Bean Sprout Experiment Lesson

Aim: To determine whether plants can respond to environmental change

Hypothesis: The bean sprout will grow towards the light when it is stood up. When tipped on the side, will grow towards the sun to get more light.
Materials: Broad bean seeds, PET bottle, Stanley knife, paper towel, potting mix
Procedure:

Results
Date
7/10/14

9/10/14

Cut bottle in half with a Stanley knife/ Scissors

Line the bottle with paper towel
Have the bean about half way up
Add potting mix
Record and measure each lesson any change (take photos)
Once the bean has started to grow (root and shoot) then tip it on its side and explain and observe geotropism
Observation
Major growth after holidays,
still no leaf yet however good
growth around 13cm.
Over the holidays plant has
grown a significant amount, no
leaves have grown yet. Plant is
13 cm.

Since we changed the

environment that the plant
lived in it has started to grow
towards the sunlight, and 2
leaves have grown.

Image

10/10/14

No growth since overnight

however a third sprout has
occurred.

13/10/14
Over the weekend the plant
has grown a lot.

14/10/14

The plants second to last

measurement showed it had
grown from 13cm after the
holidays to 21cm on the
second last measurement.

16/10/14

The last observation we made

and the plant grew quite well. It
grew from 13cm to 21.5cm in
under 9 days. That is great
growth and after turning it on
its side it then started to bend
towards the light, showing that
plants can detect their
environment.

After the change in environment (i.e. rotation 90 degrees)

Wheat Seed Experiment

Aim: To determine whether plants can respond to environmental change
Hypothesis: Seed with more sunlight will grow bigger and faster than the ones in the closed off environments. This is because the open environment will have
better access ti the sunlight, and be able to conduct photosynthesis better.
Materials: wheat seeds, cotton wool, petre dishes, cardboard boxes, 3 trays exposed to normal light, enclosed in the box, hole in side of the box
Procedure:

Place cotton on the base of the petre dish

Poor some water on the cotton wool
Then scatter 20 wheat seeds around the cotton wool
Set up an open, closed and limited environment (hole inside of box)
Record and measure the height of the seedling growth, and any difference between the different environments

Results

Date

Height
mm

7/10/ 15mm

Observation
Open environment

Observation
Closed environment

The seeds have

We have found that
sprouted very well
when the grass is
over the holidays, we exposed to light the

Observation
Limited light in the
environment
The grass has not
grown much at all. The
grass Is starting to
bend to the only

are seeing a good

amount of growth.
9/10

18mm

The seeds have used

all their water up
and some of the
grass is starting to
die.

10/10 19mm

The seed is much

longer than what it
was at first. But less
growth than closed
environment.

13/10 24mm

14/10 26mm

grass turns a yellow

color instead of
green.
Seeds have retained
most water, due to
no sun drying it up,
the blades of grass,
significantly longer
than 2 days ago.

The seed has used all

of its water, good
growth since
overnight, most of
the seeds appear to
be yellow.
Major growth has
Major grow has
happened over the
occurred,
weekend. All the
significantly longer
water has been dried than open
up because of the
environment seeds
sun and a lot of the
and far different
seeds have started to colour.
die. There is also
mold building up.
Nice amount of
Really noticeable
growth for the grass. growth. Defiantly
Really dark green
proved my
colour can be
hypothesis that the
noticed, mold has
open environment
continued to bold.
will grow better than

source of light.
The seed has not
grown much major
bend towards the light
source can be noticed,
less water retained
than closed
environment.
No growth has
occurred overnight,
color has turned to a
bright yellow, but still
not as bright as the
closed environment.
The seed has grown a
lot over the weekend (
bigger than open
environment, but
smaller than closed)

Minor growth has

occurred, but a lot
more bend towards
the source of light has
occurred. A minority
of seeds have died off,

More seeds have

begun to die off. Sun
being brutal to the
seeds.
16/10 29mm

The final growth is

huge although most
of the seeds have
died. This amount of
growth was
surprising.

the closed. These

seeds may have a
more yellow colour,
but they have grown
the most out of all
the seeds.
Good final growth
has occurred.
Defiantly the biggest
grass that has grown.
Doesnt has the
natural green colour
of grass.

but a majority are still

living.

Minor final growth.

Most seeds were bent
towards the hole, to
get as much light as
possible

Discussion Questions

Plants did respond, how?

The plants have shown that they can detect what is going on in their environment. The plant has shown that it can even detect when it is day or night.
Depending on wether it is day or night that plant will make changes to either protect itself or absorb more nutrients.

Why do some grow up and some grow down?

Some grow up and some grow down because they are responding to the force of gravity. Shoots go in the opposite force of gravity (up), whilst roots
grown with the force of gravity (down). The roots can sense the force of gravity and send signals regulated by the hormones, and then the hormones will
send ions towards the roots. (Scientist dont know exactly what the signal is!)

Bending towards light (wheat seeds)

Why do plants bend toward the light?

Plant grow towards light because the leaves on the shady grow longer than the plants on the sunny side. These cells tend to grow longer because of a
chemical in them called an auxin. The auxin is a plant growth hormone that regulates shoot growth. The higher concentration of auxin in the shady side
causes the plant cells on that side to bend towards the light.
Conclusion
In conclusion we believe that the plant can detect what is happening it its and environment, and if they could not then they would most defiantly die.