experiments of botany

23 Ideas for Science Experiments Using Plants

ThoughtCo / Hilary Allison

• Cell Biology
• Weather & Climate
• B.A., Biology, Emory University
• A.S., Nursing, Chattahoochee Technical College

Plants are tremendously crucial to life on earth. They are the foundation of food chains in almost every ecosystem. Plants also play a significant role in the environment by influencing climate and producing life-giving oxygen. Plant project studies allow us to learn about plant biology and potential usage for plants in other fields such as medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology. The following plant project ideas provide suggestions for topics that can be explored through experimentation.

Plant Project Ideas

• Do magnetic fields affect plant growth?
• Do different colors of light affect the direction of plant growth?
• Do sounds (music, noise, etc.) affect plant growth?
• Do different colors of light affect the rate of photosynthesis ?
• What are the effects of acid rain on plant growth?
• Do household detergents affect plant growth?
• Can plants conduct electricity?
• Does cigarette smoke affect plant growth?
• Does soil temperature affect root growth?
• Does caffeine affect plant growth?
• Does water salinity affect plant growth?
• Does artificial gravity affect seed germination?
• Does freezing affect seed germination?
• Does burned soil affect seed germination?
• Does seed size affect plant height?
• Does fruit size affect the number of seeds in the fruit?
• Do vitamins or fertilizers promote plant growth?
• Do fertilizers extend plant life during a drought?
• Does leaf size affect plant transpiration rates?
• Can plant spices inhibit bacterial growth ?
• Do different types of artificial light affect plant growth?
• Does soil pH affect plant growth?
• Do carnivorous plants prefer certain insects?
• 8th Grade Science Fair Project Ideas
• Plant and Soil Chemistry Science Projects
• High School Science Fair Projects
• Middle School Science Fair Project Ideas
• Animal Studies and School Project Ideas
• Environmental Science Fair Projects
• Elementary School Science Fair Projects
• College Science Fair Projects
• Chemistry Science Fair Project Ideas
• 11th Grade Science Fair Projects
• Magnetism Science Fair Projects
• 9th Grade Science Fair Projects
• Science Fair Project Ideas
• 4th Grade Science Fair Projects
• Caffeine Science Fair Projects
• Science Fair Experiment Ideas: Food and Cooking Chemistry

• BiologyDiscussion.com
• Follow Us On:
• Google Plus
• Publish Now

Top 20 Experiments on Botany (With Diagram)

ADVERTISEMENTS:

Are you researching on experiments on Botany? Do you want to create an amazing science fair project for your next exhibition? You are in the right place. The below given article includes a collection of twenty experiments on botany for helping you to complete your next project/assignment.

• Experiments on Plant Growth

1. Experiments on Imbibition in Plants: (2 Experiments)

Expt. 1. Demonstration of Phenomenon of Imbibition:

Requirements:

Gram seeds water and watch glasses.

Take some gram seeds in the water in the watch glasses. Keep them for some time.

Observation:

After some time the seeds got swollen

Explanation:

Here no cell membrane is involved in this process. The pectic or proteinaceous surface attracts the water molecules by intermolecular forces. These pectic substances are hydrophilic in nature.

As the diffusion pressure of dry seeds is zero, therefore the water is absorbed in the seeds. This process remains continued till the diffusion pressure of the seeds and water becomes equal. Thus, the seeds get swollen here.

Expt. 2. Demonstration of developing Pressure during Imbibition:

A corked jar, a disc fitting in it, a round scale and a pointer attached with the disc, stand, experimental gram seeds and water.

Take Seeds and water in the jar as directed in the (figure 2.18). Fit the disc over these seeds. To this disc attach the pointer indicating initial reading at zero on the round scale.

The whole apparatus should be airtight. Let this adjustment put as such for few hours.

Observation and Explanation:

After few hours the pointer moves down showing an upward movement of disc in the jar. Here the gram seeds swell considerably due to imbibition process. These seeds cause a pressure known as imbibition pressure.

2. Experiment on Root Pressure in Plants: (1 Experiment)

Expt. 3. Demonstration of Root Pressure (Figs. 11.24-25):

A well watered potted plant of Balsam, Tomato or Bryophyllum, a knife, rubber tubing, a narrow glass tubing, coloured water, a stand, manometer, petridish (non-drying oil).

Take a potted plant of Balsam, Tomato or Bryophyllum that has been well watered the previous day Cut off its stem 5-8 cm above the soil level. Fix a narrow glass tubing containing some coloured water to the cut end of stump with the help of rubber tubing. Support the glass tubing by means of a stand cover the open end of glass tubing with a small petridish in order to prevent evaporation of water Fig. 11.24).

Instead a drop of non-drying oil can be poured over the surface of coloured water. Mark the level of coloured water as A. Instead of glass tubing, a pressure measuring instrument called manometer can also be fixed to the cut end of the stump by means of rubber tubing (Fig. 11.25).

Place the apparatus in a moist, cool and shady place for a couple of hours. The level of coloured water in the glass tubing will rise to the new mark, say B. In case the manometer is attached, the mercury level is found to be pushed upwards. The pressure is read on the graduated scale.

The rise in the level of coloured water in the glass tubing is due to pumping of sap by root The phenomenon is called root pressure. The same is read directly by manometer. A pressure of up to 5 atm. has been recorded by this method.

Precautions:

(i) The plant should be well watered but the soil should not be flooded

(ii) The soil should not be deficient in minerals,

(iii) Place the apparatus in cool and humid environment.

(iv) Evaporation from the open end of the tube be prevented by using non-drying oil or petridish.

(v) The plant should be vigorously growing.

3. Experiments on Stomata in Plants: (2 Experiment)

Expt. 4. Demonstration of the Stomatal Opening by Drawin’s Porometer:

Darwin’s porometer, water or mercury, a potted plant, stop watch, etc.

This apparatus functions on the principle that the stomatal apertures govern the rate of flow of water. Cement the glass cup to the surface of the leaf by an adhesive (durofix, etc.) and immerse the vertical arm of tube in water or mercury. Open the clip and suck the water to a predetermined height in the vertical arm, close the clip.

Two possibilities occur here:

(A) The water level in arm remains unchanged.

(B) The water column begins to fall.

On the closing of the clip, the air inside the porometer undergoes a reduced pressure.

(A) If the stomata under the cup are closed, the water level in the arm will not change.

(B) If the stomata under the cup are open, the air will find its way through them and water column in the arm will begin to fall.

Expt. 5. Effect of Light, Darkness and Dehydration on Stomatal Movements:

Turgid leaf of a mesophytic dicot, water, strong sucrose or salt solution, slide, cover slip, blotting paper, dropper.

Remove a peel or strip from the lower surface of mesophytic leaf exposed to sun. Mount the peel in water drop kept over glass slide. Place a cover slip over it. Study the peel under the microscope immediately after exposing the slide to sunlight. The peel will be seen to have a number of open stomata. Each stomatal opening is surrounded by two bent kidney-shaped guard cells. Take the apparatus to shade.

Observe after 10 minutes. The pores in between the guard cells have disappeared, that is, the stomata get closed. Take the apparatus again to sunlight. The stomata open again. In the illuminated slide, remove water from below the cover slip from one end by means of blotting paper.

Simultaneously, introduce concentrated sucrose or salt solution from the other end by means of dropper. When the whole of water has been replaced by concentrated solution, observe under the microscope. The stomata get closed though they are still exposed to light. Replace sucrose solution with water. The stomata open again. Allow the water to get dried. It closes the stomata.

(i) Opening of stomata in light and their closing in darkness shows that light is essential for the opening of stomata,

(ii) Strong sucrose or salt solution and dehydration have the same effect. The guard cells lose their turgidity and the stomata get closed.

(i) The strip or peel should be carefully removed so that the shock effect is minimum.

(ii) Keep the lower end of leaf dipping in water before use?

(iii) The strip should not be left out to dry. It must be immediately dipped in water.

4. Experiments on Transpiration in Plants: (2 Experiments)

Expt. 6. Demonstration of Transpiration:

A well-watered potted plant, vaseline, oil cloth, strong thread or clamping rubber bands, glass slab and a bell jar.

Take a small well watered potted plant. Cover the external surface of pot and its soil with oil cloth. Place the potted plant on a glass slab in a cooler place and invert a dry bell jar over it.

Seal the edges of the bell jar with vaseline so that no air enters the apparatus from outside (Fig. 11.31). Leave the apparatus undisturbed. Soon the interior of the bell jar becomes misty. Afterwards drops of water will be found on the inner surface of the jar.

The drops of water which appear on the inside of the bell jar cannot come from the outside air, nor from the water present in the soil of the pot because both have been properly sealed. The water vapours can come only from the exposed aerial shoot of the plant. Such a loss of water from the plant is called transpiration.

(i) Do not place apparatus in a very warm place as the water vapours will not be able to condense.

(ii) Keep the apparatus undisturbed.

(iii) Use a glass slab or smooth surface as the base for the apparatus.

(iv) Seal the edges of bell jar so as to avoid the entry of water vapours from outside,

(v) Cover the soil and the exterior of the pot properly with oil cloth.

Expt. 7. Demonstration of Transpiration from Foliar Surface:

3-5% cobalt chloride solution, two small pieces of filter paper, desiccator or oven, forceps, leaf clasp, slides, vaseline, a potted plant or fresh shoot of Pipal or Mulberry with one end in water.

Dip two small pieces of filter paper in 3-5% cobalt chloride solution. Take them out and dry in an oven or desiccator till they become blue. Clean the lower surface of leaf gently with dry cotton. Place a dry cobalt chloride paper over it. Quickly cover the paper with a glass slide and seal its sides with vaseline. Fix them to the leaf clasp (Fig. 11.33).

