Bending Plant Roots with Gravity
Grade Range
6th-8th
Group Size
2-4 students
Active Time
110 minutes
Total Time
7 days
Area of Science
Plant Biology
Key Concepts
Geotropism, signal transduction, gravity, plant growth
Learning Objectives
- Explain why environmental factors such as gravity affect root growth in plants
- Describe how plants respond to environmental inputs/stimuli based on experimental evidence
- Understand that environmental inputs can be sensed and transmitted by plants to trigger a behavioral response
Credits
Svenja Lohner, PhD, Science Buddies
![]() OverviewHow do plants know which way is up or down? How does this affect which direction their roots will grow? In this lesson plan, your students will investigate how changes in a plant's environment, like the direction of gravity, affect the shape of its growing roots over a period of several days.NGSS AlignmentThis lesson helps students prepare for these Next Generation Science Standards Performance Expectations:
Materials![]() Materials for teacher preparation and demonstration:
Materials per group of 2–4 students:
Reviews |
Grade Range
6th-8th
Group Size
2-4 students
Active Time
110 minutes
Total Time
7 days
Area of Science
Plant Biology
Key Concepts
Geotropism, signal transduction, gravity, plant growth
Credits
Svenja Lohner, PhD, Science Buddies
Learning Objectives
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