Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Hi, my daughter has a science project that's due on the 29th of January. Her project is on, Do roots of a plant always grow downward? This would be my first time, doing a science project, i have no idea what i am doing. I dont know how to start it off, the middle, the end. Please help me. Thank you

Hi! Sorry we did not answer your question right away, but experts sometimes get confused when people post new topics in older topics.

Science Buddies has a great project looking at the direction of root growth, here: http://sciencebuddies.com/science-fair- ... v&from=TSW . It may be a little advanced for your daughter, but you may be able to take a look at it and get some ideas.

In general, the best way to do something like this is to get her to think of a situation in which roots may not grow downward and then to do a test with several plants in that situation and several plants in a 'normal' situation. Then she can look at the root growth. The link above has some good ideas about how to 'see' root growth, but you can also grow plants in plastic containers and then cut away the sides, or between glass slides or...

In terms of just general 'how to do a science fair project', Science Buddies has a wealth of information about how to go about doing that, here: http://sciencebuddies.com/science-fair- ... l?From=Tab .

Please post back if you have any other questions .