Essay: Which type of liquid is better for the mung bean to grow in

Aim
The aim is to investigate the effect of salinity or NaCl with concentrations in each trial on the mass of growing mung beans, and to determine which type of liquid is better for the mung bean to grow in.
Background Information
As I am studying the biomass of growing mung beans I have decided to incorporate a period of germination. Mung beans only need a 24-hour period of germination where the growth of the bean will begin. Germination requires certain factors for successful growth, these factors being water which begins the growth of the embryo, oxygen for the release of energy and warmth so the germination improves. Germination is “the process by which the embryo grows and develops, eventually becoming a fully mature plant”. ()
Plants begin as seeds, or beans begin sprouting after the germination period, therefore the main aspects to look at in this experiment would be the radicle and the plumule of the growing mung bean.
The radicle the is the primary organ that first appears after the germination process as it grows downwards to plant itself into the soil and then emerge. The incorporation of the apparatus cotton pad will allow the seed to dig its roots and stabilize to grow.
The plumule is a part of the embryo, where the shoot develops consisting of leaves, flowers and stem. The size of the plumule ranges from small to large according to the cotyledons which holds the seeds. “If much food be stored, either in cotyledons or endosperm, the plumule may be small.
On the other hand, if little food be provided, the plant must early shift for itself, and so the plumule may have several well-formed leaves, wanting only exposure to light to become a self-supporting plant.” (Mycontentwizard.Blogspot.Co.Uk, 2017,)
Although mung beans are more tolerant to salt varieties, the salt content can reduce and disturb the rate of plant growth, according to authors Magda H. Mohamed and M.F. El Kramany in their article, “Salinity Tolerance of Some Mung Bean Varieties,” from the “Journal of Applied Sciences Research.” (Mycontentwizard.Blogspot.Co.Uk, 2017,)
 
Personal Significance
Having grown up with family around the world I have been able to see their different cooking methods all based upon the weather and the materials available to them. The family I have in Africa grow their food naturally due to the resourceful Lake water and fresh soil. The one food I found different to all the rest was the mung bean largely used in Indian cooking as a source of protein. The reason it was different was because it was the one food they bought from the shops as the consideration of salt content in their soil became harder to deduce for the mung bean plant’s germination due to the salt waters. The high concentrations of salt began to interfere with the growth of the plant as it became unable to hold water in its roots. Therefore, this is the reason I decided to grow mung beans in different levels of NaCl to then find the best places for my family to begin growing their foods naturally once again. Through this experiment I believe that the higher concentrations of salt will in fact obstruct the growing mung beans, however the liquids such as water and possible 1% NaCl could still endure the growing plants.
 
Control of Variables
 
Variables
Factor
Insight
 
Independent
Concentration of NaCl
Sodium Chloride solutions of different concentrations are prepared by different volumes starting at 0.0% (distilled water), and carrying on through 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% NaCl concentrations.
Changing the concentration of a substance affects the mass of the mung beans through a decreasing plateau seen on the graph.
If the concentration of NaCl becomes a limiting factor, increasing concentration will decrease the mass of the mung bean, after which any increase will not affect the mass further.
Dependant
Biomass of mung beans
Depending on the changes in concentration, the mass will change accordingly.
Increasing concentration will decrease the mass of the mung bean, as the higher the acidity levels the slower the mung bean will grow, the lower the mass will be.
Controlled
Period of time for germination
The germination period for a mung bean is 24 hours, and therefore to make sure my results are precise, I will leave the mung beans in their own concentration each for 24 hours. This will enable me to start recording the measurements at an equal time period.
Period of time for bio massing
Another precise way for massing the plants is to always weigh them at the same time, so neither plant is weighed at a latter or earlier point in the process.
 
Temperature
To keep the mung beans all growing in the same temperature as seeds will continue to deteriorate which is dependent on the moisture content and temperature.
 
Massing equipment
The equipment being used to weigh the beans will be a normal scale, this same scale will need to be used through the experiment for precision purposes and just in case the weight is uneven I am able to justify this through the use of the same equipment (which leads me to adding my approximate values).
Mung beans
I will use the same packet of mung beans for all the concentration of NaCl so that the growth is as accurate as possible.
 
 
Cotton pads
The cotton pads will be the main element for the growth of the mung beans as they will be used for the plants rooting. Replacing the cotton pads can disrupt the growth or kill the plants if one is incautious, therefore the best decision is to leave them in the beakers.
 
Apparatus
1) 5 large beakers (1000 ml)
2) 5 small beakers (100 ml)
3) Different concentrations of NaCl (sodium chloride)
4) Packet of mung beans
5) Cling film to cover the beaker to keep the moisture of the seeds
6) Absorbent cotton pad
7) Pen
8) Scissors
9) Labels
10) Scale in grams
 
Safety precautions
In an experiment as such, one should always take safety precautions even if NaCl is considered detrimental or a health hazard. The work area should always be easily ventilated in case of any airborne exposure to the solution. Any eye contact with the saline (if eye contact would be likely to occur) can be prevented by wearing eye goggles, if the saline does manage to get into the eye, one must remove their eye contacts if necessary and rinse with water for at least five minutes. Any skin contact with the saline can be avoided through uses of protective clothing such as gloves and lab coats. A rash or irritation is unlikely to occur with this solution, however if it does and a rash develops one must seek medical attention. In this specific experiment, the sodium chloride is likely to splash or be spilled when pouring it into the beakers filled with mung beans. The general precautions that can be taken in any experiment are using the lowest concentrations and smallest volumes possible, wearing eye protection, beware of opening solutions whilst others are around, and avoiding accidental contaminations of the solutions. (MSDS, 2015) https://www.msdsonline.com/blog/health-safety/2015/04/10/safety-with-salt-sodium-chloride-safety-information
 
