Abstract

Blair Taylor

The purpose of this project is to see if gasses released in smoke enhance the germination rate of black pine seeds. I hypothesize the seeds exposed to the NO₂ gas will have the highest germination rate. In order to determine if gasses released in smoke enhance the germination rate of black pine seeds, black pine seeds were obtained. Some seeds were given just water and allowed to germinate. These seeds served as my constant. Other seeds were smoked using lit filter paper. They were then given water and allowed to germinate. The rest of the seeds were given NO₂. They were then given water and allowed to germinate. There was a tie between the seeds that were given water and the seeds that were smoked with filter paper. Each of these had four seeds to germinate. The seeds that were given NO₂ showed no signs of germination and began to show traces of mold. This contradicted my hypothesis.