The Scientific Method

The Scientific Method

BIO/100

November 2, 2010

Randolph Roberts

The Scientific Method

Observation: Have you ever noticed a plant near a window that after a while, the plant grows or leans in toward the window? Hypothesis: What reasons or factors can you list that may cause a plant to lean toward a window? Prediction: If it is true that plants respond to light, which they need to make their food. I grew three plants with a light on the left of them and three plants with a light on the right of them. I should see a difference or change in the direction the plant is growing or leaning.

For the experiment, I put three plants on my kitchen counter with a light on the left of them. The other three plants were on the other side of the counter with a light on the right side of the plants. I watered the plants every other day at the same time with the same amount of water. Each week I would take a picture of each plant and compare it to the pictures of the weeks before. I found that the plants leaves grew towards the light. The reason for this is that plants need sunlight. Houseplants lean toward the sun. If they do not receive enough light they wither and die. Plants use sunlight to make their food, this process is called photosynthesis.

Inside each plants leaves, when exposed to light it causes air and water to combine to make chemicals (food). In most plants, photosynthesis takes place mainly in the leafy areas. Plants are made up of tiny cells, like most living things. The cells in a plant’s leaves contain even smaller, disc-shaped parts called chloroplasts. Chloroplasts are the food factories where photosynthesis happens. Chloroplasts contain chemical called chlorophyll, which is bright green. Chlorophyll gives plants their green color and makes photosynthesis work. For photosynthesis to work, the chloroplasts need to collect three ingredients: sunlight, air, and water. Sunlight shines on the leaf, and the green...