Planting and Science

 In this unit of Food, we covered ecosystems, primary and secondary macronutrients, the oxygen cycle, the area of shapes and a whole lot more. This was all for our first Action Project, which was to grow a plant and measure it. First, we should go over ecosystems. An ecosystem is when living things and non-living things, like the environment, work together as a unit. An example of an ecosystem is the human ecosystem, how we work with the land in order to survive. We also watched and read materials on gardening as a whole and how some people view it. We watched a TED Talk that featured a man named Ron Finley, who started a garden in his neighborhood. As he talked, though, something he said that stood out to me was the fact that he said gardening was a lot like graffiti. He said it was because it beautified more dull areas, turning them into amazing and beautiful places. We also read a bit of Fukuoka’s writing, more specifically The One Straw Revolution. One section in the book is about natural farming and its four principles. One principle from that section I agree with is not using any chemical fertilizers. This is because we shouldn’t try to harm the environment or plants that are growing. One final thing was that, if given the chance, I would have liked to grown plants like onions, corn and potatoes.

Above are the plants I grew for this Action Project. As you can see, only one of them grew, which measures to be around 4 inches. I also calculated the volume of the cylinders and the area of the circle on top. 

Area: 1/2*pi*1^2 = 1/2 * pi * 1 = 0.5pi inches squared

Volume: 3.14*1^2*2.5 = 3.14 * 1 * 2.5 = 7.85 inches squared

Also, here is my scientific method on the plants: