Professor Honeydew

Professor Bunson Honeydew was a scientist who just got a job in a new laboratory. While his lab had all of the best science equipment, it lacked a homey touch. So Professor Honeydew decided that some plants might look nice in there. He never had plants before, so he decided to run an experiment. He decided that his problem statement was…Where is the best place in the lab to grow a plant?

Professor Honeydew came back the next day with 3 cactus, 3 marigolds, and 2 sunflowers. He put each one in a one pint flower pot, and added exactly two scoops of soil to each one. One of the plants came with a packet of Miracle grow, so he added that to one of the plants. He put the cactus by the window, the marigolds on a shelf right next to the heater, and the sunflowers on a desk by the door about 20 feet away from the windows. He gave each flower ¼ cup of water every other day.

At the end of two weeks, only the sunflowers were alive. He concluded that the desk was the best spot in the room to put plants.

Is he correct??

Hopefully you see some problems with Professor Honeydew’s experiment. Your job is to write a letter to the professor explaining what he did wrong. To be nice, you also should include those things that he did right. You should then tell him how he should set up the experiment so that he can find out the answer to his original question. See the back for a checklist of requirements.