Within a few minutes the colour of the cobalt chloride paper will turn pink. No such change occurs in the dry cobalt chloride paper kept in between two glass slides with the edges sealed to prevent entry of water vapours from air (Fig. 11.34). Instead of glass slide and vaseline, cellotape can be used in both the cases.

Cobalt chloride is blue in the an­hydrous condition but becomes pink in contact with water. The change of colour of the cobalt chloride paper from blue to pink clearly indicates that the paper has received water from the surface of leaf.

(i) Use dry forceps.

(ii) Dry the leaf surface gently with dry cotton.

(iii) Handle the leaf gently.

(iv) Seal the edges of the slide completely but gently with vaseline.

5. Experiments on Respiration in Plants: (2 Experiments)

Expt. 8. Demonstration of Anaerobic Respiration:

A test tube of hard glass, a deep petri dish or beaker of hard glass, mercury, soaked and peeled seeds of pea or gram, potassium hydroxide stick or pellet, forceps, stand.

Invert a hard glass test tube full of mercury over a petri dish containing mercury. Slightly lift the test tube from the bottom of the dish (do not take it out of the mercury level) and introduce into its mouth a few soaked and peeled seeds of pea or gram by means of forceps. The seeds will rise upwards (Fig. 14.11 A).

After some interval, the level of mercury will fall in the test tube showing that some gas has collected there (Fig. 14.11 B). Introduce in the test tube a potassium hydroxide stick by means of forceps. The level of mercury will rise again.

In the test tube full of mercury there is no air and, therefore, the introduced soaked seeds do not get air for their respiration. But they are capable of respiration in the absence of oxygen as is indicated by the evolution of a gas.

The gas is carbon dioxide because it can be absorbed by potassium hydroxide forming potassium carbonate and water. Therefore, anaerobic respiration takes place in the seeds in the absence of free oxygen. The experiment also shows that carbon dioxide is evolved in anaerobic respiration of seeds.

(i) The mouth of the test tube must be smooth

(ii) The dish for mercury should be deep,

(iii) While inverting the test tube of mercury, close its mouth by your thumb,

(iv) The seeds should be well soaked so that they are respiring actively.

(v) Do not touch potassium hydroxide with hand. Replace the cover of its bottle immediately after taking out the required pellet or stick.

Expt. 9. Measurement of R.Q. by Ganong’s Respirometer:

Ganong’s Respirometer, respiratory substrate, etc.

Experiment Procedure:

The respiratory quotient may easily be measured by Ganong’s respirometer. In Ganong’s respirometer the amount of oxygen absorbed and carbon dioxide released out during respiration are determined simultaneously. The respirometer consists of a bulb with a graduated side tube.

The volume of the apparatus is about 102 c.c. The stopper and neck of the bulb are each provided with hole. The stopper may be turned to bring the two holes opposite each other so that the air inside the bulb may communicate with the outer air and is at the atmospheric pressure. The side graduated tube is connected with a levelling tube by a rubber tubing.

For the determination of respiratory quotient the manometer is filled with mercury or a saturated solution of common salt. The water cannot be used since carbon dioxide dissolves in it. Carbon dioxide is slightly soluble in salt solution and therefore, best results can be obtained when mercury is used.

Two c.c. of plant material, the R.Q. of which is to be measured is being placed inside the bulb. In the beginning the air of the graduated tube is kept in direct communication with the atmospheric air at the atmospheric pressure.

The mercury in both the tubes is brought to the same level by raising or lowering the levelling tube. Now the stopper in the neck of the bulb is turned so that the two holes get apart and the air in the apparatus is cut off from the outside air and respiration proceeds in closed chamber.

The initial level of mercury in the graduated tube is noted. The level is again noted after about an hour. If the respiratory substrate kept in the bulb is carbohydrate, the amount of carbon dioxide released during respiration will be equal to the amount of oxygen absorbed and therefore, there will be neither a rise and nor a fall in the mercury level.

If caustic potash (KOH) is now added to the apparatus, the accumulated carbon-dioxide, will be absorbed, and hence a rise in the mercury level, and thus the amount of carbon dioxide can be measured. The volume of oxygen absorbed will be equal to the volume of carbon dioxide measured. Hence the R.Q. is unity.

When the respiratory substrate is a fat, the respiratory quotient is less than one. Here the amount of carbon dioxide released is less than the amount of oxygen absorbed and therefore, a vacuum is created in the closed chamber.

This results in the rise of mercury level. This rise of mercury level is denoted by V 1 c.c. that is equivalent to the excess oxygen. Now the caustic potash (KOH) is added and there is a further rise of mercury level. The second rise in the mercury level is denoted by V 2 c.c.

This represents the volume of carbon dioxide liberated. This way, the total amount of oxygen absorbed is equal to V 1 + V 2 c.c. the respiratory quotient will therefore, be less than one.

The rise of sugar solution in thistle funnel can only be due to the entry of water into it through the animal bladder. But no sugar has gone out into the water of the beaker as it does not taste sweet.

The experiment, therefore, proves that:

(i) Animal bladder, egg membrane or parchment paper is a semipermeable membrane because it allows only water to pass through it.

(ii) Sugar solution is an osmotically active solution and can absorb water when it is separated from it by a semipermeable membrane,

(iii) Water diffuses into a solution when the two are separated by a semipermeable membrane. The phenomenon is called osmosis.

(i) The edges of the animal bladder must be properly sealed,

(ii) The thread should be tied carefully so as not to rupture the membrane,

(iii) The initial level of sugar solution should be marked only after dipping the mouth of thistle funnel inside water of the beaker,

(iv) Pour sugar solution in the thistle funnel in such a way as not to leave any air bubble,

(v) Support and fix the thistle funnel firmly in its vertical position by means of a stand.

Expt. 11. Potato Osmoscope:

A large potato, a knife or scalpel, 20% sugar solution, petri dish containing water, two pins.

Take a large sized potato tuber. Cut one side of it so as to make it flat. Bore a cavity from the other side in such a way that a very thin base is left intact on the flat side. Also remove the skin near the edge of the flat end because skin of the tuber is impermeable to water.

Pour 20% sugar solution in the cavity of the tuber up to ½–¾%. Mark the level of sugar solution in the cavity with the help of a pin (Fig. 11.8 A). Place the tuber on its flat cut end in a petri dish half full of water. Note that after some time the level of the sugar solution has risen in the cavity. Mark this reading also with another pin (Fig. 11. 8 B).

The rise in the level of sugar solution in the cavity of the potato tuber indicates that the solution has absorbed water from the petri dish. The two are separated from each other by a large number of cells of the tuber.

The entry of water into the sugar solution, therefore, proves that:

(i) Sugar solution is osmotically active solution,

(ii) The cytoplasm of the cells of the tuber that lie between the sugar solution and the water of the petri dish act as a single semipermeable membrane,

(iii) Water enters the sugar solution when it is separated from it by semi-permeable membrane. This process is called osmosis.

(i) The cavity should be deep so as to leave only a thin layer of tissue at the base,

(ii) Peel off the skin of the tuber from the base and the sides,

(iii) Make the base flat so as to keep the tuber flat in the dish,

(iv) Sugar solution should have a higher osmotic concentration as compared to cell sap of the tuber cells.

Expt. 12. Demonstration of Endosmosis and Exosmosis:

A few grapes and raisins with intact stalks, water, and 10% salt solution, petri dishes. Place a few raisins in water for about 5—6 hours. Raisins will swell up. The swelling can be due to the absorption of water from the petridish.

In another petri dish place a few fresh grapes (or swollen raisins) and pour 10% salt solution into the dish. After a few hours the grapes will shrivel which can be possible only when they have lost water to the salt solution (Fig. 11.9).

In the first case the raisins have absorbed water from the outside due to the presence of higher concentration of solute in them. This is an example of endosmosis. In the second case, the grapes have lost water to the salt solution because salt solution is more concentrated than the sap present in grapes. Therefore, it is an example of exosmosis.

(i) Grapes and raisins should be with intact stalks, and

(ii) The solution for exosmosis must be stronger than sap concentration of grapes.

7. Experiments on Ascent of Sap in Plants: (2 Experiments)

Expt. 13. Stain Test:

A leafy shoot (e.g., Balsam) preferably with white flowers freshly cut under water, 2% eosine solution, a stand, razor, slide and microscope.

Working:  

Take a leafy shoot freshly cut under water. Dip the cut end of the shoot in an eosine solution contained in a beaker. Hold the leafy shoot erect by means of a stand. After some time veins of the leaves will become red (Fig. 11.22 A).

Flowers develop the same colour. Even stem may look reddish. Cut thin transverse sections of the stem and leaves. Observe them under the microscope. The walls of tracheids and vessels will be found coloured (Fig. 11.22 B).

The veins of the leaf consist of vascular bundles. The appearance of red colour in the vein of leaf shows that the coloured water travels through the vascular bundles. The microscopic examination of the sections proves that the coloured water moves through vessels and tracheids of xylem.

Expt. 14. Ringing Experiment (Fig. 11.23):  

Apparatus:  

Two leafy shoots cut under water, a fine knife, a needle, two beakers, stand, and water.

Cut two leafy shoots under water. Keep their lower ends dipping in water? In one shoot remove 2-4 cm long ring of bark roughly in the middle region of the shoot. Remove the pith of the stem of this or basal 4-6 cm long region by means of a needle.

Remove the xylem in the middle of the second shoot. Fix the shoots to stand and allow the apparatus as such for 1- 2 days. The leaves of the first shoot will remain turgid while those of the second shoot would get wilted.

Results:  

In the first shoot the leaves remain turgid even after 24 hours showing clearly that water continues to rise upwards the leafy shoot despite removal of bark and pith. Removal of bark breaks the continuity of epidermis, cortex, and phloem.

