Web Quest Why do plants grow upwards? Introduction
Introduction Sunlight Gravity Project Teacher notes	Think about all different plants that you have seen so far. What is their direction of growth? For many years people have been wondering why plants grow upward. Some believed that plants move upward because light is comes from that direction. Others believe that plants grow against the direction of the earth gravity. As we study plants we notice that plants seem to "know" which way to grow. Germinating seedlings emerge above the soil and grow upward. On a window sill, plants turn toward the light. These observations lead to questions such as: Why do plants grow upwards? Why do plants grow towards light? Is the growing direction of a plant a response to light or gravity? What do you think? Through this web quest we will monitor the growth of a plant and analyze its growth patters to answer the inevitable question of why plants grow upwards. Imagine you carefully prepare your soil. You plant a seed in your carefully prepared soil. You tenderly care for your planted seed in your carefully prepared soil. Finally, you see you truly do have a "green thumb" when your seedling sprouts upward from your carefully prepared soil. You become convinced your plant will grow even better if you speak nicely to it. You do so and even add soft classical music as it grows. Ahh, success! Then, an unusual change occurs with your plant. The stem begins to curve downward towards the soil and its roots. You know this cannot be correct. Plants always grow upward, not necessarily straight up but upwards nonetheless. In this web quest your class will design and perform experiments which monitor the growth of plants and test the effects of light and gravity on the direction of plant growth. By the end of this quest you students should be able to answer the question every person is dieing to know, why do plants grow upwards. Created by: Melissa Elliott Last Modified: 2/28/05