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file:///Users/alejandro/Downloads/Nueva%20carpeta/homepage.html

12-31st november

exams were hard but keep going,we really developed a good relationship, teamwork... needs to be aided.....

Exams almost finished.

Just 1 more... Science. and we are freeee

WOOW! and double WOOW!

Exams.. S:

Ok.. so we kind of got the hang of it now. (exams)
the plants are huge and amazing, some plants even have huge tomatoes. (but not our team)

What's Happening?

Today Yesterday, and the day before that tec had the exams for recuperation, but tomorrow.... EXAMS!

Exams Starting

Exams start on Thursday and the plants are looking Grrreat!

Visit to Irapuato's Green House's

Visit to Irapuato

figure 1.4

greenhouses

         

figure 2.4

they used a drip system for the tomato plants 

A little about hydroponics 2

What does a plant need to grow

figure 1.2

How Do Plants Grow? Free Information on Plant Development!" Plant and Flower Guide, Discover Numerous Types of Flowers and. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. <http://www.plant-and-flower-guide.com/how-do-plants-grow.html>.

Plagues in the tomato plants

figure 1.3

figure 2.3

 This is a tomato affected by a plague called late blight caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans.

figure 3.3

Top of plant infected with pseudo curly top virus.

Harrington,, By Jenny. "How to Prevent Blight on Tomato Plants | EHow.com." EHow | How To Do Just About Everything! | How To Videos & Articles. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. <http://www.ehow.com/how_7405998_prevent-blight-tomato-plants.html>.

"Symptoms of Pseudo Curly Top on Tomato Plant." Vegetable Diseases Cornell Home Page. Web. 17 Nov. 2010. <http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/diagnostickeys/TomWlt/PseudoCurly_Tom.htm>.

A little about hydroponics

                                                         Art gallery

Hydroponics systems

The wick system

figure 1 .1

The Water Culture System

Figure 2 .1

Drip System

Figure 3.1

Nutrient Film Technique

Figure 4.1

The Aeroponic System

figure 5.1 

Essay!!!

this is the draft we delivered to MAru!!! according to rex and the other groups our project was the BEST!!! hahaha
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=RSQVA8TZ

lots of projects comin

ok, so they pics wer not delivered so they couldn't be posted,
fungi is having tons of projects and is starting projects next week

Pics comin'

Pics are coming tomorrow as soon as possible!

Team evaluation 1-15 November

the classes are almost off and we can feel it. our plants are the best!!! really haha, even dough we cant say the same from the earth ones!!

PROBLEMS!!!

Julia's venoclisis is actually dead!! and JAme's venoclisis is on its way of diying.
YOU TWO NEED TO BUY A NEW VENOCLISIS "alias gotero" AND A NEW BOTTLE. YOUR PLANTS WILL DIE! by the moment i've been visiting the greenhouse and putting water on you plants....

how's fungi doing?

hope great, just sunday and monday of vacations left!

finally finished

fungi finally finished exams

monday funday!

monday of next week Tec canceled classes because of independence day.!

keep up the good work!

the plants are having a blast, growing and growing.

photos will be posted.

(SORRY FOR THE LATENESS ON THE PICS)

Tuesday 9th and Wednesday November 10th

It have been really cold days but th plants ar in great shape, they are growing nicely.
We have been giving great care to plants everybody doing their part.

freezing monday

today, monday woke up with a 1 degrees celcius (C), and the plants where shivering cold, but no worries, none of the plants died!

A look at the past.

i mean team, ...just look at our progress.

Study.

Study hard team, for monday's spanish exam!

TecToday!

today, we had the history exam at our 2nd hour, then we watched a movie at french, and finally we each we to our home due to there was no computer class because of Tecmun.

what a class! updates

today Mariel our Ova teacher let us bring food to the class.
The plants are going great, photos maybe tomorrow.
Go FUNGI!

Quiz

Today fungi had a quiz of science... uuughh!

Today's News Pictures

 as you can see the plants got their steady strings!

james's Plant didn't look so good today "It started dying" -the reason was james put a solution of vitamins into the plant and the plant didn't like it!, so we'll see what we gonna do. 

Exams.. S:

Today fungi started off with the first partial which was French! oui, oui...
OMG.. 3RD partials! 1 more month to finish school!

what a Class!

Today fungi had the last class of the day OVA. which everybody likes.....

 well this time it wasn't much of a class, it was a total fun, funny, learning, disastrous, and waste of time class.

Today's news !

Today fungi connected the string to the plants so they can grow tall and straight, photos will be posted as soon as possible.

Etm evaluation 9-30 oct

team's going great!!! as amatter of fact pretty amazing. We are the team probably with the best plants on hydroponics... soil plants seem to have trouble, but we are fine... would we consider to keep planting till august next year???

Mini Study Guide

Fungi, heres the exercise we did in class days ago.

It will be published in the next post.

Here's The Thing!

Each of us 6, divided the work of going to visit, re-fill substance, and watch the plants, at least 3 days a week. Because this plants need to be treated really careful.

Team Visits Expo

Fungi went yesterday to the Expo in Guanajuato, and had a BLast!

We each went to 3 different rooms to learn about the different thing.

PLants

The plants have been planted, and are going amazing... till now.

Spoiler of Fungi!!!

jaja !!! FINISHED!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ARHBEOdf-c

Team evaluation 3-9 oct

Our team we must say is kinda of getting better. at least we could arrange ourselves to take some video and fotos at the greenhouse visit. even dough i think what we need is trust. we need to take time to explain each other everything on Biology, i mean we can clearly see the result on the team grades, i mean... if we take the time to sit down and explain the whole book in parts, we could have got the 5 collaborative points and to get better scores!!! i mean I randomly got a 77!!! 

Video Stills

We are preparing the video , that helps announce the project.

plant progress video unfinished!!

its in file excj¿hange in blackboard

Team evaluation 26 sept- 2 October

Team is hanging out well, I think. Even dough properly seeing we might lack from sense of priorities. We see our personal life as number 1 shot before our team responsibilities, and we must insist we are one ship tripulation, which might end up in the bottom of the ocean.
I firmly think on the strongest survival and the weakest fall, even dough this doesn’t and cont possibly be applied to this. We may suggest and even infer that our team has several communication problems, our tastes aren’t the same, neither our points of view. This makes it a little bit more complicated than we had expected.
Yes our team is making advance are communication, even dough we should consider pushing it way harder.

Team Reunion

Team´s hanging out right now at Starbucks,
were telling all about us and discuss about how
the plants are going.

good work fungis!

Team evaluation 19-25 Sept

We are being a littele bit more comunicative between ourselves, i mean it easier to use facebook than blackboard, so we'll be fine... the arragement fort the out talk in starbucks... welll we are kinda of having problems with that... i mean nobody can go the same days a me, and i cant go the same days paola can... we'll fix it... eventualy, julia and i propose monday after school... i think its a good idea, we can talk about haw pitty we are at french jajaja, or maybe help ourselves in math and other stuff.... i mean for the exams, whatever, i think we are making progress...
Woshi Woshi haha

Bicentenary

The Team is feeling amazing with this vacations!

Backgrounds!!

Team evaluation 12-18 sept

fist of all Happy bicentenial!!! haha
Well now on our team has been making progress, even dough the dificulties we are passing through the plants well some wittered, some survived because of the house change, but even dough the ones in my garden are quite happy, so if they all die, well be able to replce them. Counting all this we have been able to comunicate more freely than we used to...
I think that the best for us as a team is to go to starbucks to get a nice chat with coffe!
And maybe helpourselves with math hw!!!
Cheers O_O

Team Logo Finally!!

Made by: Alex James

a00568646

Creo que si nos comunicaramos mas y le hecharamos mas ganas saldria mejor todo. esque es estrezante el no saber si se puede confiar en otro para pedirle que haga algo... :S

Rex Jueves 12

Hoy vimos como hacer un post y seguir un post en Blackboard. :)

Alma hernández and Miroslava Aguilar

We think that we must cooperate more and organizate better in order to be more succesful. We need to talk more between ourselves!!! So in that way we wont watse eachones habilities!

Guide 3

1. If wanting to grow tomatoes, which is the best type of hydroponics system for your plant? Which are its: light, pH, temperature, etc. requirements? Choose a medium. Alejandro James


2. How long does my tomato plant take to grow? When will I start and finish harvesting? Alejandro James

3. Which is its life cycle? List and explain the different stages. Miroslava Aguilar

4. What problems may I face when growing my plant? What are the nutrient- deficiency most common symptoms? Julia Garza

5. What plagues can my tomato plant present? What is the best way to control or eradicate them? Alma Elizabeth

6. Make a detailed Diagram of the steps you will follow to cultivate your hydroponics plants and a Table that summarizes the materials needed in each step. Esteban Gomez

7. Make a cost analysis of the project, including materials used, solutions, etc., and include what you had previously done for Guide 2. Paola Cervantes

Guide 2

1. Explain the different types of hydroponics or controlled environment cultures. Miroslava Aguilar

2. How do you choose the appropriate medium for your culture? What options do you have? Miroslava Aguilar

3. What parameters and nutrients must be covered and monitored in the solutions used for hydroponics cultures? Esteban Gomez

4. What is each nutrient included in the nutrient solutions used for in plant growth? Julia Garza

5. How can you build a green house from cheap, recycled materials? Alejandro James

6. Design your greenhouse, including all needed materials, space requirements, etc. Alma Elizabeth

7. Make a cost analysis of materials needed for your culture: solutions, medium, system materials (bucket, air pump, plant support, etc.), seeds, etc. Paola Cervantes

Plant progress till transplant Aug 24- Sept 2

Tuesday, August 24, 2010 5:34:14 PM CDT

About 8 to 10 seeds were planted on each spot.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010 4:48:26 PM CDT

The plants were moved by my mom, so they may last long More to sprout.

Thursday, August 26, 2010 4:59:17 PM CDT

Since the plants were really dry, and humus was little, ill put more humus and water. Nothing still

Friday, August 27, 2010 5:02:33 PM CDT

The first 3 sprouted seedlings im able to see!!!! They´re quite little, but tey´ll grow XD

Saturday, August 28, 2010 5:20:38 PM CDT

Progress finally!!! They are now almost 8 seedlings. XD. Since sun is not a problem, they´ll grow
Sunday, August 29, 2010 6:15:47 PM CDT
It’s growing!!! Jaja at least 1 cm long!
Monday, August 30, 2010 7:16:36 PM CDT
First cotyledom leaves which are green!
Tuesday, August 31, 2010 8:01:24 PM CDT
Nothing happended they are 1 cm the biggest and 1/4 cm the smallest
Wednesday, September 1, 2010 7:03:32 PM CDT
In three plants the fully grown 1° set of leaves appeared.
Tallest measure: an inch. Smallest: 1/2 centimeter.
Thursday, September 2, 2010 6:11:02 PM CDT
No progress from yesterday... still an inch the tallest, and half a cm the smallest.
Friday, September 3, 2010 11:53:08 AM CDT
Size; tallest: 4.8 cm smallest: just a sprout
Leaves: Biggest: 3.6 cm Smallest: Not appeared yet.
Saturday, September 4, 2010 6:42:36 PM CDT
Size; tallest: 5.0 cm smallest: just a sprout
Leaves: Biggest: 3.8 cm Smallest: Not appeared yet.
Sunday, September 5, 2010 4:56:10 PM CDT
Size; tallest: 5.2 cm smallest: just a sprout
Leaves: Biggest: 3.8 cm Smallest: Not appeared yet.
Monday, September 6, 2010 6:52:25 PM CDT
Size: tallest: 5.3 cm smallest: just a sprout.
Leaves: Biggest: 3.8 cm Smallest: Not appeared yet.
Tuesday, September 7, 2010 6:51:32 PM CDt
Plants transplanted to regular soil: 20
Plants in medium and humus: 15
Tall: 1 inch (at most), 1/2 cm (at least)

Leaves: 2 pair of leaves appearing (at most), 1st pair of leaves still developing (at least)

HYDROPONICS INFORMATION

Is Hydroponics Cheaper and more viable than regular farming? To discover the truth we must first identify how a plant works.




Plants are living organisms that belong to the plantae kingdom. Botany, the study of plants, has identified over 3 million species of plants, even dough they are quite alike by inside.

All living things are composed by cells, plant cells are pretty different to the animal cells, but they kind of have the same structure.

Plant cells have:

• Chloroplast

• Ribosome

• Vacuole

• Golgi Bodies

• Nucleolus

• Nuclear Membranes

• DNA

• RNA

• Plastids

• Cytoplasm

• Chromatin

• Cell Membranes

• Cell Walls

• Plasmodesma

• Chromoplasts

• Lysosomes

• …etc



Even dough all the cells may be alike, there are many types of cells inside a plant. There are the Meristematic cells, the differentiated cells, the Epidermal and eukaryotic, etc…



We can define The Meristematic cells as the one that are capable of miotic division since they haven’t assumed an adult or differentiated from or function. Daughter cells may lose the ability to divide, so they become differentiated cells. In the other way Differentiated cells develop the specialized functions. They don’t divide any more, but they may grow in size. They are located in the non-growing parts of the plant like lower trunk and mature leaves. Meristematic cells are located in the constantly growing part of a cell, such as the apical meristem, buds, nodes and leaves.







The different functions on a plant can be done by a sole cell without coordination, therefore tissues exist. A tissue is formed when two or more cells, different or alike, work together to perform a specific function. Functional groups of one or more tissues are called systems.

There are 4 kinds of tissue systems: Epidermal tissue System, Periderm tissue System, Ground tissue system and the Vascular tissue System, together they are referred as a Biomass.





Let’s start with the Dermal Tissue System, which covers the outer surface of a plant. The Dermal Tissue is also related to our skin, epidermis, which has a similar function. It’s divided in two types.

• Epidermal: Outer part of the stems.

• Periderm: Replaces the epidermal tissue on the roots as they grow, for protection. Even dough the root segments which have been covered by the Periderm can’t absorb neither water nor nutrients.

• Ground tissue System: Basically does the support, storage and gathers minerals for the photosynthesis.

• Vascular tissue System: Transports all the nutrients and water through the plant.



Plants as themselves are divided again in many structures. Each structure has a different purpose and function, in order to generate energy and keep the plant alive they have to work together.



Roots: pull water and mineral, many are in water or deep soil. They are divided in

• Primary root (taproot)

• Lateral roots (Some may be on the surface, each one has Apical Meristem)

• Root Hairs

Stems: Transport food and water; support the structure, connected by the vascular system.

Its points of growth are the tip (terminal bud; primodium, apical Meristem that develops in new leaves and branches) and the node (where leaves and branches develop on stems).

On water they are used for water storage, the bark on the tree is a protective is a protective layer.

Leaves: they are all about photosynthesis, creating food molecules and absorbing Co2. They are different types of leaves, depending on the family of the plant and the type of plant. Some kinds of leaves are:

Petals: Their main function is to protect the reproductive organs.

Thorns: Protect the plant from predators.

Vine-like leaves

Even dough desertic plants don’t have leaves, because leaves promote water evaporation.

If all these divisions weren’t enough, Scientist divided plants in species. There are many Plant species, but where’re going to talk about just 2: Monocots and Dicots, which are the angiosperm plant bodies.



Monocots include garden flowers and grasses, such as rice, wheat, etc. Monocots are the constant food staple source for almost everyone on earth.

• Flower: its flower parts (petals, pistils…etc) are in threes or its multiples.

• Leaves: Have smooth edges, often narrow with parallel veins.

• Stems: Vascular bundles are scattered throughout stem.

• Roots: Fibrous Root system.

• Seeds: Seed has one Cotyledon (Seed leaf).



Dicots include deciduous trees (the ones that drop their leaves on winter) and garden plants.

• Flower: its flower parts (petals, pistils…etc) are in fours or fives.

• Leaves: Have palmate, hand like, or oval with netlike veins.

• Stems: Vascular bundles are arranged in a ring around the stem.

• Roots: Taproot System.

• Seeds: Seed has 2 Cotyledons (seed leafs).



Both of them are quite alike, but as we mentioned before, there are 5 ways they’re really different, which helps to classify them.





Plants sometimes maybe even more complicated to take care of than babies. Since a plant can’t obtain several stuff that it needs, by itself. Plants need human animal and even bacteria to Care.

Some of the main stuff that a plant needs to grow is:

1. Plenty of Sunlight: For every plant, receiving enough sunlight is crucial. When plant is not receiving the essential amount of sunlight its stem become thinner and it may also begin to lean towards the light source.

2. Water: plants need water to survive. But too much or too little water will cause a plant to die.

3. Adequate Air and Temperature: plant needs to be placed in a well-ventilated area. Place the growing plant where there is almost no wind and the temperature is between 20 and 30 degrees.

4. Pollination: When insects accidentally grab pollen particles from one plant to another they fertilize them. So if they are fertilized they grow bigger and reproduce

5. Rich Soil: "Providing your plant with rich soil will help it receive the nutrients and minerals it needs. The three most vital nutrients that a plant can receive are nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium.

• Nitrogen aids in the plant's growth above ground.

• Phosphorous enhances plant cell division. It also helps in flower and seed production and in the development of a strong root system.

• Potassium improves the plant's ability to fight off disease. It also gives it strong stems."



Plants will always be affected by some environmental and physical factors. These factors may be part of the ecosystem and they may be not.

Factors are classified in two, Abiotic and Biotic.

Biotic and abiotic factors are interrelated. If one factor is changed or removed, it impacts the availability of other resources within the system.

Biotic and abiotic factors combine to create a system or more precisely, an ecosystem. An ecosystem is a community of living and nonliving things considered as a unit.

Biotic Factors: Biotic, meaning of or related to life, are living factors.

Abiotic Factors: Abiotic, meaning not alive is nonliving factors that affect living organisms.

ABIOTIC COMPONENTS BIOTIC COMPONENTS

Sunlight Primary producers

Temperature Herbivores

Precipitation Carnivores

Water or moisture Omnivores

Soil or water chemistry (e.g., P, NH4+) Detritivores











So we can say that energy does flow around the world. Energy has many ways of flowing around us. There’s even a saying “Energy is not created nor Destroyed, It just transforms”

Energy has many was to go from one body to another, nutrients, calories, sun light, these are just examples of how energy can be presented. The ways energy passes from one body to another, is called energy pathway.

Because the body can’t easily store Calories nor Energy (and what is stored gets used up within a few seconds), it is necessary to continually create them during exercise. In general, the two major ways the body converts nutrients to energy are:

• Aerobic metabolism (with oxygen)

• Anaerobic metabolism (without oxygen)

These two pathways can be further divided. Most often it's a combination of energy systems that supply the fuel needed for exercise, with the intensity and duration of the exercise determining which method gets used when.

The transformations of energy in an ecosystem begin first with the input of energy from the sun. So, Sun is the first kind of source for energy.

Energy from the sun is captured by the process of photosynthesis. Carbon dioxide is combined with hydrogen (derived from the splitting of water molecules) to produce carbohydrates.

Virtually all energy available to organisms originates in plants. So as we said, plants are essential for live on earth we may be nothing without them.



Because it is the first step in the production of energy for living things, it is called primary production. Herbivores obtain their energy by consuming plants or plant products, carnivores eat herbivores, and Detritivores consume the droppings and carcasses of us all.



Plants gather their energy from sun and their nutrients from soil minerals and water. The result of both is called Sap. So as we mentioned Soil, water and light are pretty useful for a plant.

As I mentioned before, since plants are only the first step on the Energy and nutrient path, the next ones are the Herbivores and Omnivores (us), and so on… The only problem with this is that energy transfer through the food chain is inefficient.

This means that less energy is available at the herbivore level than at the primary producer level, less yet at the carnivore level, and so on. The result is a pyramid of energy, with important implications for understanding the quantity of life that can be supported.

We all know what a plant is, and how their grown, (dig a hole, put the plant, water it, and just let it grow) but imagine growing plants without soil.

This is called Hydroponics, to grow plants without soil; give the plant the nutrients it needs by the water (nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium). Since soil isn’t going to last forever, people have been developing new ways of making plants grow. One of these options is called Hydroponics.