As pith has also been discontinued, it shows clearly that epidermis, cortex, phloem and pith do not take part in transport of sap or water. The only tissue left intact is xylem. Xylem, therefore, must be the tissue taking part in the transport of water. This is confirmed from the wilting of the second shoot in which xylem has been discontinued.

8. Experiments on Plasmolysis in Plants: (2 Experiments)

Expt. 15. Demonstration of Plasmolysis

To demonstrate this process experimentally, one will have to take the red coloured epidermal peel of the lower surface of Tradescantia leaf. Now, this peel is mounted in a drop of water on a microscopic slide and then examined under the microscope.

At this moment the cells are fully turgid, and are filled up with red coloured cell sap. Now, this epidermal peel is kept in a drop of salt or sugar solution and again examined under the microscope.

The exosmosis occurs and the cell shrinks in its size. The cell soon reaches to its minimum volume. If the exosmosis continues further, there is no further shrinkage in the cell wall, but the protoplasmic membrane begins to recede or contract from the corners first. This stage is called the incipient plasmolysis.

If exosmosis continues further, there is further contraction of the protoplasmic membrane, thus reaching the complete plasmolysis stage. In the case of complete plasmolysis the cell sap, protoplasm and nucleus, etc., are completely contracted in the centre of the cell leaving away the cell wall.

The in between part of the cell is filled up with the sugar or salt solution. Here, around the vacuole, the protoplasmic membrane acts as a semipermeable membrane, which allows water to come out through it and leaving other contents inside the cell.

If the plasmolysed cells are again placed in water, there is recovery to the original condition due to endosmosis of water, and this process is called deplasmolysis.

Continuous loss of water from plant cells results in wilting and drooping of leaves and stems.

Expt. 16. To show Plasmolysis:

A fresh filament of Splrogyra or a fresh peel from the lower leaf surface of Rhoeospathacea (= R. discolor = Tradescantia discolor), 10% solution of potassium nitrate or common salt, a slide, cover slip, microscope, water, dropper and a piece of blotting paper.

Mount a fresh filament of Spirogyra or peel of lower leaf surface of Rheo spathacea (= R. discolor) on a slide in a drop of water. Examine it under microscope and note that the cells are fully distended or turgid.

Now replace the drop of water with a drop of 10% solution of potassium nitrate or common salt. The cells shrink in size. The shrinking protoplast becomes conspicuous due to presence of ribbon-shaped chloroplasts in Spirogyra and coloured sap in Rhoeo.

It is followed by the separation of the protoplast from the cell wall due to its contraction. This shrinkage of the protoplast from the cell wall under the influence of a strong solution is called plasmolysis (Figs. 11.16 – 17).

If potassium nitrate or common salt solution is now replaced by water again, the protoplast starts swelling. It comes in contact with the cell wall and the cell regains its original size. The swelling up of the plasmolysed protoplast under the influence of a weak solution or water is called deplasmolysis (Fig. 11.16D).

(i) The shrinkage of the protoplast under the influence of 10% potassium nitrate or common salt solution and later its swelling when placed in water shows that the protoplast possesses an osmotically active solution in its interior. The solution is called cell sap.

(ii) The cell wall is fully permeable,

(iii) The contraction of the cell as a whole is due to the reduction in the turgor pressure till the wall pressure becomes zero. When the wall pressure becomes zero, the cell does not contract further. Only the protoplast shrinks now.

(iv) Shrinkage of protoplast during plasmolysis and its expansion during deplasmolysis points out that the cytoplasm lying around the central vacuole acts as a semi-permeable membrane,

(v) 10% potassium nitrate or common salt solution is stronger than cell sap.

(i) The experimental material (Spirogyra filament, Rhoeo leaf peel) must be fresh and living,

(ii) The external solution must not be too strong as to become toxic,

(iii) Wash at least once the experimental material with external solution so that chances of dilution are minimised,

(iv) For deplasmolysis, the material has to be washed at least twice with water.

9. Experiments on Photosynthesis in Plants: (2 Experiments)

Expt. 17. Demonstration of Importance of light’s Colour for Photosynthesis in land plants by Ganong’s Big Light Screen.

Ganong’s big light screen, a potted plant, 70% alcohol, iodine solution, water, burner, etc.

Experiment :

The Ganong’s big light screen is taken as shown in the figure. This consists of red, green and blue coloured glass screens. A long leaf is detached from a potted plant, previously kept in darkness for 48 hours and the leaf is kept under the 3 coloured screen for three or four hours in sunlight so that the photosynthesis may take place. Thereafter the leaf is tested for starch.

The portion of the leaf remained under red-coloured screen gives the positive starch test with deep blue colour. The portion of the leaf remained under the blue coloured screen also give positive starch test, but with fade blue colour. The part of the leaf remained under green-coloured screen either gives negative starch test or very less formation of the starch.

This way, this experiment proves that the red and blue coloured rays are absorbed to the utmost by the chlorophyll. The absorption of the green rays by the chlorophyll is the lowest. The rate of photosynthesis is the highest under red screen and lowest under green screen.

Expt. 18. To prove that light is essential for photosynthesis (Fig. 176). A potted plant is kept in a dark room for two or three days, so that all the leaves become starch-free. To be doubly sure, one leaf is plucked and tested with iodine.

The enormous quantity of energy essential for the formation of carbohydrates comes from sunlight. The radiant energy absorbed is not, of course, lost but remains stored up in the product of photosynthesis as potential energy. Of the seven different rays of the sun, light red and blue rays are mainly absorbed by the chloroplasts.

In higher plants chlorophyll is not formed in the absence of light when the plants get etiolated, though in many lower plants light is not essential for chlorophyll formation. That photosynthesis will not take place in the absence of light can be demonstrated by the following experiment:

Now portions of one or two leaves of the plant are covered carefully with black paper on the upper and lower sides with the help of a clip. The whole plant is exposed to sunlight. In the evening those leaves are collected, decolorized and tested with iodine. The exposed parts of the leaves turn blue, but the covered parts do not give iodine reaction, suggesting thereby that starch is not formed in the absence of light.

Temperature :

Though photosynthesis takes place even in very low temperature, yet an optimum temperature near about 32°C is most suitable for the process. This factor, however, varies with the plants and climatic conditions.

Chlorophyll:

The most important internal condition for photosynthesis is the presence of green pigment, chlorophyll, in the plastids. Photosynthesis is possible only because the chloro­plasts can absorb radiant energy from sunlight. Chlorophyll is a complex organic matter.

It is really a mixture of two pigments— chlorophyll a, which is blue-green in colour and chlorophyll b, which is yellowish-green. In higher plants the ratio of chlorophyll a and b is remarkably constant, varying from 3-3, 5 to 1.

Two yellow pigments, carotin and xanthophyll, accompany chlorophyll. The yellow pigments are collectively called carotenoids. They are invariably present whenever there is chlorophyll, but they can also occur independently, as in many flowers and fruits.

Chlorophyll can be extracted by boiling in alcohol. Chlorophyll also dissolves in acetone, chloroform, benzene, etc. An ethyl alcoholic solution of chlorophyll, if shaken with benzene, separates into two layers— the upper benzene layer contains chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotin, while the lower alcohol layer contains xanthophyll.

The complete separation of the four pigments involves still further elaborate methods. Chlorophyll in alcoholic solution exhibits fluorescence, i.e. it appears brownish-red by reflected light and green by transmitted light.

Protein Synthesis:

Proteins are very complex organic matters found in the plants. They form an integral part of protoplasm and are also essential for nutrition. Besides carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, they contain nitrogen, often sulphur and phos­phorus. The formulae of a few common proteins would show how complex they are. Gliadin (a protein of wheat)—C685H1063N196O211S5; Zein common protein of maize—C726H1101N184O206S3.

The process of protein synthesis is complicated. Carbohydrates formed by photosynthesis serve as ground substance. Nitrogen, sulphur and phos­phorus are derived from soil as salts, i.e. as nitrates, sulphates and phosphates and conducted upwards through the xylem vessels.

Proteins are mainly con­structed in the leaves having abundant sugar. This process is independent of light. Necessary energy is obtained by oxidation of sugar during respiration.

Nitrates are first reduced into nitrites. Then amino acids, the simple soluble nitrogenous matters, are synthesised out of nitrites and sugars. Finally, amino acids are linked up together to form complex protein molecules by enzyme action. Thus proteins are chains of amino-acids.

Fat Synthesis:

Fats are very important energy-giving food. They also make up a part of protoplasm. They are composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen like the carbohydrates, but the relative hydrogen-oxygen proportion is not maintained, the fats containing relatively little oxygen. Olcin—a fat present in olive oil has the formula C37H104O6. Fats are abundantly present in storage regions.

The process of fat synthesis is equally complex. Light and chlorophyll have no influence on this process. Fats are manufactured out of simpler matters, glycerine and fatty acids. Glycerine is possibly formed from glucose and fatty acids by fermentation of sugars. So here also the products of photosynthesis are the ground materials. By the action of enzyme, lipase, glycerine and fatty acids are condensed to form fats.

10. Experiments on Plant Growth: (2 Experiments)

Expt. 19. Demonstration of effect of gibberellic acid GA 3 on elongation.

Prepared aqueous (1000.0) solutions of GA 3 having 0.01, 0.1, 1.0, 10.0 and 1000.0 mg/ml, young plants of dwarf and tall varieties of peas, distilled water.

Experiment:

Take ten dwarf variety plants and ten tall variety plants. Apply 1 ml. of a GA 3 solution to a young leaf of each of the plants. Do this application again after one week. Distilled water is applied as a control in separate plants. Measure the height of each daily for fifteen days.

Each time there is a clear elongation in the plant height. The growth response in dwarf variety increases with the increase of concentration of GA 3 .

Expt. 20. Demonstration of effect of kinetin of senescence.

Solutions of kinetin containing 0, 0.001, 0.01 and 100.0 mg./litre of hormone, mature fresh leaves of radish, sterile distilled water, petri dish, filter paper, etc.

