prevent evaporation of the water and thus to most accurately measure water lost

prevent evaporation of the water (and thus to most accurately measure water lost through transpiration) with a combination of vaseline and saran wrap. Once sealed, both plants would be placed in separate environments; the ivy plant would be placed in a dark cupboard while the bean plant would be placed near a sunny window. Both plants were not given food or any other resources than what were placed above. After each day, each plant would be weighed in and then placed back in its original spot. The lower the weight of the plant and the water, the higher the rate of transpiration was predicted to be. This was repeated for four days, with the weights in both plants decreasing (though the speed of the decrease varied). Since each plant was not given any other new resources, nor was growth possible without nutrients from the soil, it would be well assumed that our data would accurately (and presumably only) reflect the rate of transpiration based on the weight alone.