Hydroponics: The word hydroponics has Greek origins. The two words are "hydro" (water) and "ponic" (working), which meant working water.

Hydroponics is growing plants without soil. Water or air or an inert material is used instead of soil. Water is the source of nutrients for the plant, in order to grow.



Hydroponics is not new, it’s believed that the hanging Babylonian gardens (one of the seven antique world wonders) Mayans and Egyptians used this method too. It was re-discovered at the University of California by Dr. Gericke in the late 1930 after many years.

To make a hydroponic plant grow we can’t put the seed in water the first days. We have to have a Seedling first, that then we will transport to a hydroponic container that will supply the plant from water and nutrients.



A seedling is a middle-grew plant, which at least has 2 leaves and a steam. Even dough Seedling might be also considered in hydroponics as the action of changing the sprouts from the first container to the hydroponic unit.











Hydroponics is the one of the best options to grow plants and food. Even If we didn’t consider the soil pollution by normal farming, we can say that hydroponics are quite Healthier. They are raised on water, clean water filled with nutrients; they don’t have to be applied Pesticides or any other harmful stuff. They just grow and they don’t affect the environment.

Pesticides and fertilizers don’t contaminate just water, but they can make the soil less fertile. After several years, it will become a problem to seek for new places to grow crops. Hydroponics doesn’t use soil and it can be done with little land. This can be a really good response to all the problems that we, have now on the crops.

If we want to apply more benefits to Hydroponics, we can say that they are rarely affected by Climate Change, in contrast to the ones raised by the standard from. Besides the actual food demand is increasing day-by-day. Hydroponics, because of the Constant World changes, can be the future in this category. There are so many problems in the food production such as the shortage of fuel and water.



“Farmers produce only 48 per cent of the meat, dairy, fruit and vegetables that we consume, according to the Ministry of Agriculture. Maintaining our current level of food self-reliance in 2025 would require a 30-per-cent increase in agricultural production”, the BBC report says.



Some concerning factors that will be/are affecting the food production are really different, and they don’t have to be all because of the planet crazy Climate Changes. Some of them are listed below.



Oil Spill: According to the U.S.-based Earth Policy Institute, U.S. food production consumes as much energy as all of France. About 80 per cent of that energy is used to move, process, package, sell, and store food after it leaves the farm.

Since an Oil spill will make a difference in the Gas prices, food will also be affected.

The fuel will be a real problem, because the machines and the tractors use this kind of energy, the shortage that is happening or that is going to happen can be a real problem for the treating of the landscape.

Without the help of the machines it is going to be very expensive to buy the vegetable that is growing.



In hydroponics this is not a big problem because the use of fuel is limited and it is not compared to the use of fuel in landscapes.



An oil spill isn’t going to affect Food production just economically, but on Hygiene. Since the oil spill is affecting the east coast of Mexico, it won’t stop there. Unfortunately, for us, it will spread.

The common Hurricanes are one factor, since they gather water from the coast; Water will be contaminated by oil, the result? Millions of crops that are growing in the east area of Mexico will be damage by the toxins.

Oil has cancerigenous substances that will absolutely damage common Health. BBC



Hurricanes: Hurricanes cause Floods, Sickness and death.

The floods are really harmful for the crops, which won’t last long on those conditions.

Water must be clean to be helpful, if water in bad conditions makes us sick, what happens to the plants? Obviously they won’t grow, or they will, but with harmful consequences to the final consumers, with that we mean us!



Drought: Water can also be a problem.

When it comes to water the crops it is going to be a real big problem because the water can be wasted, and in hydroponics the use of the water is very limited. In Hydroponics it’s used an exact amount of water per plant, which is more than the necessary for it to grow healthy.



The effect varies according to vulnerability, for example, subsistence farmers are more likely to migrate during drought because they do not have alternative food sources. So they lost their jobs.



Areas with populations that depend on subsistence farming as a major food source are more vulnerable to drought-triggered famine. Drought is rarely if ever the sole cause of famine; socio-political factors such as extreme widespread poverty play a major role. Rich can only supply from food, not poor.



Drought can also reduce water quality, because lower water flows reduce dilution of pollutants and increase contamination of remaining water sources. Drought may develop into erosion.