Take mature fresh leaves of radish plant and wash them with sterile distilled water. Keep them in petri dishes on moist filter paper. Apply 0.5 ml of one of the kinetin solutions per leaf. Examine the leaves daily for a week.

The leaves turn yellow after a week. This is due to disappearance of chlorophyll and degradation of proteins.

Related Articles:

• Experiments on Osmosis (With Diagram)
• Process of Osmosis in Plants (With Experiments)

Experiments , Biology , Botany , Experiments on Botany

• Anybody can ask a question
• Anybody can answer
• The best answers are voted up and rise to the top

Forum Categories

• Animal Kingdom
• Biodiversity
• Biological Classification
• Biology An Introduction 11
• Biology An Introduction
• Biology in Human Welfare 175
• Biomolecules
• Biotechnology 43
• Body Fluids and Circulation
• Breathing and Exchange of Gases
• Cell- Structure and Function
• Chemical Coordination
• Digestion and Absorption
• Diversity in the Living World 125
• Environmental Issues
• Excretory System
• Flowering Plants
• Food Production
• Genetics and Evolution 110
• Human Health and Diseases
• Human Physiology 242
• Human Reproduction
• Immune System
• Living World
• Locomotion and Movement
• Microbes in Human Welfare
• Mineral Nutrition
• Molecualr Basis of Inheritance
• Neural Coordination
• Organisms and Population
• Photosynthesis
• Plant Growth and Development
• Plant Kingdom
• Plant Physiology 261
• Principles and Processes
• Principles of Inheritance and Variation
• Reproduction 245
• Reproduction in Animals
• Reproduction in Flowering Plants
• Reproduction in Organisms
• Reproductive Health
• Respiration
• Structural Organisation in Animals
• Transport in Plants
• Trending 14

Privacy Overview

Botany Science Projects - Learn about plant growth by Science Made Simple

Botany and plant growth science projects.

Use these experiments as described, or expand and modify them based on your own interests and imagination.

1. What affect does the brightness of light have on the growth rate of a plant?

How do light and dark conditions affect the germination and growth of seedlings?

Materials: Greenhouse or sunny window sill, 10 bean seeds, 10 small pots, water, ruler, potting soil, pencil.

• Fill the 10 small pots with equal amounts of dampened potting soil.
• With a pencil, make holes about 2 centimeters deep in each pot.
• Place the 10 bean seeds, one per pot, and cover the seeds with some of the soil.
• Place 5 of the pots in the greenhouse or on a window sill on the sunny side of the house.
• Place the other 5 on a window sill that does not receive bright sunlight.
• Be sure to water the plants as needed.
• Seeds will germinate within 7 days, and you can begin making stem measurements. Take stem measurements for 14 days. Note the difference in stem length for each set of plants, and write down your observations.

Results: What differences did you observe between seedlings that grew in the bright sunlight compared to less bright light? (color of leaves, length of stems, etc.) What caused those differences?

2. How do different types of fertilizers affect plant growth?

Fertilizers differ in their amounts of the nutrients nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium. Get different fertilizers from a garden shop or nursery and apply them to groups of the same plant. Do the different fertilizers change how the plants grow? You could measure height, width, number of leaves, how fast the plants grow, number of flowers or yield.

3. Which way is up? - Tropism and Auxin

Many seeds and bulbs have a definite top and bottom. What happens if you plant them upside down or sideways? Will the seeds still grow; will it take longer for leaves to start showing up?

What happens if you change a seed's direction once it starts to sprout? You'll learn about the chemical auxin, which affects where roots and stems grow.

• Divide 10 bean seeds into 2 groups of 5. - a control group and the experimental group.
• Spread the seeds out on moist paper towels then wrap them a pieces of folded aluminum foil.
• Label one side of control group packet "Up". Label the sides of the experimental group "A" and "B". Place the sprouts where they will not be observed.
• Allow the beans to sprout for 3 days.
• Carefully open the foil and towels and observe the seedlings. Moisten the towels if necessary, then refold the foil. Turn the experimental set of the seeds upside down. Make sure to keep the control seeds right-side up.
• Open and observe the sprouts every 2 days, making sure to keep the control sprouts right-side up and turning the experimental group over.

If you have access to an old record player turntable, you can take it a step further by using it to simulate changing gravity's pull on seeds. Tape the experimental packet onto the turntable and set it for 78 RPM. Allow the machine to rotate continuously for 5 days. After the 5 days are up, turn off the record player and without changing the position of the foil, open them up and observe the beans. The rotating turntable creates a gravity with an outward force instead of the normal down.

4. What happens when you grow sweet potatoes next to other plants? - Allelopathy

Compare how fast other plants grow at different distances from sweet potatoes. Remember to grow some control plants nowhere near the sweet potato.

Background Info: Allelopathy is a chemical process that a plant uses to keep other plants from growing too close to it. Some plants that use allelopathy are black walnut trees, sunflowers, wormwoods, sagebrushes, and trees of heaven.

There are several ways in which an allelopathic plant can release its protective chemicals:

• Volatilization - Allelopathic trees release a chemical in the form of a gas through small openings in their leaves. Other plants absorb the toxic chemical and die.
• Leaching - Some plants store protective chemicals in the leaves they drop. When the leaves fall to the ground, they decompose, giving off chemicals that protect the plant.
• Exudation - Some plants release defensive chemicals into the soil through their roots. Those chemicals are absorbed by the roots of other nearby plants, which are damaged.

Fruit Ripening

5. how do different conditions affect the speed at which fruit and vegetables ripen.

Temperature, light, placement in sealed bags, exposure to other ripe fruit--all have different effects on different fruits and vegetables. Design an experiment to test two or more of these variables.

Background Info: Ethylene gas is the ripening agent that many fruits and vegetables produce naturally. Ethylene causes them to ripen--and then overripen. While refrigeration and humidity slow the effects of ripening, they don't stop the production of ethylene gas.

The more the fruit ripens, the more ethylene gas it makes. This has a big effect on how--and when--farmers harvest their fruits and vegetables for market. Most commercial tomatoes are picked before ripening is completed, so the fruit won't spoil before it gets to your market. But picking early also means the tomato spends less time on the vine, where ethylene would help build more of the sugars and acids that create tip-top tomato flavor.

6. The effects of light on seedlings germination

How do light and dark conditions affect the germination and growth of seedlings....

Get the rest of this experiment and many more on the next page.

Search This Site:

Botany Projects

• Plant Growth - light - fertilizer - gravity - tropism - nature's herbicide - allelopathy - fruit ripening
• Seed Germination - light or dark - seed treatments - soil pH
• Repelling Insects - pesticide proximity - colors
• Overcrowding
• Mulching - colors - soil temperature - growth rate

More Science Projects

• Environment
• Microbiology

Science Articles with Projects

• Why is the Sky Blue?
• What is Static Electricity?
• Why Autumn Leaves Change Color
• How Do Animals Spend the Winter?

Recommended

• Lemon battery experiment
• Best Science Sites Free Newsletter - Sign Up Now
• Terms of Service

Copyright © 2006 - 2023, Science Made Simple, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

The science projects, science experiments, science fair projects & ideas, science articles and all other material on this website are covered by copyright laws and may not be reproduced without permission. For more information, see the Terms of Service. Published by: Science Made Simple, Inc., P.O.Box 503, Voorhees, NJ 08043

Science Fun

Botany And Biology Science Experiments

Botany  and Biology science experiments you can do at home! Click on the experiment image or the view experiment link below for each experiment on this page to see the materials needed and procedure. Have fun trying these experiments at home or use them for SCIENCE FAIR PROJECT IDEAS.

Super Seed Jar:

Examine What Seeds Do Underground

Making Oxygen:

Watch Plants Make The Air You Breath

Plant Trap:

Sprouting Seeds:

Bowl Of Life:

You May Not Expect What These Grow Into

Sprout A Lemon Seed:

Become A Budding Botanist

Grow A Colony Of Mold:

Check Your Pulse:

Bean In A Bag:

Grow Real Beans In A Plastic Bag

Blossoming Beans:

Germinate a Pinto Bean

Important: Purchase of Lightscape presale tickets requires a member account with updated password .

The Chicago Botanic Garden has 385 acres of nature, beauty, and respite to discover.  

Today's Hours

Members: 8 a.m. – 10 a.m. Public: 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.

8 a.m. – 7 p.m.

10 a.m. – 7 p.m.

Eleven Experiments with Radish Seeds

Many students I know struggle to find a good idea for science fair projects and sometimes wait until the last minute to do their experiments. We in the Education Department of the Chicago Botanic Garden are committed to helping make science fair a painless and even fun learning experience for students, parents, and teachers by offering some simple ideas for studying plants.

A no-brainer botany project is testing germination of radish seeds in different conditions. Radish seeds are easy to acquire, inexpensive, large enough to see and pick up with your fingers, and quick to germinate under normal conditions. Testing germination does not take weeks, doesn't require a lot of room, and is easy to measure—just count the seeds that sprout!

To set up a seed germination experiment, use this basic procedure

Gather three or more small plates, depending on how many ways you will be treating your seeds.

Place a folded wet paper towel on the plate.

Place ten seeds on the wet paper towel. You can use more seeds—the more you have, the more reliable your results will be—but using multiples of ten makes it easier to calculate percentages.

Cover with a damp paper towel; label the plates.

Treat the seeds the same way in every respect except for one thing: the condition you are testing. That condition is your "independent variable," which may also be called the "experimental variable." No matter what you are testing, one plate should be set up with the basic directions and no treatment. That plate is the "control" that all the other plates can be compared with.

When the seeds sprout root and leaves, remove the top paper towel. Compare the number of seeds that germinate and the time it takes for seeds in each condition. You should be able to wrap this up in less than a week.

