Spoiled Soil: Learning from Mistakes

As a student, I love experiments. The first time I conducted an experiment was in 2nd grade for the science fair. Making a hypothesis, doing research, and then actually running the experiment was exhilarating and made me feel like a real scientist. I wanted my students to also experience this. However, my hopes of it running smoothly haven't played out perfectly so far... The goal of the experiment is to see which type of soil would be best for a plant: Compost-based soil or regular soil. I picked the control seed with the quickest germination period. We set up each pot in class and weekly we assign a data collector and a hydration specialist. The data collector records their observations of the two plants by comparing and contrasting them once a week. The hydration specialist waters each plant every other day.

After two weeks there was no change in either pot... Thinking on our feet, we decided that we would water the plants everyday instead. Still, the third week arrived and there was no growth. Its possible that the seeds may be duds. Even still, we continue. We have today and tomorrow and every day after that. Giving up now and abandoning this experiment would only lead to no results. No possibility of growth. Even if they never grow, we can learn from this experience. Try again. There is always time and space to try again. Time and space to hope. Time and space to grow.