Erosion: Approximately 40% of the world's agricultural land is seriously degraded. This means less space to grow our food.



So, if since many, many, many years ago, we did have an answer for today´s demands. If the antique Babylonians, Mayans and the Egyptians did it, why did we never consider it as our first option? We´ll probably never know.

As a summary Hydroponics does have advantages over traditional crops. Some of them as we mentioned before, are:

• No soil is needed.

• The water stays in a system and can be re-used.

• No nutrition pollution is released.

• Occupies less space.

• Won’t be affected by regular climate Changes.

• Can be grew anywhere.

• The pest and diseases are easier to get rid of than soil because of its mobility.

• Extended growing periods allowing greater crop production providing more food.

• Don’t affect Earth or its Ecosystems.

• It’s Cheaper.

Yes! As you read just a line before, Its Cheaper! Hydroponics is a Healthier and easier way to take care of plants, contrasted to the regular ones.

A standard Hydroponic Crop prices table is listed below:

Costs of Production for Processing Tomato, Per Acre

Organic Production Practices, Northeastern United States, 1996

ITEM UNIT PRICE QUANTITY TOTAL

Variable Costs

Fertilizer and Soil Amendments

Composted Manure ton $ 31.00 4.5 $ 139.50

Gypsum ton $ 44.00 0.5 $ 22.00

Fish Powder lb $ 2.07 4 $ 8.28

Kelp Extract lb $ 5.96 1 $ 5.96

Pest Management

Approved organic chemicals acre $ 9.50 1 $ 9.50

Other

Tomato Seed thousand $ 1.93 60 $ 115.80

Labor

Operator hr $ 14.48 10.06 $ 145.67

Regular Hired hr $ 10.13 39 $ 395.07

Irrigation

Overhead Irrigation acre $ 192.00 1 $ 192.00

Repair, Maintenance and Fuel

Machinery and Equipment acre $ 252.79 1 $ 252.79

Harvesting

Harvest Labor acre $ 340.28 1 $ 340.28

Sub-Total $ 1,626.85

Interest on Operating Capitala acre 10% 1 $ 65.38

Total Variable Costs acre 1 $ 1,692.23

Fixed Costs

Machinery and Equipment acre $ 249.54 1 $ 249.54

Land Charge acre $ 100.00 1 $ 100.00

Total Fixed Costs acre 1 $ 349.54

Total Fixed & Variable Costs acre 1 $ 2,041.77

Management Fees a acre 1 $ 135.92

Total Costs acre 1 $ 2,177.70



So as we can see Water isn’t that much compared to a regular crop that would normally use twice as much as this one. Even the profit is really big.

If we haven’t read all this information, we couldn’t take for sure that Hydroponics are Cheaper and a better way to plant. What we have been doing by reading this is called Scientific Method. Even for research we must follow some steps. These steps were established by early Scientists in order to make us easier the information gathering and the Analysis of the hypothesis. Our hypothesis at the beginning was, Is Hydroponics Cheaper and more viable than regular farming?

To decide whether our hypothesis was right or wrong we must apply the Scientific method.

1. OBSERVATION: gather information by having curiosity. (Analyze the plants growing process, why does a hydroponic plant grow without soil?)

2. ASK A QUESTION: it should be a concrete question. It comes by observing something that catches your attention and so you want to find a reason for that to happen. (How can my plant grow faster? Should I put more vitamins or water? What happens if use Hydroponics?)

3. DO BACKROUND RESEARCH: additional information that you look for on your topic and a small overview of some of the important facts. (Search for Hydroponic successful experiments, How were they feed and how constantly? This Essay for example.)

4. HYPOTHESIS: it is a possible explanation for something that already happened. (The plant will grow faster if X material is even more present in the Hydroponic feeding solution)

5. EXPERIMENTATION: to apply your knowledge by using you hypothesis. (We put in the water solution the X material, that we think may help the plant to grow faster)

6. ANALYSE RESULTS: to look for patterns, you can also do a graph. (Did X material worked? How much did the plant grew this month?)

