blog post #5 fassil 🌱

This week our plant looks a little bigger. Our plant is alive because it can eat, breath, drink, and it produces a waste product carbon dioxide. It gets its energy from the sunlight through a process called photosynthesis. The plant drinks water by absorbing it through its roots. But most importantly its made up of cells.

Since our plant was just a seedling I knew it was going to do great things to help the worlds pollution problem. The plant has grown a lot since it was just a seed 3 months ago, it grew about 6 inches. The plant also changed color it used to have a brown stem and light green leafs, but now it has a purple stem and dark green leafy.

Blog Post #5

Our cabbage plant is living, and you can tell it is so in many different ways. To begin with, all living things adapt to the environment, grow and eventually mature. Our plant is doing all of the following and is continuing to do so day by day. Our plant came from a seed that was produced from another plant of the same brassica oleracea family. Also, our plant has adapted to several different changes in the environment. These changes include a massive change in weather and insects feeding on the plant for food. All of these observations illustrate how our plant is living and thriving.

Masons 5th blogpost

Some times it can be hard to depict if something is alive or not, but the most perennial thing to look look for is if its made up of cells. We can see from the picture below that plants are in fact made up many cells that are all working together.Like most living   things our plant not only are made up of cells but they also reproduce, and adapt to their environment. During the past few weeks their leafs along with the stem have grown drastically to adapt to a lack of sunlight and to direct rainfall toward its self.  The other plant of ours was sadly unable to adapt fast enough so it died, but now the dead cells will return to the earth providing the living plant with an extra boost of energy.

blog post # 5

  Our plants are doing fine, even though their  growth has severely slowed. I know our plants are alive because they eat, breathe, and reproduce. The cabbage ‘eats’ through photosynthesis, takes in CO2 and releases oxygen, and drops seeds to reproduce.If we look inside our plants, you can tell that they has cells. Every single living thing has cells. More characteristics our plants have to show they are alive is how everything inside the plants are organized and the how they grow and develop. At the start, our plant had sprout leaves and were no bigger than two inches in height. as they matured, they grew wider, taller, and grew adult leaves. We could also measure the length of the roots to see how they have changed.

Blog Post #4

Abiotic factors such as the weather, sunlight, soil, temperature, and water affect all types of plants including ours. Biotic factors that affect our plant’s health are caterpillars and butterflies, humans, bacteria, and other plants competing to survive.

Competitors like weeds and other plants crowd around our plants and shade out the sun. this factor prevents the growth of the cabbage plant. All of the plants compete for sunlight, water, and space to boost their chances of continuing to grow.

The difference between the winners and the losers is determined by the health and size of the plant. The winners are the plants that produce the most offspring and continue to grow. While the losers are the plants who lose to more dominate plants and struggle to produce offspring.

Our cabbage plant is also involved in parasitism. Caterpillars and other insects feed off of it’s leaves which harms the plant, but gives the insects nutrients.

Secondary succession was shown in the garden at the beginning of the year. Before we planted our seeds, the garden was overthrown with weeds,dead plants and unfertilized dirt. Now the garden has grown back to its healthy state on its own. Succession is happening because new plants that we did not plant are starting to grow throughout the whole garden.

Blog post # 4

Every plant is affected by abiotic factors such as weather, sunlight, soil, and water.  Biotic factors that affect and influence our plant’s health are caterpillars, bacteria in the soil, and other competing plants.

These competitors like buckwheat take up space around our plants and block out the sun preventing growth and speeding up the life of the cabbage.  All of the plants in this community compete for sunlight, water, and space.

The line between “winning” and “losing” is blurry and can only be inferred by the health and size of the plant. Sometimes, a plant can have bigger roots, but be smaller out of soil or vice versa. The true winners in a vegetative ecosystem are those who thrive the most and reproduce to have the biggest population.

My plants are also involved in parasitism. Caterpillars and other insects feed off of the leaves which harms the plants, but gives the insects nutrients.

A form of secondary succession occurred in the garden at the start of the year. Until we planted our seedlings, the garden was covered in dead buckwheat stems and dirt. now, the garden has fully developed back to it’s normal state. We know that succession is occurring because New plants that we did not place there have already started to grow.

Mason's blog post #4

Some biotic factors that our plants are affected by are the caterpillars that live on our plants along side the with the later staged white butterflies. The two stated both diminish the plants ability to get energy by eating the plants leafs. Abiotic factors that affect our plant are the amount of water they receive, the amount of sunlight received, and the temperature. If our plant is not watered on a daily basis its cells will become dehydrated, and if a plant does not receive sunlight it will not be able o get food through photosynthesis. Lastly the temperature plays a huge role in what happens to our plant. If its to cold the plant will rupture its cells, and if its to hot the plant losses precious water. 

Our plants are always competing. Water, food, and sun are the main prizes for the strongest. Currently they are competing with the plants around it for sun. We know sun is hard to get for our plants because the other plants around it are big and block much of the light that our plants need to grow. The after math of this is apparent because we can see how small our plants are compared to all of the others.

Winners and losers in competition are hard to see some of the time. The confusion lies in how is something determined a winner. It is simply a matter of who survives longer than the others, but if you think on a regional scale one group of plants may have claimed victory in one part and the other plants in another part. Who won then? The winner on a large scale is determined by all of the struggles the group has achieved together. That means if group A of plants gets overgrown by group B one time, but Group A has over grown group B 3 more times than that then group A is the over all winner.

Our plants are also involved mutualism (when two different species benefit from each others existence). This takes place when bees help to pollinate our plants and the bees get nectar from our plant. Both of the organisms need each other to exist. Other organisms do the same thing for our plants such as birds, bats, and ants.

