Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

My daughter has chosen to research the effect of colored light on plants (which I now see on your websites is one to avoid, but we have already changed once and need to push forward). I've been searching the web to see the best way to set up this project and am getting not much help. We were thinking that we could set up four boxes and use christmas lights, say three to four bulbs per box, for the different colored light. Is this ok or do you have another suggestion?

Hi,

I've moved this topic to the life sciences forum, where I think you will get more help.

I would say your setup sounds fine, except for two things: first, beware of putting lights that could cause fires into something flammable like a cardboard box! Christmas lights should be OK because they shouldn't get very hot, but make sure of this before you setup your experiment. Second, make sure you have several plants under each set of lights if possible and make sure they are as similar to one another as possible to begin with so you know that any changes are the result of the light and not just starting out with an under-watered plant or something...

Here is a Science Buddies' project with an alternative way of studying something similar; it may give you some ideas: https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... y&from=TSW

Finally, I personally disagree with the advice that a particular project is 'bad' because it's 'overdone'. If your child is interested in the topic and is curious about something, then it's a good topic. I remember doing a crystal growth study in kindergarten or first grade that was probably very much 'overdone', but I had a blast with it!

Hi there,

Another easy alternative to using Christmas lights is to place colored plastic over a white bulb (similar to how they do in theatre lighting). As Melissa mentioned, you'll need to be aware of the heat from the bulb to avoid fires.

If you and your daughter are concerned about making the project different, you could look at what happens when you change the colored light source. For example, one day at one color, followed by a second day at a different color. If you pair the experiments (so that you have a plant with Color A on Day 1 and Color B on Day 2, and another plant with Color B on Day 1 and Color A on Day 2), you may be surprised at the results!

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Heather

hello,

that sounds like a very interesting project! however you eventually decide to do it, i would make sure that all other variables are kept constant.

all the best!