EllieAdams

7thGrade
ScienceFair

ResearchPaper
Formysciencefairproject,Iamplantingseedsindifferentmaterialsto
determineifthesourceitisplantedinwillaffectaplantsgrowth.Therearemany
differentpartsofaplant.Therearetheroots,whichgatherwaterandnutrientsthrough
soil.Thestemislikeatunnelwayfortheplant,ittransportsthethingsfromtherootsto
therestoftheplant.Therearealsodifferentkindsofstems,woodyandherbaceous
stems.Theleavesmaketheprocessofphotosynthesishappentheycollectsunlightand
carbondioxide.Iwillbeusingthematerialscardboard,styrofoam,anddirtinthis
project.
Therootsareanorgantotheplant.Therearefourmajorfunctionsthattheroots
have,thesefunctionshelptheplant.Onewaytheyhelp,istoabsorbwaterand
nutrients,thereasontheplantneedswaterandnutrientsisbecauseofphotosynthesis.
Photosynthesisistheprocessinwhichtheplantgetsnutrientsandwatertomakefood
forthemselvesintheleavesoftheplant.Anotherhelpfulaspectis,theykeeptheplant
inplace.Thenextwayistostorethefoodandnutrientsbyparenchymacellsintheroot.
Parenchymacellsstorethenutrientsthattherootsgetfromthesoil.Andfinally,they
assisttheplantbygrowingmorerootsfortheplant,thishelpstheplantbykeepingitin
oneplace,andbygettingmorewaterandnutrientsfortheplant.

Therearedifferentkindsofrootsoneachplanttoo.Onekindofroot,isatap
root.Taprootsarethelargestandthemostdominantofalloftheroots.Thetaproots
growdeepintothegroundsotheplantcangetmorewaterandnutrientsthatareinthe
soil.Anothertypeofrootiscalledthefibrousroot.Thefibrousrootsareusuallyinmost
grassesandhelptheplanttobemoresturdy.Theyalsogrowinlargeamounts
underground.
Therootisoneofthemainstructuresoftheaxisoftheplant.Theoutsideofa
rootiscalledtheepidermis,itismadeupfromdermaltissuesfromepidermalcells.On
certainroots,thereareextensionsoftherootcalledroothairs,theygrowonthe
epidermisofroots.Roothairsabsorbmorewaterandnutrientsfortheplanttogrow.
Therootsareimportanttotheplantbecausetheykeeptheplantsturdy.Mostofthe
time,youcantevenseetherootsbecausetheygrowunderground,butsometimes
rootscangrowaboveground.
Thestemisthesecondmajorstructuralaxisoftheplant.Astemislikeatunnel
wayforwater,nutrients,andsugarsfortheplant.Stemsdoalotforplants,like
supportingtheplantbykeepingitupright.Theysupporttheleaves,fruit,andflowerpart
oftheplant.PhloemandXylemarespecialtissuesthatareinplantstems.Phloem
movessugarsdowntotherootsthroughthestem.Xylemmovesthewaterandnutrients
thattherootsgettotherestoftheplanttouse.Insomeplants,stemscanactasa
storagejustliketheroots.Thestemalsotransportsthefoodthattheleavesmakefor
theplantdowntotheroots.

Therearetwoverydifferenttypesofstems.Oneisthewoodystemandtheother
istheherbaceousstem.Youcanseewoodystemsontreesorbushes.Awoodystem
growsbarkandwoodforstructuralreasons.Onmostwoodystems,theygrowalayerof
barkaroundthem.Barkistheouterlayerofcells.Herbaceousstemsareusuallyflower
stems.Insideofastem,therearevascularbundlesandcortexcells.Inthecenterpart
ofthestemisthepith,thencomesthephloem,aftercomesthecambiumandphloem.
Theoutsideofaplantiscalledthenode.Thenodeistheconnectingpartofthestem
thatgrowstheleaves.Alsoontheoutsideofaplantstemistheinternode.The
internodeisbetweentwonodes.
Theleavesaremajororgansoftheplant.Inleaves,theirmajorfunctionisto
providefoodfortheplant,theyalsodomanythingstohelptheplanttogrowand
survive.Allleavesgrowabovegroundsotheycanstarttheprocessofphotosynthesis.
Photosynthesisistheprocessinwhichtheplantgetsnutrientsandwaterfromtheroots
thattravelthroughthestemtotheleavestomakesugarwiththesunlight.Theleaves
areveryimportanttoalltreesandplants.Theleavesaretheonlyorganintheplantthat
actuallymakesfood.Theleaveshavetoprovideenoughfoodforthewholeplantor
tree.

Insideoftheleaves,thereisaveryspecialchemicalcalledchlorophyll.

Chlorophylliswhatmakestheleavesgreen,itcanalsohelpwiththeprocessof
photosynthesis.Therearealsochemicalsinleavesthatmakethemdifferentcolorsin
thefall.Inthesummerthechemicalchlorophyllhidesthetruecolorofleavesand
instead,showsthecolorgreen.Thesamecolorweseeinfallisthesamecolorwe

wouldseeinthesummerifitwasnotforchlorophyll.Carotenoidistheotherchemical
thatmakesthemcolorfulinthefall,thischemicalisnotasstrongaschlorophyll.
Eachautumnleavesfallfromthetrees.Theleavesdothisbecausetheyare
gettingtheplantreadyforthecoldweatherinwinter.Thereisaspecialcoatingbetween
theleavesandthestems,thisspecialcoatingisthereasonwhytheyfalloffsoeasily
fromthetree.Theleavescannotsurviveinwinterbecausetheyaremadeofmostly
waterwhichwouldfreezeinthecoldtemperaturesofwintertime.Aftertheleavesfall,
andwinterhascome,theleaveseventuallybreakdownandprovidenutrientsforthe
soil.
Eventhoughleavesareverythin,therearemanylayerstothem.Thefirstlayer
isalsoontheoutsideitiscalledtheepidermislayer.Theveinsarealsointheleaves.
Theveinsmovewater,nutrients,andfoodthroughouttheleaves.Leavescanlookvery
differentfromeachotherlikeinsize,shape,orcolor.Pineneedlesandcactusneedles
aretypesofleavestoo.
Thematerialsiwillbeusinginclude,cardboard,dirt,andstyrofoam.Cardboardis
thegenerictermforheavydutypaperorposterboard.Insideofcardboardiseither
pastedpiecesofpaper,orblendedpiecesofpaper.Cardboardisusuallyrecycled.In
almosteverystepofmakingcardboard,dangerouschemicalsarebeingreleasedinto
theair.Today,styrofoamisusedtokeepthingsthermal.Styrofoamisusuallywhitein
color.Polystyreneisthefancytermforthewordstyrofoam.Styrofoamisalsomadeout
of95%air,whichmakesitsuperlight.Dirtisamixtureofmanythingssuchasminerals,

stones,sand,andsometimes,clay.Indirttherearemineralsandwater.Themixturesof
thingsindirtdependonwhereyoulive.
Therearemanydifferentpartsofplants.Differentorgansintheplantdodifferent
jobs.Therootsgetwaterandnutrientsfromthesoil.Thestemislikeatunnelway,it
transportsallkindsofthings.Ittransportswaterandnutrientsfromtherootstotherest
oftheplant.Thestemalsotransportsthesugarsandfoodtotherootssotheycanstore
itanduseitforlater.Theleavesmakethefoodfortheplant.Theleaveshaveaspecial
processcalledphotosynthesis.