Stem-202 Group Project 5

Participants: Aspen LeBeau, Charles Kirschensteiner
Course: STEM Scholars’ Research Lab II, STEM-202-HN01
Mentors: Jane Jones, Shelly Paterno, Bridgid Sherman, Madi Sigler
Assignment Title: Comparison of lettuce growth rates of traditional soil gardens, hydroponics, and aquaponics.

Abstract

Aquaponics and hydroponics are two soil-free gardening systems that utilize nutrient rich water as the base rather than soil. This contrasts traditional gardening and farming methods that disrupt natural landscapes by creating erosion, water pollution, destroying soil structure, and reducing nutrient concentrations. In hydroponics, a chemical-based nutrient solution is used, while in aquaponics fish waste gets recycled through the systems to fertilize the plants. In this experiment, lettuce seedlings were planted into three different systems to see how the growth rates varied. The hypothesis is for the aquaponic system to yield the highest growth rate.  Each system received the same exposure to LED lights, environment, seedlings, and care to ensure a consistent setup. The growth rates and appearance of the soil-free system lettuce plants were documented and compared to the control soil system.