7. FIGURE OUT IF YOUR HYPOTHESIS WAS CORRECT OR INCORRECT. In the case its incorrect you can whether do another hypothesis or modify yours (Ok, X substance worked, so my hypothesis was correct. X substance doesn’t work, so my new hypothesis will be X substance doesn’t affect the plant´s growth speed)

8. RESULT: make conclusions putting them in a report. (X substance works in the development of the plant cause this, this and this)

So making hydroponics doesn’t sounds that difficult, and it even seems to be healthier and easier than normal plants.

Now, let’s try!





Resources.

Audersik, G. Byers. Biology (with Physiology): Life on earth. Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Pages 266-269

Pettebone, David. "Whowhatwhenwherewhy?”. Catalogs.com. Thursday, August 11th 2010 <http://www.catalogs.com/info/garden-yard/what-does-a-plant-need-to-grow.html>.

Anonymous, "The Concept of the Ecosystem". University of Michigan. Thursday, August 11th 2010 <http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/globalchange1/current/lectures/kling/ecosystem/ecosystem.html>.

Peter, Whittington. "What is Meant by Hydroponics?". Do it yourself resource. Thursday, August 11th 2010 <http://www.do-it-yourself-resource.com/what-is-meant-by-hydroponics.html>.

"Organic Production Practices, Northeastern United States ". Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station. Thursday, August 11th 2010 <http://aesop.rutgers.edu/~farmmgmt/ne-budgets/organic.html>.

Vancuver Sun. "Oil, climate change threaten food supply: B.C. report". Canada.com. Thursday, August 11th 2010 <http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=ab7a0613-7ca4-4104-896e-5f31a2eda914&k=91721>.

Crosson, Pierre . "Impacts of Climate Change". Climate Issues Brief. Wednesday, August 10th 2010 <http://www.rff.org/rff/Documents/RFF-CCIB-04.pdf>.

Peter, Whittington. "What is Meant by Hydroponics?". Do it yourself resource. Thursday, August 11th 2010 <http://www.do-it-yourself-resource.com/what-is-meant-by-hydroponics.html>.

Diviane, Juliane. "What Do You Need to Grow Hydroponics?". eHow. August 11th 2010 <http://www.ehow.com/video_4767957_do-need-grow-hydroponics_.html>.

Moreno, Patty. "Easy Hydroponic Seed Starting Factory ". Youtube. August 11th 2010 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQL0MLvWwqE>.

Cerna , Apaza. "Costos de producción en los diferentes cultivos de tumbes ". Gestiopolis.com. August 11th 2010 <http://www.gestiopolis.com/recursos/documentos/fulldocs/fin/tumbes.htm>.

FUNGI Team members

Alejandro James Orozco

Alma Elizabeth Hernández Magaña

Esteban Gómez Bolaños

Julia Garza Hernández

Miroslava Aguilar Hernández

Paola Cervantes Castellón

Guide 1

1. Indicate in a diagram the different structures in a plant and identify differences in tissues and types of cells.
Miroslava Aguilar Hernandez


2. What does a plant need to grow? Distinguish between abiotic and biotic factors. What are the pathways of Energy and Nutrients?
Julia Garza Hernández

3. What is meant by hydroponics? Is it new? What is a seedling?
Julia Garza Hernández

4. What aspects of Climate Change can threaten regular food production? List and explain.
Miroslava Aguilar Hernandez

5. How can: water and fuel shortage, risks in the use of pesticides and fertilizers, and overpopulation threaten food production?
Esteban Gómez Bolaños

6. What advantages do hydroponics systems pose in our climate-changing Earth?
Alejandro James Orozco

7. What is the cost of traditional food production, including water and energy supply, pesticides and fertilizers, land use, etc.?
Miroslava Aguilar Hernandez
Alma Elizabeth Hernandez Magaña

8. What are the steps of Scientific Research? Apply them to this project, describing what you will do in each step.
Paola Cervantes Castellón








Writen by:Esteban Gómez Bolaños

Team Members

Team Members:

• Miroslava Aguilar Hernandez
• Julia Garza Hernández
• Paola Cervantes Castellón
• Alma Elizabeth Hernandez Magaña
• Alejandro James Orozco
• Esteban Gómez Bolaños