Esther Feron

5/15/18
Biology G
SSFS
LAB WRITE-UP
Introduction:
There were multiple purposes for the wildflower project. We learned many new skills
during this project, while also practicing and reapplying old skills. We honed in on the time
management skills we had acquired previously, by working on this long-term project. Teek
supported us by providing check-ins for us to use to create a timeline for our work. We also
practiced the skill of having a neat and thorough database. Not only that, but Teek checked our
databases frequently to help fix any recurring issues..Another objective of the project was to
learn the skill of making labels in Word, and how to use mail merge to do that. We practiced in
class to how to press wildflowers, and reused those skills dozens of times throughout the project.
Another objective was to practice displaying data in a neat and attractive way, specifically by
learning to mount wildflowers. We learned to identify species of wildflowers by using a three-
digit code. For the picking of specimens, most of my flowers were found either on the grounds of
the SSFS campus, but always past the perimeter road (in congruence with the guidelines of the
project). I also acquired a large portion of my flowers in Arlington Virginia, near my mother’s
workplace.
Materials:
The materials used were mostly to aid in the pressing and mounting of flowers:
● Newcomb’s Wildflower Guide was used to identify the flowers
● Paper towels were used to dry the wildflowers
● Stacks of heavy books were used to flatten the wildflowers, so they could be properly
mounted.
● A sticky-page album was used to mount the flowers
● To create, curate and update the database, a computer and an iPad were used
● A printer was used to print out my labels
● A gold marker was used to write the family names of the wildflowers onto the album
● When mistakes were made in the labels, whiteout was used to correct them
Procedure:
1. In class we were introduced to the project and its parameters.
2. We then went out individually and found wildflowers that we could pick. The restrictions
were: On campus flowers must be from outside the perimeter road, unless the flower was
growing near Yarnall and pointed out to you by your teacher, the flowers mustn't be
picked from private property unless you have the property owner’s consent, it is illegal to
pick flowers from a national park, and a rare or non abundant flower should be
photographed, not picked.
3. Before picking the flower it must be identified. To identify a flower first, a specific three-
digit code for the flower should be found; this is found by
a. Knowing the number of petals,
b. Noting the placement of the leaves,
c. Noting the kind of leaf structure that the flower has.
4. Then, with that code, you need to go to the Locator Key and find the page number the
flower is on.
 5. Once you get to that page, compare your specimen to the illustrations and descriptions on
the page to find a match; if you find a match, go to step six, otherwise go back to step 3.
6. There you can find out all the necessary information about the flower to properly identify
it (scientific name, common name, family, county, state etc.).
7. We then had to press the flowers to preserve them; we could press them using different
methods such as a flower press, book stacks, and bricks.
a. The flower should press for anywhere between 3 days to up to two weeks,
depending on the size of the flower you are pressing.
8. We then used the information from our databases to make labels for each individual
flower.
a. We create these labels using the Word MailMerge function.
9. We then had to mount the pressed flowers, using a sticky-page album or spray adhesive
and cardstock. I used the sticky-page album because it was the neatest option.
10. The flowers should be mounted in alphabetical order by family name, with each page
having the family name, the pressed specimen, and the label for the flower.
11. Then we wrote a reflective lab report to attach to our project. The lab report should be
inserted either at the beginning or the end of the finished book, to give insight to the
reader.
Data: See at the end of this report a spreadsheet of all of the flowers in my book.
Discussion:
From the process of doing this project I learned a lot. I learned how to identify a
wildflower, how to curate a database, and how to make labels in Word. I also learned how to
press wildflowers to preserve them, and I learned how to manage my time well for a long-term
project. I also further learned the importance of self advocacy and asking for help when you need
it. A mistake that I made was to not press a flower immediately, therefore letting it mold and
losing it as a viable data point. Another mistake I made was depending on certain days to get
flowers, but then not being able to pick them due to rainy conditions. If I were to do this project
again, one thing I would do differently is to press my flowers all in one place. Something that
went well was that I was able to find a variety of flowers conveniently at my mother workplace.
A trick that helped me was to have one place to press my flowers, and a separate place to press
repetitions of those flowers, so as to avoid confusion. I enjoyed learning the names of flowers
that I recognized, and also improving my long-term time management skills. A trend I noticed
was that flowers would bloom sequentially, not all species at one time. Also a trend I saw was
that flowers from the same families were blooming and being picked around the same time as
one other, for example the Mustards. A third trend was that flowers of the same family tended to
bloom in the same state as each other, such as the Poppy flowers.
Conclusion:
This project has taught me how to make and update a database, reinforced my time
management skills, and pushed me to self advocate and ask for help. I also saw that many
wildflowers thrive in fields of grass. In my collection, 40% of flowers were picked from a field
of grass. Since most of my flowers were picked from fields of grass, I can deduce that flowers
tend to thrive in grass fields. Looking forward, I have three scientific questions to explain my
curiosity. What ratio of pollinator to flower produces the most flowers in the subsequent
generations? When the ecosystem changes due to human activity, what kinds of wildflowers are
most resilient and why? What percentage of animals in Maryland are herbivores, and how does
that compare to California?
Note to Teacher: Thank you so much Teek and Claire for guiding me and my classmates
through this project. I have learned a lot from this and grown as a scientist.