| Explore | Plants need sunlight and water to thrive. They have roots to collect water, and leaves to collect sunlight. |
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| Research Question | If the plant is on a windowsill vs. being in a dark room, how does it affect the number of roots sprouted? |
| Predictions | If the plant is in the sunlight, then it will grow more roots than the plant in the dark room. Reasoning: The plant's water in the sunlight will dry out quicker than the plant in the dark room. |
| Experimental Design | We have 3 peetri dishes with 5 buckwheat seeds in a dark cupboard. We have 3 more peetri dishes with 5 buckwheat seeds in a large windowsill by the sun. |
| Conclusion | Our data showed that that seeds in the dark room grew more roots than the seeds in the sunlight in a span of 6 days. We know this is the answer because the root sprout averages were higher for the seeds in the dark room, compared to the seeds averages in the sunlight. We think this happened because we learned that some plants prefer cooler, darker, and damper growing conditions rather than hotter, dryer, lighter conditions. The Buckwheat not only didn't thrive well in the sun, but the sunlight heated up the petri dish creating fog. We also, learned that when 574 plants were studied, 270 preferred darkness, and 190 could survive in either. Also seeds, don't use photosynthesis, so the light was as big of a factor compared to the water and the environment. |
| Investigation Theme | WOS |
| Grade Level | Middle School Students (grades 6,7,8) |
| School Name | DeWitt Middle School |
| Session | Fall 2019 |