Gravity and plants

Milton Bradley Elementary School
22 Mulberry Street
Springfield, MA
413-787-7475


Hydroponics Does gravity affect the growth of plants?
Living things on earth are used to living with the effects of gravity. Gravity is a force that pulls us and everything else on our planet toward the center of the earth. We have a sense of “up” and “down” because of the pull of gravity. Plants grow with the roots pushing down into the soil and the stem growing up. The roots absorb water from the soil and push it up through the stem against the pull of gravity. Try the following activity if you would like to know whether or not the pull of gravity affects the growth of plants on earth. You will need: 2 rubber bands 2 petri dish lids 1 petri dish bottom small piece of paper towel 4 radish seeds water What to do: Place the top of the lid face up. Wet the paper towel and place on lid. Put seeds in a row across the paper towel. Lay the other lid (face down) over the seeds. Hold together with two rubber bands crossing each other. [drawing ] Stand the lids in the petri dish bottom. Add water to fill the dish. Set the dish in a warm, dark spot. Observe the seeds every day. Once the roots appear, wait one more day. In what direction are the roots growing? Turn the dish so that the roots are growing up. Wait two more days. What has happened to the roots? Turn the dish again. Wait 2 more days. If you would like to do more experiments with plants, you could read EXPERIMENT WITH PLANTS by Monica Byles (581Byl) ISBN 0-8225-2456-2

Hydroponics