Now all you need are some ideas for conditions to test.

Here are eleven questions you can investigate at home or school using the same basic procedure

1. Do seeds need light to germinate?

Place your plates of seeds in different light conditions: one in no light (maybe in a dark room or a under a box), one in indirect/medium light (in a bright room, not near the window), and one in direct light (by a south-facing window). Compare how well the seeds germinate in these conditions.

2. Do seeds sprout faster if they are presoaked?

Soak some seeds for an hour, a few hours, and overnight. Place ten of each on a germination plate, and and compare them with ten dry seeds on another plate.

3. Does the room temperature affect germination rate?

You'll need a thermometer for this one. Place seed plates on a warming pad, in room temperature, and in a cool location. Monitor temperature as well as germination rate. Try to ensure that the seeds have the same amount of light so it's a fair test of temperature and not light variation.

4. Do microwaves affect germination?

Put seeds in the microwave before germinating and see if this affects them. Try short bursts, like one and two seconds as well as ten or 15 seconds, to see if you can determine the smallest amount of radiation that affects seed germination.

5. Does pH affect germination rate?

Wet the paper towels with different solutions. Use diluted vinegar for acidic water, a baking soda or mild bleach solution for alkaline conditions, and distilled water for neutral.

6. Does prefreezing affect the seed affect germination?

Some seeds perform better if they have been through a cold winter. Store some seed in the freezer and refrigerator for a week or more before germinating to find out if this is true for radishes or if it has an adverse affect.

7. Does exposure to heat affect germination rate?

Treat your seeds to heat by baking them in the oven briefly before germinating. See what happens with seeds exposed to different temperatures for the same amount of time, or different amounts of time at the same low temperature.

8. How is germination rate affected by age of the seeds?

You can acquire old seeds from a garden store (they will be happy to get rid of them), or maybe a gardener in your family has some old seeds hanging around. Find out if the seeds are any good after a year or more by germinating some of them. Compare their germination rate to a fresher package of the same kind of seed.

9. Do seeds germinate better in fertilized soil?

Instead of using the paper-towel method, sprout seeds in soils that contain different amounts of Miracle-Gro or another soil nutrient booster.

10. Does scarification improve germination rate?

Some seeds need to be scratched in order to sprout—that's called "scarification." Place seeds in a small bag with a spoon of sand and shake for a few minutes and see if roughing them up a bit improves or inhibits their germination.

11. Does talking to seeds improve their germination rate?

Some people claim that talking to plants increases carbon dioxide and improves growth. Are you the scientist who will show the world that seeds sprout better if you read stories to them? Stranger discoveries have been made in the plant world.

That eleventh idea may seem silly, but sometimes science discoveries are made when scientists think outside the seed packet, so to speak. Students should design an experiment around whatever question interests them—from this list or their own ideas—to make the research personal and fun. As long as students follow the scientific method, set up a controlled experiment, and use the results of the experiment to draw reasoned conclusions, they will be doing real science. The possibilities for botanical discovery are endless, so get growing!

Author: Kathy Johnson Title: Youth Programs Director Published: Sep 18, 2013 Category: Learning

Garden Stories

Plants & gardening, science & conservation.

12 inquiry-based labs to explore the 12 principles of plant biology

The 12 Principles of Plant Biology are a framework to support understanding of the critical roles of plants to create, improve and sustain life.

These 12 inquiry-based activities were by Jane Ellis, Mary Williams, and Jeffrey Coker with support from the ASPB Education Foundation. They were developed to support the teaching of plant biology, and are developed for use by students in middle school (approximately 11 – 13 years old). Click on the images below to open each activity as a PDF.

Each lab contains:

• a concept summary relevant to a middle school audience
• engaging photos to enhance understanding
• tips for setting up and conducting student-driven investigations
• specific teacher guidelines for sourcing materials, streamlining the process, and using additional research

You might also like

• Manage your Membership
• Join an ASPB Section
• Visit our Store
• Sponsorship & Advertising
• Make a Donation
• Read the Plant Science Today Blog

Member Services

• (301) 251-0560

Awards & Funding

• Apply for Grants & Travel Awards

Meetings & Events

• Meeting Management Services
• Plant Synthetic Biology 2021
• Plant Biology Meeting

Publications & News

• ASPB Journals
• Read The Plant Cell Blog
• Read the Plant Physiology Blog
• Submit an Article
• Read the ASPB News
• Get News & Updates
• Check out The Signal

About Plantae

• Join Plantae
• Subscribe to the Plant Science Research Weekly
• Search for Careers & Internships
• Listen to Plantae Podcasts
• Submit your Science Event to our Calendar
• *All Plantae content is licensed under a Creative Commons A-NC 2.0 License

Get Your ALL ACCESS Shop Pass here →

Easy Plant Experiments For Kids

Plants come in all shapes, sizes, and colors and are essential for life on Earth. Learn more about how incredible plants are with these hands-on plant experiments and printable plant worksheets. You will find easy plant activities and ideas for elementary to middle school. We love do-able science experiments for kids!

Plant Science

Plant science or botany is a fun topic to teach to kids of all ages. We have a range of plant experiments and projects that would work well in a wide range of settings, from home to the classroom.

Our science activities are designed with you, the parent or teacher, in mind. Easy to set up and quick to do, most activities take only 15 to 30 minutes and are fun. Plus, you don’t need a ton of expensive materials!

Learn about…

• How living things form part of systems.
• How energy flows through simple systems.
• Develop observational skills and practice making predictions.
• Understand the role of variables in measuring changes.

These plant experiments below are great for elementary to middle school students. For our younger kiddos, check out our list of plant activities for preschoolers .

Plant Facts For Kids

• Most plants need water, soil, and sunlight to grow.
• We need plants because they produce oxygen, clean the air we breathe, provide food, they are homes and food for many other living things, and more.
• Some plants are carnivorous. That means they eat animals (like spiders and insects)!
• 80% of flowering plants have adaptions so that they can be pollinated by bees and other insects or birds.
• Some plants do not have flowers or seeds, moss, and ferns. They reproduce by making spores.
• There are over 390,000 different types of plants in the world. Over 90% of which are flowering plants.
• Some plants live underwater and are called aquatic plants.
• About half of all plants are edible. Yet we only eat about 200 plants, and three plants, rice, wheat, and corn, make up over 50% of the plants we eat.

Tips For A Plant Science Project

Science projects are an excellent tool for kids to show what they know about science! Plus, they can be used in various environments, including classrooms, homeschool, and groups.

Kids can take what they have learned about using the scientific method , stating a hypothesis, choosing variables , and analyzing and presenting data.

Our seed germination experiment and plastic bottle greenhouse are both great plant growth experiments to consider for a science project.

Want to turn one of these experiments into an awesome science fair project? Check out these helpful resources.

• Science Project Tips From A Teacher
• Science Fair Board Ideas
• Easy Science Fair Projects

Get your quick and easy spring STEM challenges!  

Science Experiments With Plants

More than plant growth experiments, we have lots of fun ways for you to explore plant science for kids. Learn about capillary action, osmosis, respiration, and more.

Acid Rain Experiment

What happens to plants when rain is acidic? Set up an easy acid rain project with this flowers in vinegar experiment. Explore what causes acid rain and what can be done about it.

Celery Experiment

This celery food coloring experiment is a great way to show how water travels through a plant.

Color Changing Flowers

Turn white flowers into all sorts of fun colors! Observe capillary action at work as water moves up the stem to the flower.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Color Changing Carnations

Flower Dissection

Grab some flowers, and do a simple flower dissection to identify and name the parts of a flower. Pair it with our printable parts of a flower diagram.

Glowing Spinach

Transform ordinary spinach that you eat into a glowing green mixture under ultraviolet light! Learn about the pigments present in plants, particularly chlorophyll and how certain pigments can absorb light at one wavelength and emit light at another, resulting in the observed glow.

How Do Plants Breath

This fun plant science experiment is a great way to teach kids about plant respiration. All you need are some green leaves and water to observe how plants breathe.

Leaf Chromatography

Have you ever wondered how leaves get their color? Discover the hidden pigments that are in leaves with this fun chromatography experiment. Chromatography is a technique used in chemistry that separates the components of a mixture into its individual parts.

ALSO CHECK OUT: Marker Chromatography Experiment

Learn about how water travels through leaves with this simple science experiment. Watch what happens when you put leaves into a jar of colored water!

Mini Greenhouse

Enjoy the wonder of growing plants by making an easy mini greenhouse from plastic bottles. Includes suggestions for turning it into a plant growth experiment.

Potato Osmosis Lab

Plant roots absorb water from the soil through osmosis. Learn about osmosis with this fun potato osmosis experiment. Investigate what happens to potatoes when you put them in a concentration of salt water and then pure water.

Regrow Lettuce

Did you know that you can regrow certain vegetables from their stalks right on the kitchen counter? Give it a try!

Seed Germination Experiment

Investigate what factors affect the germination of seeds with a simple germination jar. Kids love being able to watch the growth of the seeds!

Bonus Plant Activities & Worksheets

Ever noticed that different plants live in different parts of the world? Learn about what a biome is and examples of biomes around the world with this fun biomes lapbook project. 

Carbon Cycle

Plants have an important role in the carbon cycle which sustains life on earth. Find out what the carbon cycle is , and how plants are involved.

Explore the important role plants have as producers in the food chain . Includes printable food chain worksheets.

Honey Bee Life Cycle

Bees are important pollinators for flowering plants. Find out some fun facts about honey bees with this printable bee life cycle lapbook activity.

Life Cycle Of A Bean Plant

Learn about green bean plants with these fun and free printable life cycle of a bean plant worksheets! Find out more about how beans grow and learn about the stages of bean growth.

Life Cycle Of A Pine Tree

Learn about pine trees, and how they are different to flowering plants with these printable pine tree life cycle worksheets.

