2
220
19
Group 3
448
27
Group 4
250
45
Group 5
432
188
Group 6
237
86
Totals
1708
447

Green
StemGreen
Leaf
48
146
140
51
65
64
514

Green
StemYellow
leaf
52
22
19
59
234
77
463

Totals
per
group
303
407
634
405
919
464
3132

Hypothesis for Dihybrid: The parent plants will result in an offspring

showing dihybrid phenotype.
Hypothesis for a Monohybrid: The parent plants will result in an
offspring showing a monohybrid phenotype.
Evaluation using chi-square analysis:
Dihybrid: expected 9:3:3:1 = 1761:587:587:195
Purple stem-Green leaf
(1708-17610)^2/ 1761=1.59
Purple stem-Yellow Leaf
(447-587)^2/ 587= 33.3
Green stem-Green leaf
(514-587)^2/ 587= 9.07
Green stem- Yellow Leaf
(463-195)^2/ 195= 368
Degree of freedom=3
Standard P value=.05
total was 412 so

Chi Square would then be 7.82. Our

this would be a significant

difference.
Monohybrid: expected 3:1 = 2535:783

Purple stem
Green stem

(2155-25350^2/ 2535=56.9
(977-783)^2/ 783= 48.1

Degree of freedom= 1
Standard P value= .05
total was 105 so

Chi square would then be 3.84. Our

this would be a significant

difference.

Discussion:
The expected phenotype ratios of 9:3:3:1 and 3:1 did not support
what the observed experimental data came out to be. Both of my
hypothesis were not supported. The differences between the expected
and observed data might differ due to some human error in which the
color of the stems were not looked at within the time period of 4-7 days
of germination for the best results. Human miscalculations could have
accounted for the groups who might have had higher or lower numbers
as well.
WFP could be used in all grade levels, here are some examples:
Using WFP in lower elementary would be great for looking at what
plants need to survive and grow because they germinate quickly and
students can see quick results. In upper elementary they could be
used for showing the life cycle of a plant especially with how easily
they germinate and produce quick offspring when you fertilize them.
WFP in the middle school setting, is a great pre explanation for when
genetics and pundit squares start being taught and you can start to
utilize them when your lesson plans need a fast and quick example.
Classroom Use:
My first example would be showing how to use them in a 2nd
grade level lesson plan. The standard would be 2-LS2-1 Plan and
conduct an investigation to determine if plants need sunlight
and water to grow. Having the kids test different growing habitats
with sand, light/no light, soil to name a few with the WFP seeds will
show them in a quick and timely matter what plants need to grow and
flourish. To assess the students with this project/experiment I would
have them keep a journal with the different hypothesis they came up
with.

My second example would with a 4th grade lesson plan using this
standard
4-LS1-1. Construct an argument that plants and
animals have internal and external structures that function to
support survival, growth, behavior, and reproduction. You could
use The WFP show the structures and functions as you help them
pollinate for the next generation offspring. You could go through a
whole life cycle at least a couple of times. The assessment would be to
take different parts of the plants and make a detailed real-life diagram
showcasing all of the parts used in the growth of the plants. Form the
seed to the seed pods at the end of their life cycle.