Method
1) Attain all the materials necessary and make sure all of the beakers you are using are the same
2) Get the small plastic beakers and label your beakers 1 to 5
3) On each small beaker write the percentage of NaCl you will be adding next to the number of the beaker, for example (1,0%), (2,1%), (3,2%), (4,3%), (5,4%)
4) Add 30ml of mung beans to the beaker
5) Repeat step 4 for the next 4 beakers
6) Begin adding the concentrations
7) Add 60mls of distilled water in beaker one
8) Cover it with cling film and set aside in a dark area
9) Repeat steps 7 and 8 for the next four beakers with their designated concentrations of NaCl (remember to set aside the beaker in a dark area)
10) Leave all the mung beans swimming in their concentrations to germinate for a period of 24 hours
11) After 24 hours, remove the cling film from each beaker and empty out the concentrations
12) Attain your 5 larger glass beakers and place the bottom of the beaker on the plastic side of the pad
13) Draw around the beaker with a black marker and use this drawn sketch to cut around it to get a circle
14) Place the pad plastic side up in the beaker and add enough water to soak up the pad completely
15) Empty out any excess water
16) Label the large glass beakers the same way you labelled the smaller beakers, (1,0%), (2,1%), (3,2%), (4,3%), (5,4%)
17) Place these beakers aside
18) Attain the first small beaker and empty out all the mung beans into a small plastic plate
19) Place the plate with the first batch of mung beans onto the scale and note down the reading of the mass
20) Place the newly weighed mung beans into beaker one and seal the top with cling film
21) Repeat steps 18 to 20 with beaker two, three, four and five
22) Once they are all sealed place them aside and wait for a 48-hour period till you measure them again
23) Repeat the same method of weighing these beans every two days till you reach your 6th run
 
 
 
 
Conclusion
In conclusion, after experimenting with the effect of NaCl on growing munch beans, I am able to justify my initial thoughts by stating that higher concentrations do in fact damage the germination and therefore growing procedure of the plants. Although the lower concentrations of NaCl do hinder the growth and therefore the mass, the plants are still able to grow. The mung beans that were submerged in water grew the most
 
The negative gradient shows the correlation between the effect of NaCl on the mass of the mung beans. According to the graph, my results agree with my personal insights and how the more of the effect will decrease the mass. The graph uses the values I calculated from the mean by adding up the values and dividing them by five (due to the five trials I did), these values were; Water: 64.084, 1% NaCl: 51.51, 2% NaCl: 45.32, 3% NaCl: 41.428, 4% NaCl: 38.3.
Evaluation
From my perspective I believe many things went wrong during the process of this experiment. The first thing in my case would be the level of organization and certainty as I believe really understanding the point of my experiment was important. Attaining all my measuring instruments was easy, although beginning the actual experiment was what started the doubt. I began with pea seeds, as this is also what my family began buying rather than growing, and when I began I noticed that the pea seeds actually soaked up more water than usual. I also did not begin with a germination period and most of my seeds were dry by the next day. Re-starting the experiment with mung beans improved everything by far, and now I was sure about the amount of concentration needed for the beans to survive. Also when I began the experiment with pea seeds I began by counting how many I would actually need. I started with 50 in each beaker, yet with further research I realized that having many seeds in one beaker would not only enhance the growth of all the seeds, but make my readings a lot more precise. When changing to mung beans with the initial size being a lot smaller than pea seeds, I used any amount of beans in each beaker, with all 5 weighing the same (giving me the specific value I needed).
Having to do this experiment from scratch was extremely different to what we have done in the past, and therefore creating a full basis from the equipment needed to the trials incorporated seemed to distract me from the actual experiment, leaving me to restart the process for a third time. This time, although tiring, I became more aware of what I needed to do in order to test the effect of sodium chloride on the mass of mung beans.
When all the readings were finally put in the graph I was able to find that my hypothesis did in fact work out, and all my readings were similar to the previous ones in every trial. Doing these trials helped improve my accuracy and also helped me understand the experiment further. The next thing I would improve in this experiment is accuracy of the additions of concentration in milliliters, as although it seemed pretty straight forward, there is never precision due to faults of the naked eye.
I think the way in which this element would be improved is by adding it to the controlled variables so that the same syringe reads the measurements each time.
Overall I really enjoyed this experiment and the experience to complete an experiment independently. The experiment was fairly simple to prepare, and once I understood the margins for the data analysis everything seemed to fit into place. Watching the actual growth of the mung beans (especially those submerged in water) really gave me an understanding of the effect of sodium chloride on the mass of mung beans.
Strengths
Although there were many anomalies in this experiment due to the confusion in the beginning, I started my experiments very late, resulting in some result changes within the trials. Although the results weren’t too far a part, the biggest mistake I made was weighing the beaker and subtracting the beakers mass from the seed mass. This obviously lead me to wrong recordings and having to start my experiment again. Besides this I was able to find strengths within the calculations and also observations when finding the actual growth in centimeters of the mung beans, and the mean of the mass for each trial. The efficiency and routine between each set of mung beans became apparent by the second trial, and the background knowledge I had assisted me when finding any anomalies, comparing of results after each trial and expecting the correlation of mass and sodium chloride concentrations to decrease. I feel as though I was able to get a good understanding of the entire topic with just one experiment and I feel confident to explain my results as well as incorporate this new knowledge in upcoming scenarios.