Secondary succession is occurring in the garden. Whenever the year goes by most of the plants dye adding nutrients to the soil. Once the plants finish biodegrading the garden sits at a stand still until it rains. A few days after the rain hits weeds and left over seeds from the previous year start to sprout and take root which finishes the secondary succession cycle.

blogpost 4 -fassil 🌿

Some of the abiotic factors that affect our plant are weather mainly cold weather, dirt, and sunlight. The Biotic factors that affected our plant are insects, bacteria, other plants, and humans. My teammates and I had a big affect on the plant because we removed some harmful factors and tried to help it as best we could.

The competitors for our plant are other plants in the garden. The one thing they're all competing for is space, because space is very limited in the garden. They also compete for sunlight and water.

Their are many different ways to determine the " winning" and "losing". One way is to compare its size with the other plants and see how it stacks up with the rest of the other plants. But to truly see the winner you would need to look at the long term effect and see if it trived and repopulated.

The plant is involved in a symbiotic relationship with the worms in the soil. The worms take the compost and breakdown to nice fertile soil and they also dig a lot of holes so water can easily reach the roots. In return the worms get food from the plants; like dead leafs.

Blog Post #3

Over past few weeks our plant has gotten reassembly larger in size and height. When I went out to the garden to check on our plant I instantly noticed changes in the plants appearance. The stems are thicker and the leafs have gotten larger. I did notice some holes in the leafs due to caterpillars and butterflies that feed on the cabbage leafs. Besides the minimal damage to the cabbage plant, the plant is looking healthy and is growing at a gradual rate.

The cabbage plant is involved in the water cycle through its runoff. The water is taken up into the plant’s roots and is absorbed by the roots is given to each of the plant cells. The plant cells then expand and make the stem of the plant much stronger and thicker. The leaves also grow along with the overall growth of the plant. The plant will continue to gradually grow.

Our cabbage plant is also involved in the in carbon cycle. The carbon dioxide then turns into oxygen through photosynthesis. The chloroplast inside the plant cells converts this carbon dioxide into oxygen which is eventually released. This contributes to the world and gives us the air that we breathe and survive on.

The cabbage also takes place in the nitrogen cycle because the soil on the plants provides nitrogen while it’s roots take nitrate and nitrogen dioxide which is then given to the plant. The roots fixate the nitrogen compounds to make it 100% pure nitrogen. The nitrogen improves the plants growth and defense majorly against pests.

Masons 3rd blog post

   This week our plants look bigger stronger, and a slight red hue to their stems has started to take shape representing the increase of maturity. Since being placed in the graden our plants have participated in a few cycles including the water, carbon, and nitrogen cycles. 
   Participation in the water cycle includes the intake and filtration of water. When water flows through our plants roots some is being kept by the plan while the rest is being in a sense screened of harmful bacteria and other un-wanteds. Because of our plants direct effects on the cycle, they are able to be the first to acquire some of the nutrients and helpful bacteria that make them grow. 
  Our plants also take part in the nitrogen cycle.  Once nitrogen in the air enters the soil through bacteria, the bacteria will fix itself to the roots of our plant. This gives bacteria a home and our plants neutriants. The plant takes in nitrates which means if our plant is eaten the consumer will get some nitrogen also. Not only do our plants take part in the nitrogen and water cycles but the carbon cycle to. 
  The compost bin, smoke from chimneys, and animals in the garden give off CO2. on the other hand our plant gives off oxygen. To make oxygen, the plant must first take in CO2. When it takes in CO2 the earths air gets that much cleaner.

blogpost # 3 (Fassil) 🍃🍃

This week our plant looks better and stronger. The stem is purple and the leafs are green,not have some holes because a caterpillar ate our plant.

Our plant is part of the water cycle it absourbs water from the soil and it releases the water into the leaves. The leaf's also catch water that falls from the sky.

When the plant dies and rots the bacteria and fungi which break down repire and so the carbon cycle is completed and co2 is once more released back into the atmosphere and ready to be consumed by another plant. The important thing is that plant produces more o2 than co2 in its plant life.
The nitrogen cycle is the process by which nitrogen cycle is the process by which nitrogen is convertes form. Plants take nitrogen from the soil by absorbing it through its roots.

Blog post # 3

Our plants have grown a tremendous amount, but have holes in their leaves due to caterpillars. The stems have turned a dark purple, while the leaves are a faded green. This new color of our plant suggests that it has matured and left the seedling stage in it’s life. Soon, our plant will sprout the head of the cabbage and be in the adult stage.

The cabbage is involved in the water cycle through runoff of water being taken up into the plants’ roots. The water that is absorbed by the roots is given to each of the cells. These cells then expand and make the stem of the plant much stronger and thicker. The leaves also grow due to the overall growth of the plant from water. This lets the plants flourish and grow. 

Not only is our cabbage involved in the water cycle, but it also takes in carbon dioxide and turns that into oxygen through photosynthesis. The chloroplast inside the plant cells converts this carbon dioxide into oxygen that is then released. This contributed to the world and gives us the air that we need to survive. Photosynthesis is the main source of energy supplied to the plant and is the only way for energy to be obtained.

The cabbage is related to the nitrogen cycle because the fertilizer on the plants provides nitrogen while it’s roots take NO3- and NO2-which is then given to the plant. Before given to the plant, the roots fixate the nitrogen compounds to make it pure nitrogen. This nitrogen heavily promotes plant growth and defending against pests because it is part of most proteins in the plant.