Seed Germination Experiment Lab Report 

 
Problem/Question ​(What question will your experiment be answering?) 
Will shade vs light affect how corn/mung beans grow? How will growing corn/mung beans 
in the shade/light help or hurt their growth? 
 
Hypothesis​: (What exactly are you proving or disproving with this experiment?) 
My hypothesis is that growing corn/ mung bean in the shade will affect how they retain and 
get nutrients. This will also affect if they die or actually grow. Growing corn/mung beans ins 
shade rather than sunlight might slow down the growing process. On the contrary, it might 
help the sprouts survive longer without water. In the sunlight, the sprouts may grow faster, 
but they also might dry out over a long period of time. 
 
Experiment​: [This is what you are doing with the seeds in the bags in different locations.] 
Sun Bags: The two sun bags have all-day sun exposure. They are in the most sunlit place in 
the house. A damp paper towel holds three seeds per bag. The three corn seeds are in one 
bag, and the three mung bean seeds are in the other. To make sure the bag id damp and 
the seeds aren’t drying out I dampen the paper towel once every 5-6 days. The seeds have 
maintained steady growth so far. To ensure that the seeds won’t move when growing I’ve 
stapled columns for them to stay in as they progress. 
Shade Bags: The two shade bags have no exposure to the sun and are in the shade all day. 
They are in the back of my clothing closest, which has the most shade. Since the paper 
towels dry out slowly I haven’t dampened the paper towel yet, but I plan to do so once a 
week. Most of the seeds in the shade bag have maintained study growth so far. One of the 
corn seeds (corn number 4) has started to mold. The mold hasn’t spread to the other seeds, 
but I haven’t removed it as the kernel may yield interesting results in the future. I have also 
placed staples around the seeds to ensure they don’t move while they continue to grow. 
Independent variable: Growing seeds in the shade or the sun 
Dependent variable: How the seeds will grow. 
 
Observation​: [This is what you are doing by measuring in the spreadsheet.] 
The seeds are growing thus far. A little over halfway through the experiment almost all of 
my seeds stopped growing. 
Analysis​: [Your graphs will be in your spreadsheet, and you will answer these questions 
below, as you go through the experiment.] 
 
A. Which seeds germinate first, the ones grown in the dark or the ones grown in the 
light?  
The seeds placed in the sunlight started to germinate and grow first. 
B. What part of the plant (roots or shoots) emerged from the seed first? Explain why. 
The roots started to emerge before the shoots in this process. I think that the roots 
started to grow first is because the roots need to create a foundation for the seed 
and gather nutrients as the seed grows. 
C. Examine the roots carefully. What do you notice after a couple of days? 
After a couple of days, many of the seeds started growing. However, some didn’t 
grow and started to produce mold surrounding the seed instead. 
D. In which direction did the roots grow? Was this true for all seeds? 
The roots grew towards the bottom of the plastic bag. This was the case for all of the 
seeds that started to grow. 
E. In which direction did the shoots grow? Was this true for all seeds? 
Most of the shoots for the seeds grew towards the top of the bags, but some of them 
grew towards the sides of the bag.  
F. For the seeds grown in the light, which grew faster the roots or the shoots? (Analyze 
your data to really find out!) 
At first, the roots of the seeds started to grow rapidly fast in the light, but some of the 
shoots also grew rapidly., but for the most part the roots of the seeds grew faster 
than the shoots. 
G. For the seeds grown in the dark, which grew faster the roots or the shoots? 
For the seeds growing in the shade, the roots grew faster than the shoots. 
H. Were there any color differences between the seeds grown in the dark and the seeds 
grown in the light? Explain. 
Between the seeds grown in the dark and the seeds in the sunlight, there are quite a 
bit of color differences. The seeds grown in the sunlight look more green and brown, 
while the seeds grown in the shade look beige, dark brown, and black. Although the 
differences in environment both corn and mung-bean rotted a little bit and some 
were even covered in the mold by the end of the experiment. 
 
Conclusion: [​ Did you prove or disprove your hypothesis? Why? And what were some 
mistakes that happened in your experiment that the next scientist could know to avoid?] 
Completing this experiment, I have proven my hypothesis. My hypothesis that growing 
seeds in the shade or the sunlight will affect seed growth was correct. Seeds in the 
sunlight grew larger and faster, where the seeds grown in the shade grew quite slow 
and not very much. As all experiments are conducted mistakes were made. Some of 
these mistakes are; I didn’t open the bags until three days into the experiment, I 
smashed a few seeds when I first stapled the bags, and I forgot to log 3 days out of the 
experiment. If we were to do this experiment again I would rectify these mistakes and 
carry out the experiment better. I wouldn’t have closed the bag initially, and I would’ve 
logged, and I would’ve been more careful with the seeds. In conclusion, my hypothesis 
that growing seeds in the shade or sunlight will affect their growth proved to be 
correct. If I was to do this experiment in the future I would make some changes, but 
overall this experiment went well in my eyes.