Title:

The Effect of the Presence of Water on the Growth of Onions

Objective:
To investigate the relationship between the presence of water and the growth of onions.

Variables:
Manipulated variable: Presence of water
Responding variable: Length of the shoot
Constant variables: Size of the pot, location of the pot

Materials and apparatus:

Plastic containers, onions, water, soil, ruler, sticker, measuring cup, pen, knife, ice chisel.

Procedures:
1. Pots are made by poking several holes on each plastic container using an ice chisel.
2. Each pot is filled with soil.
3. The pots are labelled ‘A’ and ‘B’ using a sticker and pen.
4. The skin of the onion is peeled and the head of the onion is cut off using a knife.
5. A small hole is dug and an onion is planted into each pot.
6. Both pot A and pot B are placed in a sunny place for growth.
7. For pot A, the onion is watered with 30 ml of water using a measuring cup. The onion in Pot B
is never given water throughout the experiment.
8. The length of the shoot is measured using a ruler and is recorded. A picture of the onions is
taken.
9. Weed is removed from the soil by picking it out.
10. Steps 7 and 8 are repeated everyday.
Step 1 Step 2 Step 3

Step 4 Step 5 & 6

Step 7 Step 8 Step 9

Figure of the procedures

Results
Week and date Length of the shoot (cm)
Pot A Pot B
Week 1 (22/5/22-28/5/22)
22/5/2022 0.00 0.00
23/5/2022 0.00 0.00
24/5/2022 0.00 0.00
25/5/2022 0.10 0.00
26/5/2022 0.20 0.00
27/5/2022 0.30 0.00
28/5/2022 0.40 0.00
Week 2 (29/5/22-4/6/22)
29/5/2022 0.60 0.00
30/5/2022 0.80 0.00
31/5/2022 1.10 0.00
1/6/2022 1.50 0.00
2/6/2022 2.10 0.00
3/6/2022 4.00 0.00
4/6/2022 5.80 0.00
Week 3 (5/6/22-11/6/22)
5/6/2022 8.20 0.00
6/6/2022 10.00 0.00
7/6/2022 13.70 0.00
8/6/2022 17.40 0.00
9/6/2022 20.10 0.00
10/6/2022 21.70 0.00
11/6/2022 24.50 0.00
Week 4 (12/6/22-18/6/22)
12/6/2022 27.10 0.00
13/6/2022 33.50 0.00
14/6/2022 35.60 0.00
15/6/2022 37.20 0.00
16/6/2022 39.50 0.00
17/6/2022 41.60 0.00
18/6/2022 42.30 0.00
Week 5 (19/6/22-25/6/22)
19/6/2022 44.50 0.00
20/6/2022 46.70 0.00
21/6/2022 48.20 0.00
22/6/2022 51.60 0.00
23/6/2022 53.80 0.00
24/6/2022 55.10 0.00
25/6/2022 58.30 0.00

Week and date Picture of the onions

Week 1 (22/5/22- 28/5/22)
Day 1 (22/5/2022)

Day 4 (25/5/2022)
Day 7 (28/5/2022)

Week 2 (29/5/22- 4/6/22)

Day 8 (29/5/2022)

Day 11 (1/6/2022)

Day 14 (4/6/2022)

Week 3 (5/6/22- 11/6/22)

Day 15 (5/6/2022)
Day 18 (8/6/2022)

Day 21 (11/6/2022)

Week 4 (12/6/22-18/6/22)
Day 22 (12/6/2022)

Day 25 (15/6/2022)

Week 5 (19/6/22-25/6/22)
Day 29 (19/6/2022)
 Day 32 (22/6/2022)

Day 35 (25/6/2022)

Discussion
Onions can reproduce asexually through natural vegetative propagation. Onions reproduce using
bulbs which are the underground storage units that divide by mitosis allowing many new plants to
form new bulbs. The constant variables are the size of the pot and the place of the pot. In this
experiment, the red onions were planted in 2 identical pots so that they have the same space for
growth. The location of the pot is also kept constant throughout the experiment to ensure both red
onions receive the same amount of sunlight for growth. The manipulated variable in this experiment
is the presence of water. For the onion in pot A, it was given 30 ml of water everyday whereas the
onion in pot B is never given water. This variable enables the study of the effect of water on the
growth of water. The responding variable in this experiment is the length of the shoot. The length of
the shoot is an obvious change that represents the growth of the onion.