Parts of a Flower

Learn about the parts of a flower and what they do with this fun printable parts of a flower diagram.

Parts of a Leaf

A fun and easy way to learn the parts of a leaf . Grab this printable leaf coloring page!

Photosynthesis

How do plants get their food? Green plants make their own food and food for us through the process of photosynthesis . Use these printable worksheets to introduce the steps of photosynthesis to kids.

Plant Cells

Color in and label the parts of a plant cell as you explore what makes plant cells different to animal cells.

Pollinators

Explore the important role of pollinators in the reproduction of flowering plants with our printable pollinator activity guide.

Printable Spring Pack

If you’re looking to grab all of the printables in one convenient place plus exclusives with a spring theme, our 300+ page Spring STEM Project Pack is what you need!

Weather, geology, plants, life cycles, and more!

Subscribe to receive a free 5-Day STEM Challenge Guide

~ projects to try now ~.

• Branches of Biology
• Importance of Biology
• Domain Archaea
• Domain Eukarya
• Biological Organization
• Biological Species Concept
• Biological Weathering
• Cellular Organization
• Cellular Respiration
• Types of Plants
• Plant Cells Vs. Animal Cells
• Prokaryotic Cells Vs. Eukaryotic Cells
• Amphibians Vs. Reptiles
• Anatomy Vs. Physiology
• Diffusion vs. Osmosis
• Mitosis Vs. Meiosis
• Chromosome Vs. Chromatid
• History of Biology
• Biology News

Bio Explorer

History of Botany

The history of botany goes back to 4th-century B.C.E. Man’s curiosity about plants led to many discoveries in Botany which shaped our current lives in many ways. At present, various sub-fields of botany have already emerged. These include plant pathology, plant ecology, paleobotany, and forensic botany .

But despite being established as a discipline, the term “plant” definition remains vague and still up for more clarification. Botanists often describe plants more inclusively with multicellular, eukaryotic organisms that do not have sensory organs and have, when complete, root, stem, and leaves.

History of Botany – A Timeline

During the pre-17 th century.

Quote: “ Medicine sometimes grants health, sometimes destroys it, showing which plants are helpful, which harm. ”

During the 17 th Century

Early 17 th century: For a brief period, the search for knowledge in the field of Botany temporarily became stagnant. However, the revival of learning during the European Renaissance renewed interest in plants.

The number of scientific publications increased.

1665:    Robert Hooke invented the microscope. Because of this, Robert Hooke had the chance to look closely at what a cell looks like. His description of these cells was published in Micrographia . However, the cells seen by Hooke showed no signs of the nucleus and other organelles found in most living cells (Rhoads 2007).

1686:     John Ray published his book, Historia Plantarum . This became an important step toward modern taxonomy (Arber 2010).

During the 18 th Century

1760s:    Botany became even more widespread among educated women who painted plants, attended classes on plant classification, and collected herbarium specimens.  However, their study focused on the healing properties of plants rather than plant reproduction. Women began publishing on botanical topics, and children’s books on botany appeared (Mason 2016).

The prize resulting from the period of exploration was accumulated in gardens and herbaria. And the task of systematically cataloging them was left to the taxonomists.

During the 19 th Century

Early part of the nineteenth century: Progress in the study of plant fossils was made.

1818:     Chlorophyll was discovered.

1840:      Advances were made in the study of plant diseases because of the potato blight that killed potato crops in Ireland . This led to the further study of plant diseases (Richman 2016).

1847:     The process of photosynthesis was first elucidated by Mayer . However, the exact and detailed mechanism remained a mystery until 1862.

1859:     Charles Darwin proposed his theory of evolution and adaptation, or more commonly referred to as “survival of the fittest” (kenyon.edu 2016).

Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace collaborated. Darwin soon published his renowned and highly recognized book On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection .

Around the same time, Gregor Mendel experimented with the inheritance among pea plants.

Gregor Mendel became the “ Father of Genetics ”.

1862:     The exact mechanism of photosynthesis was discovered when it was observed that starch was formed in green cells only in the presence of light.

1865:     The results of Mendel’s experiments in 1865 showed that both parents should pass distinct physical factors which code information to their offspring at conception. The offspring then inherits one unit for each trait from each of his parents (Richman 2016)

Twentieth Century up to the Present

Early 20 th Century:   The process of nitrogen fixation, nitrification, and ammonification was discovered.

1903:     The two types of chlorophyll—a and b were discovered. Learn more here .

1936:     Through his experiment, Alexander Oparin demonstrated the mechanism of the synthesis of organic matter from inorganic molecules.  Refer to a controversial observation of his findings at later years.

1940s:    Ecology became a separate discipline.  Technology has helped specialists in botany to see and understand the three-dimensional nature of cells and the genetic engineering of plants. This greatly improved crops and products (Arber 2010).

Until the present, the study of plants continues as botanists try to understand plants’ structure, behavior, and cellular activities. This endeavor is to develop better crops, find new medicines, and explore ways of maintaining an ecological balance on Earth to sustain both plant and animal life (Mason 2016).

Top 12 Botany News For 2017

15 Latest Inventions in Botany For 2018

Top 10 BEST Botany Discoveries in 2019

Top 10 Botany News in 2020

Top 15 Botany News of 2021

Top 15 Botany News of 2022

• Arber, Agnes. “THE EARLY HISTORY OF BOTANY.” Herbals: Their Origin and Evolution , 2010: 1-2.
• Farabee, M. Development of the Evolutionary Theory. 2001. https://www2.estrellamountain.edu/faculty/farabee/biobk/BioBookEVOLI.html  (accessed July 22, 2016).
• JRank Articles. e: Botany – History of botany – Plants, Plant, Study, and Century. 2016. http://science.jrank.org/pages/996/Botany.html (accessed July 24, 2016).
• kenyon.edu. History of Genetics. 2016. http://biology.kenyon.edu/courses/biol114/Chap01/history_genetics.html (accessed July 22, 2016).
• Kumar, Punam. Introduction to botany. 2016. http://www.peoi.org/Courses/Coursesen/bot/frame1.html (accessed July 23, 2016).
• Mason, M.G. Introduction to Botany. 2016. http://www.environmentalscience.org/botany (accessed July 23, 2016).
• Rhoads, Dan. History of Cell Biology. 2007. http://bitesizebio.com/166/history-of-cell-biology/ (accessed July 22, 2016).
• Richman, Vita. History of botany. 2016. http://science.jrank.org/pages/996/Botany.html (accessed July 23, 2016).
•  ROOK A (ed.). 1964. The Origins and Growth of Biology. Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin Books, Ltd. 403 p.

Cite This Page

[…] field of botany grew by leaps and bounds during this time. John Hooke invented the microscope, and Anton von […]

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

By using this form you agree with the storage and handling of your data by this website. *

Recent Posts

What Do Peacocks Eat?

World’s Top 15 Poisonous Caterpillars

35 Most Colorful Birds In The World!

Top Spectacular Rainforests of The World

Top 21 Facts About Blue Morpho Butterfly

What Animals Live In Rainforests?

25 Reasons That Emphasizes The Importance of Biology

Top 27 Biology-themed Movies

Biology Boomtowns: 10 Best US Cities for Job Opportunities

Uncovering the Fathers of Biology: The Geniuses Who Unveiled Life’s Secrets

25 Mind-Blowing Biology Breakthroughs That Shaped Our World!

The Ultimate Guide: Discover 162+ Doctor Specialties for Every Health Need

40 Different Types of Birds

334 Types of Monkeys

Biology history.

History of Anatomy

History of Biochemistry

History of Biotechnology

History of Cell Biology

History of Ecology

Complete History of Evolution

History of Genetics

History of Immunology

History of Microbiology

• Privacy Policy

• school Campus Bookshelves
• menu_book Bookshelves
• perm_media Learning Objects
• login Login
• how_to_reg Request Instructor Account
• hub Instructor Commons

Margin Size

• Download Page (PDF)
• Download Full Book (PDF)
• Periodic Table
• Physics Constants
• Scientific Calculator
• Reference & Cite
• Tools expand_more
• Readability

selected template will load here

This action is not available.

1.2: The science of Botany

• Last updated
• Save as PDF
• Page ID 59216

• Daniela Dutra Elliott & Paula Mejia Velasquez
• Leeward Community College

\( \newcommand{\vecs}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vecd}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash {#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\) \( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\) \( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\) \( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\) \( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\inner}[2]{\langle #1, #2 \rangle}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\)

\( \newcommand{\id}{\mathrm{id}}\)

\( \newcommand{\kernel}{\mathrm{null}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\range}{\mathrm{range}\,}\)

\( \newcommand{\RealPart}{\mathrm{Re}}\)

\( \newcommand{\ImaginaryPart}{\mathrm{Im}}\)

\( \newcommand{\Argument}{\mathrm{Arg}}\)

\( \newcommand{\norm}[1]{\| #1 \|}\)

\( \newcommand{\Span}{\mathrm{span}}\) \( \newcommand{\AA}{\unicode[.8,0]{x212B}}\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorA}[1]{\vec{#1}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorAt}[1]{\vec{\text{#1}}}      % arrow\)

\( \newcommand{\vectorB}[1]{\overset { \scriptstyle \rightharpoonup} {\mathbf{#1}} } \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorC}[1]{\textbf{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorD}[1]{\overrightarrow{#1}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectorDt}[1]{\overrightarrow{\text{#1}}} \)

\( \newcommand{\vectE}[1]{\overset{-\!-\!\rightharpoonup}{\vphantom{a}\smash{\mathbf {#1}}}} \)

The science that studies plants is called Botany. All natural sciences, including botany, aim to understand how the natural world functions. To be able to do this we need to make observations, run experiments, generate and test hypotheses, record data, and report results. In Western science, people use a series of steps, called the scientific method, that helps to answer a question in an unbiased way.

