5/4 - Reflections

Welcome Back!

Hello, and welcome to my final blog post. Thank you so much for following along the journey with me. If you're brand new, here's a quick summary of what I've accomplished so far. I'm Tia Abraham, and I pursued an experimental research project studying the biomechanical impacts of an autonomic horizontal wind force on cornflowers. The process began with finding a field of interest, assessing the research gap in that field, designing an experimental study (Blog Post #1), setting up the approved design (Blog Post #2), applying the experimental procedure, collecting data (Blog Post #3), analyzing that data, and finally, identifying conclusions and implications (Blog Post #4). Now that I have completed my research, the month of April focused on presenting this research and reflecting on the process.

Abstract

The following is a cumulative summary of my research.

Currently, climate change has been shown to increase wind speeds, and plants, trees, and crops are not adapting as fast as the climate is changing. Ultimately, a viable treatment must be found that can be applied to plants in order to artificially adapt them to the changing climates. Previous research has found that vertical mechanical stimulation to plant and tree stems has produced a biomechanically stronger plant.

The following study analyzed the effects of a horizontal force applied by an electric fan on the growth of cornflowers. The cornflowers were “wind-trained”, and based on previous research, this artificial wind application was hypothesized to decrease the plants height and number of leaves. Three experimental groups were created, each having a different frequency of application; force was either applied once, three times, or five times a week.

The results rejected the null hypothesis and demonstrated a clear decline in stem height and number of leaves as the wind force frequencies increased between experimental groups. The study concluded that although previous research supports the idea of this data being universal to all plants, additional research must be done to ensure that these same results occur on crop plants.

Keywords: Root biomechanics, stem flexure, stem biomechanics, field wind effects on plants, wind loads on plants

Tia - Research Presentation

Figure 8.1: Research presentation walking through every step of the process of my research (Abraham).

4/5 | AP Research Presentation

At the beginning of this month, I presented my research to a panel of science teachers at Rock Canyon High School. This panel included Ms. Nikki Dobos (biology), Ms. Kerry Hinton (chemistry), Mr. Jeffery Nichols (chemistry), and Ms. Jenny Wills (environmental science).

Reflections

Figure 8.2: Image of how GMOs have been used in the past; my experiment would do the opposite of what is shown in order to strengthen plants (Devlin).

Content

During my presentation and the process of building my presentation, I learned a lot more about the biology and adaptation processes of plants. Now that there is statistical evidence that an electric fan can decrease the stem length and number of leaves on cornflowers, the next step is to understand if this new adaptation carries through to the next generation. Analyzing genetic modification in a lab setting would be the next major step.

Figure 8.3: An example of what I learned from the research design process was the idea and importance of random assignment, as shown in this image (Abraham).

Product

After giving the presentation itself, I learned the importance of preparation and figures in presentations. Many of the panelists commented on the lack of images from my experimental setup in my presentation, so I was sure to include more images in my paper. As for the paper itself, I think my most important takeaway is the research design process; before, I didn't know much about designing sound research projects, and now, through Ms. Dobos and Ms. Fordham, I know much more about the process. As I move forward into designing more research projects, I hope to take these key skills with me.

Figure 8.4: An example of the time issue during this project was the measuring process (as pictured); taking measurements as frequently as possible for 144 plants was extremely time consuming, and was not accounted for during the research design process (Abraham).

Process

Through this process, I definitely learned how much procrastination has an impact on research. When designing this project, I didn't specifically account for the amount of time I would have to work on this project, and the amount of time this project would actually take, and this discrepancy definitely showed through my actual research presentation. In the future, I hope to gauge the amount of time research will take, and I hope that will lead to better output from myself in the future.

4/28 | Research Paper

Combining all of these reflections and the comments received during my presentation, I wrote my cumulative research paper.

AP Research Final Paper - Analyzing Cornflower Biomechanics

Figure 8.5: My research paper cumulating my research process and any suggestions I may have received (Abraham).

Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge my AP Research teacher Ms. Dobos for providing me with guidance on my research proposal process. I would like to thank her for approving my project, funding my project, and running an SRC analysis of my project in order to comply with safety regulations.

I would like to acknowledge Ms. Fordham for providing guidance through the research proposal and design process as well.

I would like to acknowledge the environmental science teacher at Rock Canyon Ms. Wills for guiding me and providing resources for this project. I would like to thank them for providing me with advice on plant growth and for being flexible as I used her lab.

I would like to acknowledge the chemistry teachers at Rock Canyon, Ms. Hinton and Mr. Nichols, for listening to my presentation and providing feedback.

Figure 8.6: Image of me (Tia Abraham) wearing my Caltech crewneck after committing on May 1st (Abraham).

5/1 | Future Aspirations

As I look toward the future, I am so excited to continue my research in the biomedical and bioengineering fields. This project has given me a jump start in this field of study and has fueled me to continue is further in my post-secondary education. As I continue my education at the California Institute of Technology through a bioengineering major, I hope to take the research skills I have learned in this class and apply them to my future endeavors.

Thank you so much for following along with me on this research journey!

Page updated

Report abuse