BIOLOGY INVESTIGATORY PROJECT

HOW THE AMOUNT OF LIGHT AFFECTS

THE GERMINATION OF SPINACH SEEDS.
Light is one of the most important factors for growing houseplants.
All plants require light for photosynthesis, the process within a plant
that converts light, oxygen and water into glucose. Plants require
this energy in order to grow, bloom and produce seeds. Without
adequate light, starch cannot be manufactured. The energy reserves
get depleted and the plants die.
HOW PLANTS ARE AFFECTED BY TOO LITTLE OR TOO
MUCH LIGHT:
 When plants lack light, they don't produce chlorophyll and
turn from pale green to yellow to white.
 Plant stems become long and thin and appear to be reaching
toward the source of light.
 A lack of sufficient light causes the plant to grow long spaces
on stems between the leaf nodes.
 Plants without sufficient light also drop their leaves.
 Flowering plants may fail to produce flower buds.
 When plants are exposed to too much of sunlight, the photon-
capturing molecules absorb more energy than required and
generate reactive species of oxygen that can destroy the
plant. This results in scorched and bleached leaves.

Spinach is a major cultivated vegetable throughout the world. Due

to its appreciable amount of iron content, spinach is popular in
various recipes and dishes. Some of the powerful health benefits of
spinach are:

 It helps to stabilise the blood glucose levels and reduces blood

sugar levels.
 It helps in reducing risks of developing cancer.
 It aids in good bone health and weight loss.
 It reduces hypertension.
 It provides good eyesight.
 It protects the eyes from cataracts, age-related macular
degeneration and other eye problems.
 It has anti-inflammatory and anti-ageing properties.
 It boosts the body immunity.
 It prevents heart attacks, atherosclerosis, anemia and acne.
Spinach is usually planted in the field and is illuminated by natural
light. However, the intensity of the light varies with time and is not
uniform throughout the day.
It is hypothesized that spinach would germinate to its fullest under
the direct sunlight. An investigatory experiment was conducted
from 22nd May 2022 to June 5th 2022 in the balcony and terrace of
my house to observe the growth of spinach under various light
conditions and verify the hypothesis.

EXPERIMENT:
1) AIM:
To find out how the amount of light affects the germination of
spinach seeds.
2) MATERIALS REQUIRED:
Styrofoam germinating trays or mud bowls, spinach seeds, water,
sunlight, soil and shade cloths.
3) PROCEDURE:
Spinach seeds were soaked for a few hours and planted in 8
individual mud bowls filled with moist soil. To create different light
strengths, shade cloths that block out 50%, 75% and 90% of the
sunlight were used. To get 100% of sunlight, no shade cloth was
used.
Two mud bowls were taken to the terrace to get the complete
sunlight, two were kept on the shelf facing the sun in the balcony to
get 75% of sunlight. The remaining two pairs of mud bowls
obtained 50% and 10% of sunlight respectively in the shade.
Spinach seeds were grown for 15 days for the experiment. They
were regularly watered and maintained during the investigatory
period.
 4) OBSERVATIONS:
After 15 days, it was observed that:

 The spinach seeds did not germinate in the two bowls kept in
the terrace under 100% of sunlight.
 Spinach seeds germinated in the mud bowls kept in 75% of
sunlight. They displayed medium growth.
 Spinach seeds germinated and displayed a greater growth in
the mud bowls receiving 50% of sunlight.
 Spinach seeds germinated and displayed maximum growth in
the mud bowls that obtained only 10% of the sunlight.
 5) INFERENCE:
The hypothesis is wrong. It was thought that spinach would
germinate to its fullest under the direct 100% sunlight and not
under 10% sunlight. However, spinach showed maximum growth
only under 10% of sunlight. This shows that spinach seeds do not
need complete sunlight to germinate. Their optimum growing
temperature is 50⁰ F to 60⁰ F so they are grown in cool weather.
Complete exposure to sunlight increases the temperature and causes
bolting of spinach. As daylight increases and temperatures warm to
70⁰F, spinach should be covered with a shade cloth so that the soil
does not get heated above the optimum temperature. Thus, spinach
does not grow under 100% of sunlight.
6) CONCLUSION:
Spinach does not require a huge amount of sunlight for germination.
7) REFERENCES:
 https://www.1000sciencefairprojects.com/Biology/Is-Spinach-
Made-in-the-Shade.php
 file:///C:/Users/Lenovo/Downloads/plants-09-00490.pdf
 https://pharmeasy.in/blog/15-reasons-why-spinach-is-called-a-
superfood/
 https://extension.umn.edu/planting-and-growing-guides/
lighting-indoor-plants#:~:text=All%20plants%20require
%20light%20for,are%20depleted%20and%20plants%20die
 https://www.science.org/content/article/too-much-good-
thing#:~:text=Plants%20harvest%20energy%20from
%20the,that%20can%20destroy%20the%20plant
 https://extension.psu.edu/growing-spinach-a-cool-season-
vegetable