The Research Question we will pursue for this guided research:

Organisms respond to the environment. One of the major environmental factors effecting plants is water loss from the plant tissue. Stomata play a role in water loss from the plant. If average annual rainfall in the growing season effects stomatal densities than in areas of different average annual rainfall during the growing season will we observe different stomatal densities?

So how did we come up this this research question?

Science depends on several assumptions about our universe; such as the universe has regular patterns that human beings can comprehend. Theories are the tentative explanations of our understanding of these patterns and how phenomena may operate in the universe. The pursuit of understanding requires that the researcher acquire and foster certain attitudes; such as questioning, disciplined curiosity, open-mindedness, with-holding judgment, respect for evidence balanced with skepticism, intellectual honesty, a sense of responsibility, and an understanding of one's competence and limitations.

Before planning an investigation, the researcher first recognizes a question or a problem to be studied. Although questions need not be derived from a theory, theories often guide researchers in predicting events or outcomes of research which ultimate ly support or deny the explanation. You have spent time investigating stomatal densities and you are ready to state a problem in a more formal manner. Questions about observable events related to leaf stomata are the basis of our work.

Research Ideas

Some interesting research area about leaf stomata would include:
• What is the normal variation found on a plant?
• The age of the tree and the number of stomata found on the leaf.
• The side, compass direction, of the tree the leaf comes from and the number of stomata found on the leaf.
• The direction of the slope the tree is growing on and the number of stomata found on the leaf.
• The difference in stomata on leaves grown in a carbon dioxide enriched environment to those grown under normal atmospheric conditions.
• Is there a clinal variation along a rainfall gradient?
• What is the variation in numbers of stomata that occur between plants growing in similar habitats but using different photosynthetic pathways, C3, C4, and CAM.
• Determination of diurnal (day/night cycle) and when stomata are open and closed.

As you have reviewed the information and worked with leaf stomata you may have come up with some of your own ideas for research. Your ideas should be added to this growing list of ideas. These ideas can grow into research questions. Click on a link to read additional research areas submitted by others or respond to a previous research question posted here.
You may type a new research idea and your comments in the boxes below.

Formalizing your Research Question

Your research question should evolve as you go through the research process. It is in the center of the V-diagram so that as you take each step of the process, you will revisit your question. This will focus your work, but it will also help you evalu ate whether your question goes to the heart of what you want to know. The ideal question is one that will yield the most relevant and reliable information with the least expense and effort. To avoid designing experiments around uncertain or vague research questions, continue to gather as much information as possible, Background Information as a part of this guided research. This is usually is accomplished through library research by consulting the card catalog and any available journals or abstracts in the field of interest. Internet searches are also valuable but as always, evaluate the source of the information. Anyone who does not bother to review previous literature runs the risk of needlessly duplicating effort or mistakes. After you have done your information search you should revisit your research question and determine if changes need to be made.

The Research we will pursue for this guided research:

If average annual rainfall in the growing season effects stomatal densities than in areas of different average annual rainfall during the growing season we will observe different, higher or lower, stomatal densities.

Notice that this is in the form of a statement. It makes the prediction of what we expect to observe, if our model is on the right track!