Analyze Our Findings
Lesson Time: (30-40 minutes)
Scientific Method Step 5: Analyze Findings
- After 7-28 days, assemble your scientists with their plants and the Summer Scientist Handout.
- Take a look: How did the plants in each of their conditions do? What do they look like at the end of the investigation?
- Discuss and explain: “What were the best growing conditions? How do you know? What is your evidence?”
- Record: Show by drawing and text the best growing condition that was tested.
- Report and record findings: Have your scientists take turns reporting their findings, making note of their findings about each variable on the white board.
Scientific Method Step 6: Did it answer your question?
- Do different light sources affect plant growth?
- As a group, talk about how the summer scientists’ plants look DIFFERENT compared to the facilitator’s “control” plant.
- What is different about it? Is it the height of the plant, the color? Is the plant standing straight up or is it leaning? Talk about why they think the plant looks different from the control plant.
What did you learn as a summer scientist?
- Was your hypothesis correct? Talk in a small group about how your hypothesis was correct or incorrect.
- Watch the Farmer Bill video: “Does Light Affect Plant Growth?”
Conclusion
After watching the Farmer Bill video discuss your findings again and have your scientists add additional explanations on why their plants look the way that they do. Ask: Did any of you have results like Farmer Bill? Can you better explain why your plant looks the way it does?
Ask your scientists end their investigation, have them refer to their Summer Scientist Handout and write down their final analysis. Ask: “Do different types of light affect plant growth? Look back to the responses you collected on the first day to share how their experiment helped them better answer the question. Why do you think farmers plant their corn only in certain times of the year? Do you think the amount of light the corn plant will have access to makes a difference? (Note: farmers plant in the spring when there begins to be more light available for the corn to grow; light also provides heat to the ground in the spring which the corn seed needs to sprout. You did not test temperature, but these two factors are linked when trying to get a plant to start growing.)
Why Plants Are Green
Looking at just one observation factor, the color of the plant, plants are green because their cells contain chloroplasts that absorb sunlight and turns it into energy for the plant. Inside those chloroplasts is chlorophyll which absorbs deep-blue and red light, and it reflects the color green.
Healthy Plant—Adequate sunlight, produced adequate chlorophyll making it dark green.
Light green plant—Plants did not produce as much chlorophyll causing the plant to be light in color.
White plant—Plant had no light and did not produce chlorophyll.