| Explore | We know that plants require carbon dioxide and energy from the sunlight to photosynthesize/grow, and are interested to learn if the color of light being absorbed will affect the plants growth rates. |
|---|---|
| Research Question | How do the effects of photosynthesis change when impacted by different colors of light? |
| Predictions | If we alter a plant’s light source color, then their heights and rates of photosynthesis will vary because their chloroplasts will absorb different colors of light in various ways. We believe that the red will show more growth than the green. |
| Experimental Design | 1.Soda bottles were cut and stacked to allow water to drip through. 2.3, 1000 mL samples of potting soil were measured. 3.3, 5g samples of grass seed were measured. 4.Potting soil was placed in bottle, followed by grass seed. 5.Each pot was watered with 150 mL of water. 6.Respective bottles were covered with red and green cellophane and labeled A (Red), B (Green), and C (Control) . 7. Each sample was placed under a light source. 8. Samples were left over a period of time to allow for growth. 9. Photos were taken periodically to document set-up and plant growth. |
| Conclusion | Our hypothesis appeared to be partially accurate because the light sources did alter the rate of growth for each plant, but not in the exact ways that we predicted. The control showed the most normal growth with evenly distributed roots. The red and green each showed dense root growth because they were required to search the most to photosynthesize (the green was the densest because it had the hardest time). We also noted that the group B grass grew on one side, which we attribute to human error or shifting seeds. We expected the grass with the red light source to have the most growth, which was not accurate because natural or white light was the best source for photosynthesis to occur. |
| Investigation Theme | POS |
| Grade Level | High School Students (Grades 9,10,11,12) |
| School Name | South Point High School |
| Session | Fall 2016 |