Initially, both onions did not grow for the first three days because the onions develop the roots
before the shoot, so the growth effect was not obvious. On the fourth day, the onion in pot A
sprouted but the onion in pot B did not. This is because the onion in pot A received enough amount
of water for growth while the onion in pot B did not. In the next few weeks, until the experiment
ends, the onion in pot A grew very well with 20 shoots. The length of the shoot of the onion in pot A
increased non-stop until it reached 58.3cm. On the other hand, the onion in pot B did not grow
throughout the experiment and it was dried out on the 8th day due to the lack of water.

Water is an essential element for plant growth because it makes up more than 90% of the plant’s
tissue. It is required for the onion to germinate and sprout, that is why the onion in pot A sprouted
but not pot B’s onion. Water is also required for the onions to carry out photosynthesis which is a
process which the onion synthesises its food by using light energy. During photosynthesis, the role
of the water is to replace the electron lost in p680 in photosystem II, produce oxygen and also
produce hydrogen ions in order to combine with NADP+ to form NADPH. Moreover, water plays
an important role in dissolving nutrients and sugar which are produced from photosynthesis and
nutrients from the soil such as calcium and phosphorus and transport them to each part of the onion.
Furthermore, water provides the onion a structural support as it creates a turgor pressure in the plant
cells so that the onion shoots are turgid. In addition, water is critical for transpiration, it maintains
the temperature of the onion. When water evaporates through the leaves, more water is pulled up
into the onion by using its roots. As a result, plants cannot grow without water, so the onion in pot A
which is provided with sufficient water grew well whereas the onion in pot B died because of the
lack of water.

The plastic containers were poked with a few holes using an ice chisel so that there is air circulation
for the roots. The skin of the onions was peeled and the head of the onions was cut so that the
onions grow faster. Both pots A and B were placed in a sunny place so that they receive a sufficient
amount of water to carry out photosynthesis. The pots were placed indoors to prevent rains that
eventually effects the result as the onion in pot B might receive water from the rain. Weed is
removed from the soil to prevent interspecies competition between the weed and the onion, this
ensures all nutrients are received by the onion and the onion can grow well. The amount of water
used to water the onion in pot A is measured by using a measuring cup to ensure the accuracy of the
experiment.

There are some possible errors that exist in this experiment which is the accuracy of the length of
the shoot of the onion. Firstly, the shoot of the onion is growing every moment, so the length of the
shoot changes every moment. The lengths of the shoot recorded in the table are not absolutely
accurate as they might not be the length of the shoot of the onion every 24 hours. When the length
of the shoot of the onion is measured a few minutes earlier or later on the second day, the result is
not accurate as it might be longer or shorter. To overcome this error, the length of the shoot should
be measured on time every 24 hours with the aid of an alarm reminder. Furthermore, the inaccuracy
of the length of the shoot is also caused by the parallax error during the measurement as the eyes’
position might not be parallel to the reading on the ruler. To avoid this error, the measurement of the
length of the shoot should be taken a few more times to get an average reading and keep the eyes’
position parallel to the reading on the ruler in every measurement.

Conclusion
Onions can reproduce asexually and require water for growth.
References
1. https://www.britannica.com/science/bulb
2. https://www.wikihow.com/Plant-Sprouted-Onions
3. https://extension.wvu.edu/lawn-gardening-pests/news/2021/03/01/how-plants-use-water
4. https://studylib.net/doc/5909540/the-effect-of-water-on-plant-growth
5. https://www.osti.gov/etdeweb/servlets/purl/20745826
6. https://www.scienceprojects.org/how-does-the-amount-of-water-affect-plant-growth/
7. https://homegardenveg.com/how-do-onions-reproduce/
8. https://letstalkscience.ca/educational-resources/backgrounders/needs-plants
9. https://www.homefortheharvest.com/why-do-plants-need-water/
10. https://courses.lumenlearning.com/suny-biology2xmaster/chapter/asexual-reproduction/
11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Onion
12. https://www.ashford-primary.surrey.sch.uk/docs/homelearning_spring2021/Spring2/
Year5_1-5mar/Tuesday%20Science.pdf
13. h t t p s : / / b i o . l i b r e t e x t s . o r g / B o o k s h e l v e s / I n t r o d u c t o r y _ a n d _ G e n e r a l _ B i o l o g y /
B o o k % 3 A _ G e n e r a l _ B i o l o g y _ ( B o u n d l e s s ) /
32%3A_Plant_Reproductive_Development_and_Structure/
3 2 . 1 2 % 3 A _ A s e x u a l _ R e p r o d u c t i o n _ -
_Natural_and_Artificial_Methods_of_Asexual_Reproduction_in_Plants