It is important to notice that indigenous peoples across the globe have their own knowledge systems that are different from the Western science approach, where “...knowledge for observing, collecting, categorizing, recording, using, disseminating and revising information and concepts that explain how the world works…” (Whyte et al. , 2016). Indigenous knowledge often takes place at a much longer time scale with knowledge and observations passed on from generation to generation. The two systems do not need to be isolated and sometimes are used together to answer questions. “Hawaiians like many indigenous people were careful observers of nature. They observed closely, developed possible explanations for what they observed, conducted experiments to either confirm or refine their understanding until they were confident in their understanding. Once their understanding was perfected, they then committed it to memory using such mnemonic devices as the mele (song), oli (chant) or moʻolelo (story) which was then passed on to the next generation. We only have to look at Hawaiian fishponds to realize how many observations, experiments, refinements that must have taken place before they made the immensely huge labor intensive commitment to build a fishpond. One thing we can be sure of, the perfection of the Hawaiian fishpond did not occur in one generation; it was a deliberate process. The western "Scientific Method" operates in much the same way, observations are made, hypotheses presented, experiments conducted to refine the observation, the main difference is that in the west every step is carefully written down and documented.” (Kalei Laimana, pers. communication).

The Scientific Method

Botanists and other scientists learn about the natural world by asking questions about it and using a systematic approach, known as the scientific method, to find answers. It might surprise you to learn that even you use this method in your life to solve everyday problems or answer questions that are apparently not related to science. The first step of the scientific method is an observation, which usually leads to a question. Imagine you have some beautiful puakenikeni plants in your garden and you notice their leaves start to turn yellow (Figure \(\PageIndex{1}\)). This is an observation that can lead you to the question: “why are the leaves of my plants turning yellow?” Since you are not a plant expert, you turn to the internet or a member of the family that has a green thumb to try to answer the question and ultimately solve the problem. Scientists follow a similar process; they research information relevant to the question to try to find the answer to it, see if other scientists already tried to answer the question or came across a similar problem and how they solved it.

Going back to our example, after you search the internet for “plant leaves turning yellow” you find several potential reasons for the leaves of your plants turning yellow. Which one is the correct one? After reading more details about some of the causes you decide it must be lack of water, the soil around your plants seems dry so your plants are probably not getting enough water. Now you have a likely answer for your question, or a hypothesis. A hypothesis is a potential explanation for the question that can be tested. Hypotheses usually follow an “if … then” format, that represents the question and the proposed solution. In this case your hypothesis could be: “If I water my puakenikeni plant more often, then the leaves won’t turn yellow.” In our example, there are different reasons that can cause the leaves on your plants to turn yellow, so there are several hypotheses that could be tested, and this is true for most questions in science.

Take a look at the scientific method flow chart presented in Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\). You can see that we have already followed several of the steps that compose the scientific method in our example: observation, question, and hypothesis/prediction. The following step is to run an experiment to test your hypothesis. Now, how would you test your hypothesis? Sometimes we imagine that scientific experiments are complex and advanced processes that need to be carried out in a super fancy and high-tech facility, but that is not always the case. To a certain extent, we all can run experiments in an easy and accurate way. After determining that your plants have been underwatered, the most logical experiment would be to add more water than normal to your plants to see if this solves the yellowing of the leaves. An experiment can be as simple as that; however, scientists need to be sure of exactly what is affecting the results. In order to do this scientific experiments have one or several experimental variables, which is (are) the part(s) of the experiment that can be changed. In our case the amount of water provided to the plants would be the experimental variable.

Experiments also need a control group, which is a group that has all the same characteristics as the experimental group (the one in which you are changing the variable), but in which we do not change the variable. By having a control group, we are making sure that the lack of water is the variable (characteristic) that is causing the yellowing of the leaves in your plants and that there is not another reason. In your garden a simple way to test this hypothesis accurately would be to set up an experiment that includes an experimental group and a control group. In the experimental group you are going to have at least one puakenikeni plant that you are going to water more frequently, so the variable you are changing is the water frequency. On the other hand, the control group will be at least one puakenikeni plant to which you will continue to water with the same frequency as you have done until now. You will continue to do this for several weeks, and then you can record your results. If a scientist wanted to run a similar experiment, she/he would probably run it in a greenhouse or nursery, to be able to regulate all other environmental conditions and any other variables, so that nothing else affects the results of the experiment. A scientist would also have several replicas or repetitions of the experiment, to ensure that the results are unbiased. For example, instead of increasing the watering on just one plant, a scientist might have a group of 30 plants that are watered more frequently as the experimental group and a group of 30 plants that are kept in the same watering regime as the control group.

The next step in the process is to analyze the results. For several weeks you have been watering at least one of your puakenikeni plants more frequently (experimental group) and kept watering at least one puakenikeni plant as before (control group), so it is time to analyze the results of your experiment. You take a good look at the leaves of both plants and to your dismay the leaves of both plants look similarly yellow. At this point you can conclude that it was not the water that was causing the yellowing of the leaves in your plants, therefore your initial hypothesis was incorrect. What do you do next to save your plants? If you look at the flowchart of the scientific method (Figure \(\PageIndex{2}\)), you see that if your hypothesis was not supported by your experiment then you need to try again.

Do you remember that there were other causes you found on the internet that could be causing the yellowing of the leaves in your plants? Well, you can now test another hypothesis: maybe your plant is suffering from a lack of nutrients in the soil. You need to run a new experiment to test this new hypothesis in a similar way you tested for the water hypothesis. So let’s imagine you add fertilizer to at least one of your puakenikeni plants to increase the nutrients available in the soil (experimental group) and leave at least one puakenikeni plant without fertilizer (control group). After several weeks you analyze the results, and you see that the plant that had fertilizer added now has beautiful green leaves and looks healthy, while your control plant has yellow leaves. Congratulations, you have cracked the case and now you can help your plants live long and healthy lives by adding fertilizer to all of your puakenikeni plants! Normally, an experiment requires replication, so it would require that you had several plants in your control group and several in your experimental group. That’s not always possible if you are doing that in your backyard, but it is important to know that researchers do that to make sure that the results are not the influence of a random variable (for example, the influence of the location of the plant).

The last step in the scientific method is to report or disseminate the results, which in the scientific community is usually done by publishing a scientific paper or report, doing a public presentation in a scientific meeting, or even publishing an article in a newspaper if the issue is of interest to the community. This last step is important, because it helps to build knowledge and advance science, so that we do not get stuck trying to solve the same issue over and over again. In our example, you could also share the results of your experiment with your family and friends to help somebody facing the same issue.

Experiments are not the only way to answer a question in science. Sometimes we use descriptive methods when an experimental approach is not feasible. For example, if you wanted to determine how many individuals of an endangered Hawaiian plant are left in the wild in Mount Ka‘ala on O‘ahu, the best approach would be to do a survey or record all the plants of that species in that mountain, instead of running an experiment.

Basic and applied science

There are two main types of science: basic and applied. Basic science aims to broaden knowledge; not seeking to find a practical utilization or creating a product, just the spread of knowledge in the subject. An example of basic science would be to record all the different species of plants that are present in Hawai‘i. This does not seem to have any practical application, but we could actually use the knowledge gathered in basic science for applied science. Applied science aims to use science to create a product or solve a real-life problem. For example, if we recorded all the individuals of an endangered Hawaiian plant that are left in the wild in Mount Ka‘ala on O‘ahu, we could use this information to create a conservation plan to save this species from extinction by growing it in the lab and then planting it in the wild to restore native ecosystems. A great example of applied plant science is agriculture, because it uses the plant knowledge to create and improve plant varieties that are adapted to local environments, produce more fruit or yield, or increase resistance to drought. An example is tomato varieties that were developed by University of Hawai‘i plant breeders that were resistant to several tropical diseases. This effort not only helped local food production from 1950-1980s, but helped breeding programs in many countries. The tomato varieties developed here were then used by other research programs to breed other varieties (Teves, 2017).

Why is Botany important?

Botany is a broad science with many different sub-disciplines that encompass different aspects of plant sciences. Some botanists work on biotechnology, like people extracting compounds from plants to create medicines or studying the chemicals produced by different plants to find new uses for them. For example, we use some plant chemicals to treat certain types of cancer. One of these compounds is taxol, which is extracted from the Pacific yew ( Taxus brevifolia ) and is used to treat ovarian cancer. Botanists in the field of conservation, seek to preserve plant species and restore damaged ecosystems. They can also use biotechnology and grow a whole plant out of a single cell (tissue culture). Other botanists are interested in understanding how plants function (plant physiology), so they focus on studying things like photosynthesis, transportation of nutrients, and the movement of water in plants. Other botanists are more interested in exploring how plants have traditionally been used by people in cultural practices, medicine, or cooking (ethnobotany). Other botanists are interested in studying fossil plants and understanding how plants have evolved over time (paleobotany and plant evolution). These are just a few examples to illustrate the diversity of the botanical field.

Learning about plants is not only useful for botanists, but to all people. For example, learning about plants can help you grow and maintain healthy plants in your house and garden. In some booming businesses, like natural products and hemp/marijuana products, there is always the need for people with plant knowledge and, in some cases, lab experience, as the extraction of plant compounds can require the use of specific lab techniques. Learning about plants that have traditionally been used in your culture can also help you to connect with your family and community (Figure \(\PageIndex{4}\)).

And of course, you cannot pass up the opportunity to answer some of the burning questions that you always had: Why are plants green? What is that smell when I cut grass? How do some plants move? What are those sticky things that attach to my socks? Do carnivorous plants eat human flesh?

