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Best Lettuce Cultivar - 2014 MSU Science Festival Community Experiment

Scientists: Greater Lansing Community

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1) ASK A QUESTION

What is the best lettuce cultivar for home or school use?

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2) RESEARCH

• Here is lots of information on Lettuce. There is sure lots to know!
• There are many different lettuce cultivars. Here is some information on them.
• Here are some things we think are important to know about lettuce:
• And a bit about how we do science: Science Process
  1. Plant height: Tallest would indicate best because it would produce the most leaves for lunchs.
  2. Leaf Quality: The leaves that look the best are the ones we are most likely to eat.
  3. Nutrition: Which cultivar is the most nutritious.
  4. Taste: We want the lettuce that tastes the best.

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3) HYPOTHESIS

• I predict all lettuce cultivars will / will not grow the same.
• I predict all lettuce cultivars will / will not taste the same.

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4) DESIGN EXPERIMENT

• Plant four lettuce cultivars:

1. Baby Star
2. Esmeralda
3. Pacheco
4. Simpson Elite

• Containers: 2" diameter, square cells. (provided)
• Soil: standard greenhouse potting media. (provided)
• Fertilizer: do not add any fertilizer to the growing lettuce cultivars.
• Light / Temperature: Grow lettuce cultivars in a window sill where they get plenty of light.
• Watering: water lettuce when the soil looks / feels dry.
• Data collection: collect data weekly.
• Experiment Duration: 5 weeks

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5) COLLECT DATA

To determine the "best lettuce" we are going to measure four things:

1. Plant height: Measure weekly in weeks 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5.
2. Leaf Quality: Measure weekly in weeks 2, 3, 4, and 5.
3. Nutrition: Take photos of your lettuce in weeks 3 and 5.
4. Taste: A single taste test in week 5.

CLICK HERE to link to the data collection form.

Leaf Data: What do the leaves look like?

	Baby Star	Bambino	Esmeralda	Granada	Red Sails	Simpson Elite
Leaf shape
Leaf Color

Leaf Quality Evaluation:

• 1 = Unacceptable - Leaves brown, shriveled, dying
• 2 = Poor - Leaves have some dead / brown spots
• 3 = Average - Leaves look OK, but are nothing special
• 4 = Good - Leaves appear healthy, good color and no damage
• 5 = Outstanding - Leaves look GREAT! Just looking at these leaves makes you want to eat them!

CLICK HERE to enter your Leaf Evaluation data.

Nutrition Evaluation:

Taste Evaluation:

• 1 = Terrible - Disgusting! I need to spit this out!
• 2 = Poor - I didn't spit it out, but I don't want to eat it again!
• 3 = Average - Not bad, not great, either
• 4 = Good - I would eat this again (maybe with a little ranch dressing)
• 5 = Outstanding - I LOVE the flavor. I will definitely eat this again!

CLICK HERE to enter your taste data.

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6) EXPLAIN DATA

So... what does all your hard work tell you? What does it all mean?

Does your plant growth data


support your hypothesis about lettuce cultivar growth? Explain why it does or does not.



Does your taste data


support your hypothesis about lettuce cultivar taste? Explain why it does or does not.

Next let's decide which Lettuce cultivar is the best for Hiawatha 4th grade lunches:

Look at only your plant growth (height) data.


What is the tallest Lettuce cultivar?



Look at only your leaf quality data.


What Lettuce cultivar has the highest leaf quality rating?


Look at only your nutrition data.

What is the most nutritious cultivar?



Look at only your taste data.


What Lettuce cultivar has the highest taste rating?



Overall, using all the data you have: What is the overall best lettuce cultivar for Hiawatha 4th grade lunches? Explain why you think that.

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7) ASK NEW QUESTIONS

Based on everything you did and thought about, what new questions do you have?



What should the next Lettuce Cultivar experiment be?