Does the colour of light affect plant growth? My experiment will contain four of the same potted plants, and three different saran wrapping papers. The four plants will be placed next to the same window with about 5 centimetres between each pot. Three of the potted plants will be surrounded by a sheet of transparent coloured paper. The first plant will be surrounded by a yellow sheet, the second by a red sheet, the third by a purple sheet, and the fourth won’t be surrounded by anything. My hypothesis is ‘‘If plants are to grown under different colour then the growth will not be the same”. The independent variable is how tall the plant grows and the dependant variable is the colour of light that a plant is taking in.
Historical Development of the field
Botany is said to have originated sometime from 9000-7000BC with the first cultivation of crops. However, it was only 2300 years ago that people became interested in plants for their own purposes which included food, shelter and clothing. In the 400 BC, botany became a pure science with a philosopher, Theophrastus. Aristotle, and his pupil, Theophrastus, figured out the descriptions and functions for plants which became the prototype for botanical observations for a thousand years. Theophrastus also wrote two works on the general nature of plants: The Natural History of Plants and About the Reasons of Vegetable Growth. The development of the knowledge of botany stopped in the Middles Ages. It was preserved in monasteries in Europe and by the Arabs in the Middle East. Albert the Great is considered to be the one who rediscovered botany. In the 16th and 17th century, the interest in botany was revived in Europe and it was spread to America by the European Conquest. Modern botany only started to develop in the 16th century with the invention of the microscope. Although the Greeks believed that plants got their nourishment only from the soil, a Belgian scientist, Jan Batista van Helmont, proved that this was not true by giving a potted willow water. In 5 years the plant gained 75 kilograms while the soil only lost about 60 grams. Joseph Priestley, an English chemist, showed that plants restored the air with oxygen when oxygen was removed by an occurrence like the breathing of animals or the burning of candles. Jan Ingenhousz, a Dutch physiologist extended Joseph Priestley’s observation by revealing that light was needed to order for plants to restore the air. Stephen Hales, a British physiologist, is considered the founder of the science in the physiology of plants. His early work on the sources and manufacture of plant food led to the studies of the photosynthesis.
Key ideas/important terms
Photosynthesis is the process that green plants and some other organisms change carbon dioxide and water into sugar glucose by using the energy of light. An important side-effect of this is oxygen which many organisms depend on. Botany is the branch of biology which studies plants and organisms that used to be considered as plants such as fungi, bacteria, and algae.
Key issues/controversies
Theophrastus, Aristotle, Albert the Great, Jan Batista van Helmont, Joseph Priestley, Jan Ingenhousz, and Stephen Hales were all key leaders in the development of the research of botany. This field is interesting because it deals with living organisms. One thing that makes botany difficult is the field studies. Some plants grow in remote locations or they grow to places that are hard to get to such as the ones that are found deep in heavily forested jungles or forests.
The Future of the field
Botany is very useful. It has a direct importance to human welfare and advancements such as medicine, forestry and horticulture. Perhaps the cure to disease like cancer, AIDs, or Alzheimer’s disease is found in a certain plant. And maybe some plants will evolve into very mobile organisms and become the dominate species of the Earth. It all lies in how the plants grow and their environment.