To Bean or Not to Bean

By: Michael Chu Block B Mr. Borges January 23, 2014 David Thompson Secondary School sciencefairdt.weebly.com
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Table of Contents
Title Page.........................................................................................................................................1

Table of Contents .........................................................................................................................2-3

Abstract ...........................................................................................................................................4-5

Introduction ...................................................................................................................................6
-Problem/Purpose ...........................................................................................................6a -Question .........................................................................................................................6b -Hypothesis ......................................................................................................................6c

The Experiment .............................................................................................................................6

-Procedure........................................................................................................................7

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-Materials .........................................................................................................................8a -Variables .........................................................................................................................8b -Results and Observations...............................................................................................9 -Data Analysis ..................................................................................................................10

Discussion.................................................................................................................11-12

Conclusion ................................................................................................................13

Acknowledgments....................................................................................................14

Resources.....................................................................................................................................15

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Abstract: My project is about how different types of light will affect the growth rate of Green Arrow bean plants. I wanted to find out more about the efficiency that one could achieve with commonly found items in a hardware store for plant growth. I hypothesized that the pot with red and blue light shining into it would grow the best, followed by L.E.D., ultraviolet light and finally green light. The actual results were ultraviolet lights being the fastest growing, green light the second fastest, red and blue light being the second slowest, and L.E.D. lights having the slowest grow rate. During the experiment, I filled five planters with soil and planted 21 Green Arrow bean plants in each planter. After setting up the lights and cardboard box cutouts to separate each planter, I watered each pot 3/4 cups of water every other day. To measure the results I used a standard 15cm long ruler. After taking a closer look at the plants after theyd grown, there were a couple hidden details that would not have been discovered if not looked upon closely. The most important detail was that despite the plants under the ultraviolet light growing the longest, they also had the thinnest stem and the smallest leaves. It was as if the stem couldnt hold enough water for the leaves to grow. I also found that the green light caused the plants to grow slightly larger than the control planter, but in result had slightly smaller stems and leaves. Red and blue light along with L.E.D. light resulted in healthy stems and large leaves, although L.E.D. lights caused the height of the plant to shrink greatly.

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Despite a reasonable set of results from the experiment, I feel that I could have had conducted the experiment better. One of the larger problems was the lack of experiments. Upon ideal terms, this experiment should have had been conducted multiple times with as large of planters as possible, however I lack both the space and supplies to undergo such an experiment. My results were also affected by uncontrollable events that occurred. The humidity of the area that my experiment was taken was not controlled. This may have affected the results.

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Introduction: When science fair first began and everyone was choosing topics, I overheard many people bragging about how theyd build rail guns and study stem cells and such. It seemed as if everyone was looking for solutions to global problems rather than ones that you could actually build upon. After days, maybe even weeks of pondering, I finally came up with this idea. My project is about how different types of lights affect the growth rate of plants. Problem/Purpose: The purpose of my experiment was to test the effects of different types of light on the growth speed on bean plants. Question: Do different types of light affect the growth rate of green arrow bean plants? Hypothesis: I hypothesize that planter C will grow the fastest, due to the fact that chloroplasts absorb red/blue light but not green light. The second fastest would be planter A, due to the fact that fluorescent light contains the whole spectrum of colours in its rays. Third place would be planter E. I think this because the ultraviolet light would still be absorbed better than green light. The fourth fastest would be planter D. I think this because plants do not utilize green light for photosynthesis that well. The slowest growing planter would be planter B. I think this because L.E.D.s do not emit much heat.
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The Experiment
Procedure: 1. Purchase the necessary materials. 2. Fill each planter with soil 3. Loosen the soil in each planter and place the seeds in, spread out with about 1 inch between each seed 4. Lightly push down each seed about 2 cm into the soil 5. Place the planters at the desired area that the experiment is being tested, preferably a dry and at room temperature room that would not have its variables modified. 6. Separate each planter with pieces of the cardboard boxes. 7. Position each type of light above each individual planter. 8. Set a timer to turn on each light at 9 a.m. and turn them off at 5 p.m. 9. Water each planter with 3/4 cups of water every other day. 10. Take measurements once seeds have germinated. *Please note, I did not take measurements until the second week due to a lack of difference in height between the five planters.* Important Note when Undergoing Experiment: If seeds begin molding, remove the seed as the mold will affect the results, and occur randomly due to diseases in the seed before it was packaged.

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Materials: 5 Planters Potting soil 105 Green Arrow Bean Seeds 5 light stands 1 LED light bulb - 1 Ultraviolet light bulb - 3 Fluorescent light bulbs - Red, Blue and Red coloured cellophane - 2 Large Cardboard Boxes - 1 Ruler

Variables: In my experiment, the independent variables present are: The different light bulbs (fluorescent, L.E.D., ultraviolet). Dependant variables include: The growth speed and average height of each pot of green arrow bean plants. The constants within my experiment are: The height of each bulb above the soil, the amount of water watered, and the size of each planter. The control in my experiment was the bean plants in planter A. Although I only conducted this experiment once, there were 105 different plants under the exact same influence of light in each planter; therefore I could say that I performed this experiment numerous times.

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Results and Observations: As I conducted my experiment, I observed that the plants under the ultraviolet light, planter E, was growing the fastest, although it contained the most defective seeds. I also observed how the seeds under the L.E.D. light, planter B, seemed to grow the slowest. This could have been due to the lack of both heat and light, as L.E.D. light bulbs seem to produce the least heat of the five bulbs. It seemed as if the plants under the fluorescent lights, red and blue light, and green light were growing much healthier than the plants in planter E. The stems and leaves of the plants in planter E seemed to be thin and fragile, holding hardly any water and were just barely supporting its weight; while the plants in planters A through C held much more water and had thick and sturdy stems with healthy leaves. Planter D was more in the middle in terms of healthiness, but was slightly longer than the first three planters plants. After conducting the experiment, it seemed that planter E grew the longest in length, but planter C had the healthiest set of bean plants. Planter B had the worst results, with healthy plants but extremely short lengths. Planter A was the control, and planter D showed an increased length, but weaker stems and leaves.

