Title: Germination

Aim: To determine whether light intensity affects the rate at which seedlings germinate.
Materials
/Apparatus: Distilled Water
8 black eye seeds
4 containers
Cotton Wool
Ruler
3 LED light bulbs of different watts
Diagram:

Method:
1. The containers were labelled A, B, C and D.
2. Cotton wool was placed on the internal of the container 2.5cm of depth.
3. Small openings were created in each container for the two seedlings to be placed and
covered with a thin layer of cotton wool.
4. Container A was placed in a completely dark location.
5. Containers B, C and D were placed in separate locations where there was no sunlight to
come in contact with the seeds.
6. Light bulbs of varying light intensities (5W, 7W and 65W) respectively were suspended
over the various containers.
7. 10 ml of distilled water was added every day to the seedlings at a similar time daily.
 8. The heights of the plants were measured and recorded each day.
9. The average height of the plants for the various light intensities were tabulated and
compared with each other.
10. A line graph was utilized for easier comparison.

Results:
TABLE SHOWING THE HEIGHTS OF EACH PLANT UNDER THE DIFFERENT
LIGHT INTENSITIES FOR 10 DAYS

DAY AVERAGE HEIGHT OF SEEDLINGS (cm)

A (no light) B (5W) C (7W) D (65W)
1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
2 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.0
3 0.3 0.5 1 0.5
4 2.0 5.0 1.5 1.0
5 3.2 9.0 3 1.8
6 5.7 11.2 5.5 3.0
7 8.1 13.0 9 4.2
8 13.8 15.0 10 5.5
9 19.1 17.0 10.5 7.4
10 23.7 17.5 11 8.0

Pictures showing results from experiment:

 Seedling A (No light) Seedling B (5W)

Seedling C (7W) Seedling D (65W)

Graph:
Discussion:
Germination can be defined as the process in which a seed develops into a mature plant.
There are some environmental factors which affect seed germination. These processes are water,
oxygen, heat and light. Water, oxygen and heat are all necessary factors required for a seed to
undergo germination, as without proper amounts of each, the seed may not grow. However light
is not necessary, rather, it affects the rate of growth and the health of the plant. Light intensity
affects plant growth in that, the lower light intensity would produce larger plants, while higher
intensities would produce smaller plants in the same amount of time. These expected results
correspond with the results gathered during testing. Plants in low light intensities would have a
higher growth rate due to a process known as phototropism. This is an ability plants possess
which allows plants to grow in the direction of a light source. Since the plants with no light have
no light source present, they would continuously search for light, hence they would grow faster
in dark conditions. In the high light intensity, since the plant has a constant light source, it is
unnecessary for them to look for a light source, hence their growth rate would be slower. Light
intensity would also have an effect on the leaves of the seedlings. The colour of the leaves on the
seedlings in low light intensities would be pale green to yellow (yellow being the least light
present.) This occurs because chlorophyll production is directly proportional to the amount of
light present in the environment. Hence, the leaves grown in the higher light intensities would
have leaves that are greener. The shape of the leaves was also affected by the light intensity. The
leaves of the seedling in lower light conditions had larger leaves since they would try to take in
as much light from its environment due to the lack there of. However, in the higher light
intensities, leaves were found to be smaller since it was unnecessary for them to try to capture
more light, due to the abundance of light in its environment.

Source of Errors:
 1. The area in which some plants were germinated had different environmental temperatures
from the others affecting the germination rate.

Limitations:
1. When watering as well as measuring the height of the seedlings, there would be an
amount of external light that would come into contact with the plants and may affect the
final results.
Reflection:

Conclusion:
To conclude, light intensity does have an effect on germination, in that lower light intensities
would lead to higher growth rates, while higher light intensities lead to a lower growth rate.

References:
1. BD Editors. (2017, March 13). Phototropism. Retrieved April 14, 2021, from Biology
Dictionary website: https://biologydictionary.net/phototropism/