Okay so the title makes it sound like I cheated. I did NOT cheat. I just used tools that my teacher had never heard of and when she asked me to explain what I did in front of the whole class I realised that maybe I should have explained it to her first. Lesson learned. But I got full marks so I am not that sorry.
The Project: Plant Growth and Light Colour
For our Year 10 science fair we had to design an experiment and analyse the results. I decided to test whether plants grow faster under red light, blue light, or normal white light. I grew three identical bean seedlings for four weeks, measured their height every day, took photos, and recorded everything in a spreadsheet. Old-fashioned stuff. The AI part came in the analysis.
What I Used and Why
I had four weeks of daily measurements — about 84 data points per plant, 252 total. Doing statistical analysis on that by hand would have taken forever and I probably would have made mistakes. I used Google Colab (which is free and runs in your browser) and a Python library called pandas for data analysis and matplotlib for charts. Then I used a free AI tool to help me identify the pattern in the growth curves and suggest the right statistical test to use. I described what my data looked like, and it suggested a two-way ANOVA. I had to Google what that meant. Turns out it is the correct test for exactly this kind of comparison.
Here is the important bit that I want to be clear about: the AI did not do my science project. I did my science project. The AI helped me figure out which mathematical tool to use to analyse my results properly. There is a massive difference.
The Results (Actually Pretty Cool)
Blue light plants grew 23% taller than the white light plants over the four weeks. Red light plants grew the slowest. This lines up with what real research says about chlorophyll absorption wavelengths — blue light (around 450nm) is most efficiently absorbed for photosynthesis. My teacher was impressed that I knew this, and I was genuinely excited to explain it because I actually understood why it happened, not just that it happened.
The Awkward Bit
When she asked me to explain my analysis in front of the class she asked "what statistical method did you use?" I said "a two-way ANOVA." She asked me to explain it. I explained it. Then she asked "how did you know to use that?" I said "an AI tool suggested it and then I looked it up to understand it." The class went a bit quiet. My teacher was quiet for a second too. Then she said "that is actually a very mature research approach" and gave me full marks. So I think using AI tools properly — to guide you, not to do the work for you — is something teachers are starting to understand. Maybe.
