Problem: Will roots always grow towards water?

Hypothesis: Yes, we think the roots will always grow towards the water because roots need water to take to the plant in order to make it grow.

Materials:
• One clear glass baking pan: 24cm x 35cm x 5cm
• One 400mL clay flower pot
• Enough potting soil to fill the pan within 1 cm of the top
• Nine lima bean seeds

Procedure:
1. Fill the glass pan with potting soil within 1 cm of the top.
2. Place the clay pot near one corner of the pot
3. Plant three seeds about 5 cm away from the plant pot. Plant three more seeds about 10 cm of the plant pot. Finally, plant three seeds at the far end of the plant pot.
4. Fill the clay pot with water fully until the potting soil is moist. Keep the pan in the sunlight during the course of the day.
5. After two weeks, observe the direction an amount of growth of the roots from the different seeds. The clear bottom of the pan should help this observation.

Observation
1. During the first week of observations we saw that the roots had not sprouted yet. Every day we put in one cup of water.
2. The sixth day after we watered the clay pot we saw a root that 5cm long growing towards the pot.
3. On the sixteenth day we measured all the roots. One was 6 cm long another one was 8 cm, the third one measured 5 cm. The other six lima bean seeds that were furthest away from the clay pot did not sprout.
4. After that the plants broke through the soil and now they have formed leaves.
5. On the twenty-fourth day, we measured the height of the plants. The closest ones measured 25 cm – 40 cm. The middle and last bean seeds did not sprout at all.

Conclusions and Discussions
1. Based on the observations over two and a half weeks, there is evidence that the amount of water is important to the growth of roots. The initial growth of roots came from the seeds which were closer to the pot. This shows the importance of water since the soil nearer the pot was better soaked.
2. The growth of the roots of the seed closer to the pot was better and this may be caused by the fact that soil in this area was evenly watered. However, the roots of the furthest seeds did not sprout at all. We think that if we had soaked the lima bean seeds overnight in water and then planted them they may have sprouted. Also, if we had added water through the clay pot more heavily the soil would be moister and then perhaps the lima bean seed may have sprouted.
3. The root is the most important part of the plant. It is the first part of the plant to appear. Its function is to absorb water and minerals allowing the plant’s others parts such as stems and flowers to grow. For example, in a soil environment which is too rocky or the water content too low the roots would not develop.