Does adding mineral salts make a difference to the growth of radishes?
Grow radishes in film pots to which varying numbers of mineral salt pellets have been added. Compare the size of the radishes formed after 4 weeks. Click here for Teacher guidance and Pupil sheets. Investigation G9: What is eating my plants? Carefully examine a plant (e.g. a lettuce), which is growing in the garden but shows signs of being eaten. Identify any animals found on the plant (use the Field studies Council fold out charts – ‘Woodland name trail’ and ‘Bugs on bushes’). [The links take you straight to the FSC Publications pages with details of these charts.] Some of the animals you find may just be resting on the plant and so you need to find out what each of these animals eat. You can then use this information to decide which animal (or animals) is most likely to be the culprit (eating the lettuce). Ask the children to construct a food chain involving this animal and the plant – e.g. lettuce snail thrush sparrow hawk Sometimes you may not find any animals. This suggests the cu
