Techniques, Tools, and Fast Plants®

Wisconsin Fast Plants® Information Documents (WFPIDs)

The Wisconsin Fast Plants® Program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has developed nearly 50 WFPIDs covering a variety of Wisconsin Fast Plants® topics and activities. These WFPIDs are full of hands-on, practical information to help you get the most from Wisconsin Fast Plants®. We encourage you to use them.

Bottle Basics (PDF Download)
"Bottle Anatomy 101" gets beginners started in the basics of taking apart, cutting, and connecting the plastic bottles that are the primary material for Bottle Biology experiments.

Bottle Microscope (PDF Download)
Create your very own microscope out of everyday household materials. Just find an old plastic soda bottle, Velcro, aluminum foil, and other materials, and you are on your way!

Dissection Strips: Tools for Estimating Size, Drawing to Scale, and Calculating Magnification (PDF Download)
Become familiar with using dissection strips to observe, draw to scale, and measure your Wisconsin Fast Plants®under magnification. After photocopying the master provided in the document, grab a pair of scissors and some tape and get ready to explore with dissection strips.

Wisconsin Fast Plants® in Film Cans (PDF Download)
Use plastic film can wick pots and bottle reservoirs to raise your Wisconsin Fast Plants®. These growing systems are easily and inexpensively constructed with plastic soda bottles, cotton string, a grease pencil, and forceps.

Film Can Magnifier (PDF Download)
What is an easy way to create a hand lens that students can use for microexploration? An old film can, a soda bottle cap, and a few other low-cost items provide an economical answer.

GrowBuckets and Bottle Reservoirs (PDF Download)
GrowBuckets and Bottle Reservoirs are products of the Wisconsin Fast Plants® and Bottle Biology projects working together to design growing systems for Wisconsin Fast Plants® (and other small plants) made out of discarded materials.

Investigating and Inventing (PDF Download)
What do you observe? What is the question you are exploring? These questions are just the beginning of the "Exploration Flowchart," which guides students through all the important steps of the scientific process.

Pressing Matters (PDF Download)
Learn how to press and preserve your plants and flowers. The pressed and laminated plants can be used in a variety of ways in the classroom or as a substitute for live plants at teaching workshops.

Seeing the Light (PDF Download)
Just how much light does your Wisconsin Fast Plants® need for optimal growth?

Understanding the Environment (PDF Download)
Investigate the physical, biological, and chemical components of the environment, such as light, water, and humidity, that influence plant growth.

Variation: Data Organization, Display, and Analysis (PDF Download)
How do you organize your data to best represent the variations you observed and recorded among a population of Wisconsin Fast Plants®? Learn how to create a "stem and leaf" table, a frequency histogram, and master the correct numerical representation of your data.