Planting Science - Projects: Seed observers
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Seed observers

Project by group dmsgrayspring2021

Explore -They grow by using photosynthesis -plants 'breathe' in carbon dioxide -use stored energy to germinate -make their own food -they have chloroplast and cell walls in their cells
Research Question How does the color of light affect the speed of seed germination?
Predictions If you put the seeds under white light then the most seeds will germinate.
Experimental Design Place one damp paper towel in each of 4 petri dishes. Place 3 alfalfa seeds in each petri dish. Pur each petri dish on a seperate table. Put a lamp with red light over one petri dish, place a lamp with UV/black light over the next, place a lamp with blue light over another, and put a lamp with white light over the last. Place a box overtop of each petri dish to ensure that there is no light contamination. Add 10 drops of water in each petri dish for 5 days. Record how long it takes for the seeds in each box to sprout. Once sprouted measure length of stem in millimeters.
Conclusion UV/ black light is the worst environment for the seeds to germinate. White light had the most seeds germinate. Our investigation has to do with wavelengths and the color spectrum. Ultraviolet/ black light had the shortest wavelength. Black light had such a energetic wavelength that is was harmful to the plants. Black light is also not a visible light and without Visible light the plant does not have enough Chlorophyll to turn green causing the plants to turn a black/dark green color. Blue light has the next shortest wavelength out of the colors that we used. The pigment in blue light is helpful during the early stages of germination it makes absorbing light easier, for the seeds. Although blue light can benefit a plant it still doesn't help a plant make chlorophyll which made our sprouts not have a healthy color. Red light on the other hand has a very slow and long wavelength, this makes the light less effective during the germination process. Plants can be sensitive to red light causing them to not be very healthy and/or grow very fast. White light is all the colors on the color spectrum. All colors have a different job during the germination process, so having all the colors helps the seeds grow. White light is visible light and helps the plants have enough chlorophyll to make the sprouts turn green. Lastly sunlight is white light so the artificial white light we used was the closest to actual sunlight.
Investigation Theme WOS
Teacher Name Evelyn Gray
School Name DeWitt Middle School
Session Spring 2021

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NSF_Logo.jpg This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #2010556 and #1502892. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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