Location: The backyard of my house, located in Victoria, BC, Canada.
Study Size: 6m*14m=84m2
Topography: it’s flat
Vegetation: Grass, ornamental flowers (Chinese rose, Peony, Hydrangea macrophylla), and crops (pepper, eggplant, scallions, lettuce)
Animals: squirrels, lizards, insects
Time visit: 2023.06.12, 4pm-4:15pm
Weather: Partly cloudy
Temperature: 20°C
Humidity:62%
Wind: 11km/h
Seasonality: located in sub-Mediterranean zone. Summer.
3 research questions:
- Do the growth rates of crops and ornamental flowers respond differently to same fertilizers?
- What causes differences in the growth of crops in the same soil, given the same temperature, rainfall, fertilizer?
- What would be the effect on visiting species or species that lived here if different plants were planted in the backyard?
Pictures:
Backyard studies are possible though you need to think carefully about your question given your limited study site size. This is meant to be a natural history observational project and so I steer students away from manipulations like fertilizer if there is another option.