Average Height January 8 January 9 January 10 January 11 January 12

Fluorescent 10.12cm 11.06cm 13.12cm 14.89cm 15.42cm

L.E.D. 8.73cm 11.36cm 11.55cm 12.7cm 13.25cm

Red and Blue 13.67cm 13.98cm 16.56cm 17.15cm 17.62cm

Green 12.92cm 14.66cm 15.46cm 18.02cm 18.57cm

Ultraviolet 15.39cm 16.51cm 17.16cm 20.71cm 23.65cm

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Data Analysis: Upon taking a closer inspection to my raw data, it became clear to me that the plants in planter E (ultraviolet light) had an exponential increase in growth in length, but when viewing the plants themselves, the thickness of their stems and healthiness of their roots had dropped dramatically. The plants in planter D (green light) also seemed to grow quite a bit longer than the plants in planters A through C, but their stems and leaves too were weak, just not as much as the ones in planter E. The plants in planter B (L.E.D.) were significantly shorter when compared to the rest of the plants, but still maintained the healthy stems and leaves. It seemed that blue and red lights are the best choice for a balance of healthiness and height in a bean plant.

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Fluorescent (Planter A) L.E.D. (Planter B) Red and Blue (Planter C)

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Green (Planter D) Ultraviolet Light (Planter E)

0 8-Jan 9-Jan 10-Jan 11-Jan 12-Jan

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Discussion: Initially, I wanted to test different types of temperatures and light levels and their effect on plants, but I soon realized that the variables would be too hard to control and opted to try another idea. Instead, I decided to test the effects of different types of light on the growth rate of bean plants. After a short discussion with my science teacher, I decided to follow through with this experiment idea. The data that was collected shows that ultraviolet light significantly increases the growth rate of bean plants (as shown in planter E) while L.E.D. lights actually decrease the growth speed, compared to the control group under fluorescent lights, planter A. Red and blue lights along with green lights are very close in effects to growth rate. Both increase the growth rate, but according to the data collected the red and blue lights increase the earlier stages of growth while green lights are better when the plants are more matured. The experiment only very slightly supported my hypothesis. Only one out of the five predictions was correct. Over the course of the 3 weeks that the seeds were planted, the plants that were in planter B under the L.E.D. lights only grew to about 13.25cm while planter E which had plants under ultraviolet light grew to astounding lengths of about 23.65 cm. This was nearly double the lengths achieved in planter B.

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When looking through the collected data, it was noticed that fluorescent lights caused the steadiest growth, while L.E.D. seemed to help plants germinate and grow quickly, but its effect drastically decreased as the plants matured. Both red and blue and green lights had fluctuating effects on the bean plants, from steady climbs to slight jumps. Last but not least, ultraviolet light had extreme effects on the growth rate of these plants. It seems that the plants are not only growing faster, but the plants also grow much longer than the others, who seem to hit a limit after a certain while. It is a common in a household for fluorescent light to be used when growing indoor plants, but I found that the plants that grew under ultraviolet light had a far more superior length when compared with plants that grew under fluorescent lights. Despite the increased length from the planter E, I found that the stems and leaves on the plants were exceptionally thin and weaker when compared to the plants of the other four planters. The stems and leaves of the plants from planters A through C were much thicker and could hold more water; the roots of the bottom also seemed to be much longer and thicker. The plants under green light in planter D seemed to have stems that were weaker than planters A through C, but was still much stronger than planter E. Light wavelengths that are best for photo synthesis is said to be about 430nm 440 nm and 880nm 680nm. Light waves from ultraviolet light reside within 400nm 10nm and green light resides within 520nm 575nm. This was a contributing factor to the results of the bean plants in planters C, B, D, and E.

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Conclusion: After conducting this experiment, it is clear that ultraviolet lights are the best for increasing the length of the plant, but red and blue lights are the best choice for growing a healthy and long set of bean plants. Although planter E was contained the longest bean plants, the stems and leaves were thin and weak compared to the control plants in planter A. Planter B was the shortest of the five planters, but had stems and leaves as healthy as planter A. Planter D however had an increased length and semi healthy stems and leaves, weaker than planters A through C, but still was not as weak as planter E. It seems that the ideal type of light to utilize when growing bean plants would be red and blue lights. Light wavelengths that are best for photo synthesis is said to be about 430nm 440 nm and 880nm 680nm. If the red and blue light sources could fall inbetween this range of numbers, the plants should have the most beneficial results possible. Ultimately, the project was a success. I discovered that ultraviolet light causes plants to grow longer, but are weaker and yield smaller leaves. I also discovered that L.E.D. light results in small and healthy plants, and red and blue light is the best type of light for a healthy and balanced bean plant.

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Acknowledgements: I would like to thank Mr. Borges with helping me decide on my project when I needed help. He helped guide me to a good project idea, and away from my poorly thought out previous one. He also gave me pointers on how to conduct the experiment.

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Resources: http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02269/Greenarrow_2269370b.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultraviolet http://www.ehow.com/how-does_5499148_do-grow-under-black-lights.html http://www.seedsofdistinction.co.uk/vegetables/peas-beans/dwarf-bean-green-arrow http://www.ehow.com/about_5645121_effect-green-light-plants.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bean http://www.smartgardener.com/plants/898-peas-green-arrow/diseases/559-bean-mosaicvirus-bcmv http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L.E.D.

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