What Happened to My Garden?Part I: Introduction
Bill’s grandparents have had a garden for as long as he could remember. As they got
older, he helped them with the heavy lifting, moving dirt, digging potatoes, etc. But
they still did most of the work, and reaped the fruits and vegetables of their labors
most years.
But this year was different. His grandparents’ peppers, kale, potatoes, and other
vegetables were not only not thriving, they were dying – all of them. It had been an
exceptionally wet year; usually they had to water everyday, but there had been
enough rain to limit watering. In addition, Bill had set them up with a catchment
system to catch and collect rainwater off the roof of their house. They had been
using this to water the plants this year. His grandparents thought this water might
be affecting their crops, or maybe it was the hailstorm they had early in the season.
They had always saved seeds to replant every year, so that shouldn’t be a problem,
should it? They also had new neighbors who had planted a garden right across the
fence. They were a young family, just moved in, and they started their garden a bit
late, but his grandparents were giving them advice.
1. What do you think could be causing Bill’s grandparents’ garden to die off?
Describe a few possibilities.
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2. Choose one of your explanations above (hypotheses), and construct an
experiment to test it.
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Part II: Testing
Bill was a fourth-year student at the local university, and was studying agriculture.
He knew a couple students who were doing research in plant physiology and
toxicity, and thought he might ask them what they thought. One of his friends
thought his professor might be able to help, so Bill emailed the professor asking for
help. After a week, he heard back. The professor wanted him to bring in a sample.
When he brought by the sample, he didn’t realize he was signing up for more work:
the professor paired him up with a new graduate student, Fernando, and told them
to figure it out. Fernando had a couple of ideas, and they began their testing. Their
first goal was to examine the plant tissues under a microscope using special stains
for chloroplasts. The chloroplasts were definitely damaged, and much of the tissue
was dead.
1. What cellular process occurs in the chloroplast?
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2. What would happen to a plant that could not perform this process? Be as
specific as possible.
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Part III: More Results
Bill and Fernando continued testing. Bill told Fernando about the water collection,
the hailstorm, and the neighbor’s garden. Fernando thought about this, and
wondered aloud, “You said the neighbor’s garden was put in late. I wonder if they
might have sprayed an herbicide to kill the weeds before planting. If they did, this
might explain why your grandparents’ garden is dying, particularly the plants on
one side.” So they set out testing for herbicides in the dead plants, and came up with
the second most commonly used: atrazine.
1. How does atrazine act to kill plants?
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2. Predict how this would affect both parts of photosynthesis. Be as detailed as
possible, and include in your answer both of the main steps in
photosynthesis.
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Part IV: The Reveal
The new neighbors were deeply apologetic and offered to share whatever fruits and
vegetables they were able to grow. His grandparents took it well, and were lucky
enough not to totally rely on the garden for food. However, it did get Bill thinking
about how important photosynthesis is, not only to humans, but to all life on earth.
1. In a paragraph or two, describe the importance of photosynthesis to life on
earth.
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2. Bill also started thinking about the damage herbicides can cause if not used
properly. In a paragraph or two, describe one to two of the dangers of
atrazine in particular. Remember to cite your sources using APA Style.
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