Effects of mineral deficiencies in plantsPlants need to build the complex molecules they need from minerals (elements and simple compounds), which they get from the soil. If they fail to obtain these minerals which are essential for their cellular processes and growth, they will be stunted and they could die as a result of it. Any plant could be used to experiment mineral deficiencies, as all plants require these minerals to grow properly. In this experiment, mung beans were used to test the mineral deficiencies as they are readily available and are not as fragile as other plants that could have been used. Mung beans are a small plant species that are part of the legume family, they are native to the Indian subcontinent and are grown in hot, dry regions (MDidea, 2014). Being a tropical crop Mung Beans flourish better in optimum warm temperatures of around 30-35 degrees celsius which makes them ideal to use in the Malaysian climate (Akroyd and Doughty, 1982).

All plants need enough minerals to grow and function properly. The most important ones that are essential for healthy plant life are Calcium, Magnesium and Nitrogen in the form of nitrate ions.Calcium is needed by plants to strengthen cell wall structure as it forms calcium pectate compounds which gives cell walls stability and binds cells together. Calcium deficiency shows in soft, dead, necrotic tissue at rapidly growing areas such as at the tips of leaves, Calcium deficiency also makes the plants more likely to wilt. Magnesium is the main element used in the making of chlorophyll and without it the plant will not be able to photosynthesize and make starch for growth and storage. Nitrate ions are essential for growth and making of chlorophyll and without it plants will have stunted growth and small discoloured leaves.

The independent variable in this experiment will be the addition of the different compounds to the specific plants. The controlled variable will be the amount of water added to each beaker will remain the same for all plants and the dependent variable will be the height of the shoots of the plants and will be measured to calculate percentage increase and make conclusions. Another dependent variable to be measured would be the dry mass (Nuffield Foundation, 2011) of the plants at the end to calculate the growth and percentage increase of that too.

Aim: to find out the minerals essential for healthy plant growth and the effects of deficiency of these minerals and the roles they play in the growth of plants

Hypothesis: the plants grown with all the minerals will be the healthiest and have the highest percentage increase, the other plants will either have stunted growth or die within 2 weeks as a result of lack of minerals essential for plant growth. It is predicted that the plants lacking magnesium will have yellow leaves, as chlorophyll will not be produced properly, the plants lacking calcium will wilt and have death of terminal buds and root tips as calcium is needed in the formation of cell walls and membranes. Lastly the plants lacking nitrate ions will be thin with smaller pale yellow leaves because nitrate ions are needed to build proteins.Plan:1. Roll up a paper towel and fit into a large beaker2. Fill beaker with 15 cm3 of normal water (not distilled water)3. Draw a line around the beaker and place 4 mung beans in 4 different places equal distances from each other between the moist paper towel and wall of each beaker4. Repeat steps 1-3 for 5 different beakers5. Cover the beakers with aluminium foil and make 15 holes on the sheet with a pencil6. Place beakers in a location with sufficient exposure to sunlight7. Check on plants daily. Discard seeds that have turned brown. Use those that have grown shoots and roots8. Select seeds with roots of about the same length to be used in the experiment9. Add the 5cm3 of one of the following nutrients to each different beaker (including 10cm3 of distilled water) once every 3 days :NitrateCalciumNitrateMagnesiumCalciumMagnesiumNitrateCalciumMagnesiumTap WaterDistilled Water(Control)

10. Fill one beaker with only distilled water in it, to be used as a control for the experiment because distilled water has no minerals in it.10. Record the observations and results obtained in the tables below

Nutrients Used/ObservationsNitrateCalciumNitrateMagnesiumCalciumMagnesiumNitrateCalciumMagnesiumTap WaterDistilled Water(Control)

Week 1Plants appear to be healthy with healthy leaves and stemsPlant is beginning to wilt and have weak stemsPlants appear to be healthy with healthy leaves and stemsLeaves appear normal, stems appear weak and unstablePlants have started to wilt and have very weak stemsPlants have almost died, leaves have fallen and shoots appear very weak

Week 2

Week 3

Risk Assessment and Safety : There weren't many safety precautions needed to be ensured while doing this experiment as no harmful/corrosive chemicals were used. The only safety precaution to be taken was to make sure that the beakers were placed far from the edges of the table and to treat the beakers with care. This is because beakers that fall will break and could cause injuries to people that are in the way or unaware of the broken glass.

Ethics : There were no ethical issues with this experiment as it was only mung beans that were being grown. Mung beans are abundant in nature and do not feel pain as they do not have a central nervous system.

Conclusion : The experiment could not be completed properly as the plants died after a month and no more results could be taken. The dry masses of the plants could not be measured either as the beakers started to get mouldy and that would affect the readings of the masses taken as the mass would include the mould on the plants as well. However it is know that the plants that had no minerals and only distilled water wouldve died first as they did not get any minerals needed for growth. The plants with tap water wouldve died soon after as they did not get any minerals either apart from the small percentage that mightve been in the tap water. The plants that had no calcium wouldve been wilting and would not be straight as the would not have proper cell walls due to no calcium pectate being produced with the lack of calcium ions. The plants with mineral deficiency would have yellow leaves as magnesium ions are needed for production of chlorophyll and without chlorophyll they would not be able to photosynthesise and produce glucose for growth and other processes properly. As a result of this they would have stunted growth and would not survive for very long. The plants with nitrate deficiency would not be able to make proteins or chlorophyll properly and would have small discoloured leaved and stunted growth as well. The plants with nitrate, magnesium and calcium ions would grow very well as they had all the minerals essential for proper growth and processes of the plant.

Evaluation : Plants need all essential ions (nitrate, calcium and magnesium) for healthy growth and survival and the plants with deficiencies in any of these would have stunted growth and would be unhealthy and not live for very long. I think that for this practical the results were accurate because the few results obtained were close to the true values and proved the hypothesis was correct. The experiment was precise because all the plants that were put in beakers toghether had the same results in terms of growth and malnutrition. It was a valid experiment because it can surely be repeated anywhere as long as the conditions are kept the same (must be right temperature and humidity for plants to grow properly). Overall I think the experiment was valid because it was accurate, precise and reliable which means its validity is confirmed.

Bibliography :http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/practical-biology/investigating-effect-minerals-plant-growthhttp://www.healthaliciousness.com/blog/mungo-beans-vs-mung-beans.phphttp://www.mdidea.com/products/proper/proper05402.html