Sunlight and Flowers

Chelsey Ogden

Hypothesis

• Hypothesis: The plant that is the farthest away from the sun will not grow as much as the plants that are closer to sunlight.

• Null Hypothesis: A plant that is being grown father away from sunlight than other plants will grow bigger and better than plants that are closer to the sunlight.

Introduction

• Impatiens are great for growing in the shade, they come in a variety of colors and are known to be a hardy flower.

• African Daisies grow best in full sun, they come in white, yellow and orange and are also consider to be a hardy flower.

• Photomorphogenesis is the effect of light intensity and quality on plant growth and development. For example, some seeds require light to germinate. Germination of other seeds is prevented by light. Seedlings are etiolated (tall thin lacking chlorophyll) when grown without light.

Materials

• 6 Terra Cotta Pots • 2 Cups of soil per pot • 4 Flower seeds per pot (Impatiens for full shade and African

Daisy for full sun)• 1 Room with sunlight and that has an area without sunlight• 3 Tables or Stands (To put the plants on)• Water (To water them every other day) • Measuring Tape to measure the distances away from the

sunlight• Paper and pen to record the status of the plants

Procedure

• I will plant flower seeds in six different pots and put them in a room that has sunlight.

• I will put one pot (for each flower) next to the window, the second one (for each flower) four feet away from the window and the eight one (for each flower)four feet away from the window.

• I will water them and check on the status of growth every other day; I will be recording this.

• On April 5, 2009 I will go in and do my final check on the flowers in order to complete my experiment.

Growth

Day 2

Day 4

Day 6

Day 8

Day 10

Day 12

0 1 2 3 4 5 6

3 Sprouts2 Sprouts1 Sprout

Flowers Next to the Window

Flowers 4 Feet Way From Window

Flowers 8 Feet Away Window

Results and Conclusion

• My experiment did not turn out as I hoped that it would. I underestimated the time that it takes for seeds to begin to sprout therefore I had very few sprouts. One out of the six pots of flowers sprouted and it was the African Daisy (flower that required full sun) that was closest to the window. My hypothesis was correct that the flowers that were further from sunlight would grow the least.

References

• Impatiens– http://pss.uvm.edu/pss123/annimpat.html

• African Daisy– http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/wildseed/

18/18.1.html• Light and Growth– http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/2000-

07/964911397.Bt.r.html