Question

students working in a school garden are studying plant reproduction. they design an experiment about the number of seeds produced per plant as a factor of plant population density. one group of students had an idea that it would be better to plant beans at a high density so that they can harvest more bean seeds per square foot of garden. to test their idea, they plant several square foot plots with different numbers of bean seeds. at the end of the growing cycle, the students harvest the bean pods, count the seeds produced per plant, and make a graph of their findings. graph: x-axis: bean plants per square foot, y-axis: seeds produced per plant, showing a curve peaking around 10 plants then decreasing what two changes should the students make to their original idea based on the graph of their findings?
a. use more fertilizer and water to overcome the effects of density.
b. place bean plants at a very high density to promote the best growth.
c. grow bean plants at a low density to harvest more bean seeds per square foot.
d. record the number of beans produced per plant to help calculate the ideal density.
e. place the bean plants at a higher population density to increase the overall yield of beans.

Explanation:

1. Analyze the graph: As bean plants per square foot increase beyond 10, seeds per plant decrease.
2. Evaluate options:

• A: Not supported (graph shows density effect, not resource lack).
• B: Wrong (high density lowers seeds/plant).
• C: Correct (low density has higher seeds/plant, so more per sq ft).
• D: Correct (recording helps find ideal density).
• E: Wrong (higher density lowers seeds/plant, not overall yield increase).

Answer:

C. Grow bean plants at a low density to harvest more bean seeds per square foot.
D. Record the number of beans produced per plant to help calculate the ideal density.