Title: How shoots respond to light.

Aim: To observe how shoots respond to light.

Apparatus and materials: three Petri dishes, beans, cotton, and two light-proof boxes.

Method:

1. The three Petri dishes were labelled A, B and C. Each Petri dish was lined with moist
cotton and six beans were placed per dish.
2. All three dishes were left in a warm area for a day or two till the seeds germinated.
The seeds were checked to ensure they didn’t dry out.
3. Dish A was placed into a light-proof box that had a slit in on the side so that the
seedlings would receive light from one side only.
4. Dish B was positioned in a light place. Then, the dish was turned by hand every three
to four hours four times a day.
5. Dish C was set in a completely light-proof box.
6. All the dishes were left for a week with check-ins to ensure they hadn’t dried out. All
observations and recordings were accounted for.

Results:

Dish A Dish B Dish C

Discussion:
Plant hormones are small, simple molecules of diverse chemical composition. Plant
hormones are among the most important biochemicals affecting plant growth and yield
production under different conditions, including stress. Plant hormones include auxin,
abscisic acid, ethylene, salicylic acid, and nitrous (nitric) oxide. Plant functioning under stress
is affected by plant hormones, which can help the plant to tolerate the environmental stresses.
In the context of rooted habit and iterative mode of growth, plant hormones are not produced
in specialised glands, but in most parts of plants. Plant hormones are required in miniscule
quantities and their concentrations at sites of activity are precisely regulated.

Auxin promotes cell growth and elongation of the plant. In the elongation process, auxin
alters the plant wall plasticity making it easier for the plant to grow upwards. Auxin also
influences rooting formations.

When light shines onto a shoot from all around, auxin is distributed evenly around the tip of
the shoot. The cells all grow at about the same rate, so the shoot grows vertically upwards.
This is what happened with Plant B.

However, when light shines onto a shoot from one side, the auxin at the tip is solely
concentrated on the shady side. This makes the cells on the shady side grow faster than the
ones on the bright side, so the shoot bends towards the light. This is what happened with
Plant A.

Precaution:
Ensure to turn the Dish B by hand every few hours 3-4 times daily.

Source of Error:
Forgetting to water the shoots thus affecting the results of the experiment.

Limitation:
The temperature may have affected the experiment because the optimal temperature for
cellular respiration might differ between the seed types.

Conclusion:
Auxin promotes cell growth and elongation of the plant and the amount of light a plant
receives affects the outcome of its position or growth.

Reflection:
I enjoyed conducting this experiment although I had to repeat it because my beans did not
germinate the first time and I learnt about auxin and its benefit to plants.