Problem: Will roots always point down, no matter which way it is turned?

Hypothesis: Yes, we think the roots will always point down. If the root grew up toward the surface, it would not get any water in the air, and it would die.

Materials:
• one Mason 500 ml clear glass jar
• some sheets of brown paper towels
• six lima bean seeds

Procedure:
1. Wet some paper towels. Crumple them up and fill the jar with them.
2. Place the bean seeds between the paper towels and the side of the jar. The bean seeds should be at least 5 cm apart. They can be pointed in any direction.
3. Keep the bean seeds moist as the seeds begin to spout. Do this by pouring small amount of water into the jar as it is needed. Keep the jar in the sunlight during the day.
4. Wait until the roots are about 3 cm long. Then turn the jar upside down. Watch the growth and direction of the roots daily.

Observations:
1. One week after planting the seeds, two of the seeds started to germinate but no roots started to appear.
2. Three days later the third bean seed started to sprout.
3. We observed that one of the seeds developed mould.
4. Two days later the rest of the seeds started to sprout and the other 3 that had roots the have grown more and very little root hairs appeared. My mom took out the mouldy seed and put it in the garbage
5. Another seed got mouldy but we kept the seed in the jar and it started to grow and it kept on growing.
6. All the seeds were growing well, the stems grew bigger and the root hairs continued to grow. Not all of the mouldy seeds got pulled out. Over the next few days it grew a stem and root hairs.
7. The mouldy seed continued to develop. Two of the biggest plants in the jar were growing leaves when we flipped the jar over.

Conclusion and Discussion:
1. 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 other parts, such as stems and flowers to grow. For example, in a soil environment which is too rocky or the water content too low plants will not grow.
2. The wet paper towels stayed moist throughout the entire experiment. Condensation which appeared in the jar indicated that the jar may have had too much water which led to the growth of mould. There is just the right amount of water that best helps a plant grow; too little water and the plant does not grow and too much water can drown a plant.
3. Based on our observations over a two and a half week period during which the roots of the growing seeds grew downwards. This is in response to gravity and its downward pull toward earth. An interesting comment made by Patrick’s dad opens up another possible topic for another investigation: how would the roots respond to a gravity free environment such as in space?