Classic example of scientific curiosity. A girl in Ireland, was pulling up pea plants with her mum in the garden. She noticed they had wart like bumps on the roots. Wondering what they were, she took them to her science teacher who explained they are rhizobium bacteria growths. These are important soil fixing bacteria colonies that grow on plant roots and convert nitrogen into ammonia and other useful plant growing chemicals. The science came in when she thought, What if... and got together with 2 other f girls and they spent the next three years doing experimentation in a home laboratory measuring the effects of these bacterium on other plant crops. They discovered for example, that Rhizobia cause a 50% faster germination rate in barley seed and a 75% increase in crop yield. In 2014 the three 16 year olds were awarded $50,000 of scholarships for their entry in the Google Science Fair 2014 for their research. https://googlesciencefair/projects/en/2014/b69203da66c44d96e4fb3d6fd88d47a6eb3c927805255d7f4c7c439fddd9c256
Posted on: Sat, 22 Nov 2014 22:55:49 +0000
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