TFHS students experiment with local plants

A Thompson Falls High School class experiment has been recognized by a national organization.

Doree Thilmony's Planting Science class has been studying photosynthesis and cellular respiration. The class recently completed experiments which they designed. Thilmony said the module is put on by an organization made up of botanists from the Missouri Botanical Society and educational trainers and curriculum from the BSCS Science Learning Center.

The Thompson Falls "Plant Busters" team of Olivia Naccarini, Noah Vold and Lexi Frank designed an experiment to see how temperature affected the growth of eurasian watermilfoil. The groups posted information about the project throughout the experiment in order to get help from the project botanists. Plant Busters called their project "How Temperature Affects Carbon Dioxide and Oxygen Production in Eurasian Watermilfoil." They determined that the eurasian watermilfoil grew faster and taller in warmer water. The group worked with Josh Felton, a PhD student out of Cornell University, on the project. The team's project was then chosen as a STAR project for the program. They were awarded t-shirts and their project is listed as an example for other students across the nation completing the module.

Each group chose a local issue to highlight in their project. Another team tested ponds and rivers to see which environment was better for plants.

The Planting Science students last Thursday also presented results from another experiment in which they grew corn. Each group tested a variable to see which plants grow better. One group tested natural versus synthetic fertilizer and another tested growing plants with an epsom salt solution. The students learned about success and failure in the experiments, with some groups having plants that didn't grow due to seeds molding. "That's all part of the process," Thilmony told the students. The winning team for the corn experiment received popcorn as their prize.

This is the second year for Thilmony to teach the class. Thilmony attended conferences to be trained to teach a certain style that offers certain strategies for students to learn. She said the strategies involve an acronym called STeLLA, standing for Science Teachers Learning from Lesson Analysis. "The study has shown that this style of teaching improves student learning," she noted.