Stage 1.

5: Identify- Proposal

Due May 16

1 proposal per group

There should be three paragraphs! One for each topic

Rachel, Nihal, Robert, Taylor, Matt J., Lexi, Morgan

Answer For each topic (1-3):

1. Give a summary paragraph covering what is the problem and some

previously a empted solu ons. Why you want to solve it? What are some
issues with you choosing this topic? And include rank 1-3 and why you
chose that rank

- GMO related
- Super bright pGLo (Robert)
- Alternate light source
- h ps://makezine.com/2013/05/16/diy-synthe c-biology-making-you
r-own-glowing-plants/
- Cactus nightlight
- Reading light
- Possible using a mirror or pu ng the plant into a vial in water to
make the glow brighter. Imagine a water plant in a vial that can be
used as a light.
- h ps://phys.org/news/2011-09-bo le-brighten-millions-poor-homes
.html
- h ps://blog.1000bulbs.com/home/how-many-lumens-do-i-need
- Use the water bo le concept and the idea of giving it to people
in poor areas.
- Be sure to use oxy bleach to not kill the plants. Will this kill the
bacteria? If the bacteria is killed will the plant no longer grow?
- Algae lamps. Put in a vial with water. If you shake the vial it
 redistributes the bacteria and make the glow brighter?
- Have team break up into groups and each try the same experiment
on different plants. See which is the most effec ve and makes really
good use of large group. Large group with a bunch of mini groups
with the same concept but adding more research but doing different
plants and maybe different colors.

The problem is the energy crisis, and through administering doses of pGlo to
plants, we can get the plants to glow and produce light for people to use as small
lanterns. Instead of using fossil fuels or electricity, natural sources provide
alterna ve energy and a renewable resource. We are interested in this topic since
alterna ve energy is a popular topic in the scien fic community. We believe that
biolights is an area of alterna ve energy that is not explored enough. For lights
that have to stay on for extended periods of me, like a night light, biolights are
considerably more efficient. Addi onally, they will not be affected by a power
outage. Biolights would be effec ve for emergency relief in area that just
experienced a natural disaster and are unable to get power. They are a reliable
light source and easy to use. Other than keeping the plant alive, they require no
maintenance. A possible issue is the me it takes to grow the plants. The project
can possible get expensive since we have to buy the fluorescent protein. However,
since we did a bacteria and pGLO lab before we hope we can use similar
equipment. Another issue is possibly making the plants toxic to humans which
would not make it safe to be around children. A few people have previously tried
to do a project like this. However they just modified bacteria and coated the plant
with bacteria. We would like to explore the op on of using a virus to more
effec vely spread the DNA to the plant and make it glow. Our goal is to make the
plants func on as a dim night light or reading light. Ideally, the plant will glow at
220 lumens. We plan to use watercress as our plant.
2. Give a summary paragraph covering what is the problem and some previously
a empted solu ons. Why you want to solve it? What are some issues with you
choosing this topic? And include rank 1-3 and why you chose that rank

- Growing food in really hot areas. Desert? Africa? Taylor

- Contained environment ( ny biosphere)

We want to solve the problem of the lack of food in dry climates. The problem is
that people who live in these arid don’t have a large access to food and we want
to change that. A current a empt is to grow food indoors. One company that is
a emp ng this is Aerofarm, they are using ver cal flower beds and led lights to
grow th food. Another a empted solu on was using a salt water pump in dry
areas. One solu on that is already in place for growing more food is growing food
more sustainably. They have also been using gmos which is helping increase the
nutrients in the food that they eat.

h ps://ideas.ted.com/grow-plants-without-water/

h p://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-aerofarms-the-worlds-largest-ver cal
-farm-in-newark-2016-2

h ps://modernfarmer.com/2014/07/well-runs-dry-try-dry-farming/
3. Give a summary paragraph covering what is the problem and some previously
a empted solu ons. Why you want to solve it? What are some issues with you
choosing this topic? And include rank 1-3 and why you chose that rank

- Environment (LEXI)
- acidity of oceans
- coral dying
- acid resistant coral (coral cages or gene cally modifying
skeleton)

The problem here is ocean acidifica on nega ve effects on coral growth, and how
coral are dying as a result. Previously a empted solu ons to ocean acidifica on
were carbon stores to collect carbon that would otherwise be released and end
up in oceans, killing coral. Another solu on was stopping the use of certain
sunscreens that had harmful chemicals that went into the oceans. Addi onal
solu ons include applying direct protec on to coral with some sort of cream or
using special cages that maintain a sustainable ecosystem to then help reefs stay
intact. This is a very pressing issue because coral have a very important role in
many ecosystems within the hydrosphere, Without coral, ecosystems would lose
protec on from high des, storms, and whirlpools, and lose shelter and habitats
for organism. Issues with this topic are the we might not have the resources as
high school students and so solu ons might require a different approach for each
species of coral. We are also not close or mobile enough to implement a solu on,
as coral is far away from us.

h p://www.qm.qld.gov.au/microsites/biodiscovery/05human-impact/importanc
e-of-coral-reefs.html

h p://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120905-save-our-dying-coral-reefs