Growth Experiment

Experiment 1

Growth Experiment

Initial Question

What are the effects of sunlight on phototropism and chlorophyll development of mongo seedlings?

What are the responses of young mongo seedlings to sunlight?

Hypothesis

I predict that sunlight affects phototropism and chlorophyll development of mongo seedlings. Mongo seedlings will grow to the direction where light can be detected and will also develop chlorophyll at different levels depending on the amount of available light.

Scope and Limitation

This experiment is conducted and limited to the effects of sunlight on phototropism and chlorophyll development of green varieties of mongo seedlings.

Experimental Design

Independent Variable: amount and direction of sunlight

Dependent Variable: growth direction and chlorophyll development of the mongo seedlings

Controlled Variable: Testing procedures, type of mongo seedlings, time plants grow & containers

To measure the dependent variable I will use a protractor to calculate the angle of seedlings’ growth direction and paper chromatography or Adobe Photoshop to quantify the green color of mongo seedlings.

Positive Control Setup: mongo seedlings fully exposed to sunlight

Negative Control Setup: mongo seedlings not exposed to sunlight

Experimental Setup: mongo seedlings partly exposed to only one direction of sunlight

Materials

30 pieces green mongo seeds, soaked overnight in tap water

48 ply 4” x 4”tissue paper damped in tap water

3 pieces empty plastic container with cover

Aluminum foil

Method

1. Moisten each 16 ply of tissue paper with tap water then place it into the cover of each plastic container. Remove excess water that may pool around the lid.

2. Distribute evenly 10 pieces of soaked mongo seeds around on each moistened paper placed in the cover of the container.

3. Prepare three plastic containers according to the following different specifications:

a. Container A – as it is

b. Container B – covered with aluminum foil

c. Container C – covered with aluminum foil but with a window slit of 1 cm x 3 cm

4. Cover the prepared mongo seeds using the prepared plastic containers.

5. Make three (3) replicates of the three setups and label it properly.

6. Place the setups near a window. Arrange the slit so that it points towards the source of sunlight.

7. Leave the mongo seedlings to grow for five days. Don’t let the seedlings dry out by moistening the paper pads every day.

8. Make a daily observation for five (5) days by measuring the length and angle of the seedlings. Then take pictures to measure the green levels of each setup.

9. To get the length, use a string and run it along the sides of the mongo seedlings’ sprout. Then using a ruler, measure the length of the string.

10. To get the green levels of the seedlings, take photos of each setup and use Photoshop.

Results and Discussions

Conclusion