Filter Results

• clear all filters

Resource Type

• Guided Lessons
• Lesson Plans
• Hands-on Activities
• Interactive Stories
• Online Exercises
• Printable Workbooks
•  Science Projects
• Song Videos

middle-school

•  Science

Showing Results for "botany"

• Earth Science
• Physical Science
• Social Science
• Medical Science
• Mathematics
• Paleontology

Botany Science Projects for High School Students

If you’re a high school student with an avid interest in botany, you’re already way past the bean-in-the-paper-cup phase, you’ve done the, “Which fertilizer makes the plants grow best?” experiment to death, and you already know the answers to, “What conditions make seeds germinate fastest?” and, “How well do plants grow if they’re missing an important nutrient?” You’re ready for something different and more challenging, whether it’s for a school project, a science fair project, or for your own interests. Here are several projects that you might try.

SELF-POLLINATION VS. CROSS-POLLINATION While some plants, such as peas, self-pollinate very well, others are structured in such a way as to assure cross-pollination. What would happen if flowers that usually cross-pollinate were self-pollinated instead? For this experiment, consider using Wisconsin Fast Plants (http://www.fastplants.org/), which carry out their entire life cycle in less than a month if grown under constant lighting. See the Bottle Biology website (http://www.bottlebiology.org/) for plans for an inexpensive growth chamber (http://www.bottlebiology.org/basics/lighthouse.html). The flowers of Fast Plants have long pistils and short stamens, which makes it difficult, if not impossible, for them to self-pollinate. You can easily cross-pollinate the plants by gently touching the flowers with a cotton swab, carrying pollen from flower to flower as an insect would. To self-pollinate the flowers, use a pair of tweezers to remove one ripe anther from a stamen and gently dab it on the pistil of the same flower. Once the plants set seed, wait for the fruits to ripen, then count the seeds in the fruits and examine their quality. Which plants set the most seeds: the cross-pollinated plants or the selfed plants? Was there any difference in the size and development of the seeds? Try germinating the seeds from each set of plants, either on moist soil or moist paper towels. Is there a difference in germination rates?

PLANT GENETICS Because of their rapid life cycle, Wisconsin Fast Plants are also good subjects for plant genetics experiments. The Fast Plants website (http://www.fastplants.org/) describes the various genetic variations available: colors, leaf hair types, tall and dwarf plants. You can use these plants to set up experimental crosses, predict the results, cross the plants, save their seeds, then grow the offspring to test your predictions. While the outcomes of most of these crosses are already well known, see if you can come up with some novel crosses, or try some selective breeding to see if you can enhance a particular trait. If your science teacher has an ultraviolet light, you could see if exposing the young flowers to UV radiation before pollination creates mutations in the ovules or pollen that affect the resulting offspring.

BOTANICAL CENSUS Choose a natural area to study where you can observe native plants. Get a good field guide to plants of that area, and do a thorough census of all the plants you can find within a plot that you mark out within that area. You may want to recruit the help of a professional botanist the first time you visit the area to help you identify the plants. Create a plant list for the area, and determine how much of the area is influenced by each species. There are a number of ways you can do this. One way is to use stakes and string to create a transect across the plot, then list the plants along the transect and count their numbers. Percent cover is another way to determine influence, especially within a forest. A single tree may not touch your transect, but the canopy of the tree may shade the plot. You might compare two plots in two different areas and describe why there are different plants living there, or examine the same plot in different seasons to describe the changes.

NATIVE PLANT LIFE HISTORY While the whole plant life cycle may seem like elementary school science, many native plants have not been closely studied and there are still mysteries about their life cycle yet to be discovered. Select a seasonal native flowering plant in your area and do a thorough study of the species. Record when the plant first appears, when it flowers, and when it dies back. Observe it frequently during its flowering time to see which insects visit it. See if you can catch some of the insects and remove pollen from them. Under a good microscope, compare the pollen from the insect to the pollen you harvest from the anthers of the flowers. Does the insect actually carry pollen from your chosen species? That’s a good indication that the insect is a pollinator of that flower. A professional botanist may be able to suggest several natives in your area that have not been well-studied, and whose pollinator may not be known. You might make new discoveries!

PLANT CLONING EXPERIMENTS Horticulturists have been cloning plants for years. The easiest way to clone a plant is to take a cutting, dip the cutting in rooting compound, and place the cutting in a sterile growth medium such as perlite or sterile seed-starting mix. Try setting up an experiment with different concentrations of the rooting compound (which can be purchased at a garden center).

Plants can also be cloned from a tissue callus. The techniques go well beyond the scope of this article, but inexpensive tissue culture kits can be purchased from science supply houses such as Boreal Labs (http://sciencekit.com/) or Carolina Biological Supply (http://www.carolina.com/). Once you’ve tried the basic techniques with the kits, design an experiment of your own. You might change the level of one of the nutrients, or try growing tissue from various garden plants to see if they can be cloned using the same techniques. Check the websites of these companies for even more advanced ideas in botany.

Related posts:

Flower Science Experiments

With these flower science experiments , kids can dive into the amazing world of botany! Through hands-on exploration and observation, kids will learn about plant growth and development.

They’ll be able to observe firsthand how plants interact with their environment. As they explore different parts of a flower, they’ll gain an understanding of its importance in nature.

If your young botanists love these flower experiments, you can also check out this list of fun flower activities for kids .

You and your child can marvel together at each new discovery made during these exciting lessons! Your kid will have so much fun as they become more knowledgeable on the wonders of flowers – all while learning through play. Plus, parents don’t need any special equipment or prior experience to get started!

This post may contain affiliate links meaning I get commissions for purchases made through links in this post. Read my disclosure policy here.

Why don’t all plants have flowers?

Many kids love picking fresh flowers in the springtime and thinking about how beautiful they are, but what kids don’t realize is that not all plants have flowers.

Botany tells us that while some plants produce gorgeous blooms, others such as conifers and grasses don’t require flowers at all. Instead, these non-flowering plants typically rely on wind or tiny bugs to carry around their pollen to other similar plants.

So even though kids may think all plants have flowers, they must remember that nature is quite diverse and there is a huge variety of plants everywhere.

See these bubble paint flowers for more flower fun.

Recommended Flower Craft Kits

If your child is into arts and crafts, you’ll love these flower craft kits that will help them enhance their creativity and fine motor skills.

Recommended Spring Activity Kits

If you are looking for ways to enjoy while educating your kids and that is fitting for these flower science experiments, these activity kits are perfect for that matter and your kids will learn a lot from them.

Little Learners Print & Go Activity Kit: Spring

Spring is here and learning doesn’t have to be a chore. Get this huge pack of printable learning activities from math worksheets to alphabet puzzles.

NatGeo Flower Growing Kit

With this complete set, kids will have fun decorating their pots, then planting cosmos, nasturtium, and zinnia seeds. The included peat pellets make growing a flower garden easy!

With the warmer weather comes flowers! This list of flower science experiments will teach your kids about STEM and stems -- literally!

Color Changing Flowers Experiment

Learn about how plants drink water with capillary action in this super-fun color-changing flowers experiment where the flowers burst into a rainbow of color!

Flower Pigment Experiment

See how flowers differ in colors with this simple yet mind-boggling experiment! If your kids got a keen eye, maybe they will be able to tell the difference.

The Science Behind Keeping Flowers Fresh

Does your kid pick flowers and put them in water and wonder why they die so quickly? This experiment will show how the manner of cutting stems differs in keeping flowers alive and fresh!

Glowing Flowers

This trial-and-error experiment will keep your kids on their toes! So many questions to be asked too, so prepare yourself for answers!

Magic Opening Flowers

Magic opening flowers are a brilliant super simple science investigation using just paper and water. The folded paper flowers open up as the paper absorbs the water. They are a great way to learn about capillary action and the transport of water in plants too.

Bicolor Flowers Kids' Science

This science experiment is trickier than just the one-colored changing flowers experiment as this requires 2 stems to work! Ask your kids how do they think this will work.

Fun Flower Science Experiment

With just aluminum foil, paper towels, and a hammer, your kid will see the pigment from a flower in an instant! Remember to guide your kids when using a hammer!

Flower Solution Experiment

If you're looking to keep your flowers fresh for the spring season, let your kids test different solutions to see which solution would keep the flowers fresh longer.

Plastic Flowers Science Experiment

Let your kids have fun observing art with science! Experiment and craft at the same time with these plastic flowers.

3 in 1 Flower Activities For Preschoolers and Spring Science

Get ready to add these simple flower activities for preschoolers with real flowers to your spring theme lesson plans this season.  If you want to explore parts of a flower and how ice melts with your kids, read this blog post!

Fizzy Flower Experiment

I know most of us love the fizzy experiments! With this flower-themed fizz experiment, your kids are going to be curious about how the fizzes work!

Flower Crystals

Making crystals with borax is easy and fun. Grab a couple simple materials and grow your own crystals in just 1 day.  This fun science project is simple so kids can enjoy the wonder of exploring and trying new things.

Pulling together scientific concepts and new learning experiences, exploring science with flower experiments is a great way to foster a fun and inquisitive atmosphere for kids.

It’s also important to consider your child’s age when selecting an experiment because the results will vary for different ages. Ultimately these experiments are a fantastic way of having fun while learning and developing skills that will help children as they grow.

So if you’re looking for a creative and engaging way to teach young minds about science and nature, starting with flower experiments is a great way to start!

More Flower Activities

Flower Sensory Soup

Flower Activities for Kindergarten

Flower Activities for Preschoolers

Toilet Paper Roll Flower Painting Activity

Color Mixing Art Flower Activity by STEAMsational

Washi Tape Flower Wreath by 3 Dinosaurs

I share educational printables and activities to help homeschoolers make learning science fun and engaging!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

share this!

June 19, 2024

This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

fact-checked

peer-reviewed publication

trusted source

Interaction with insects accelerates plant evolution, research finds

by University of Zurich

A team of researchers at the University of Zurich has discovered that plants benefit from a greater variety of interactions with pollinators and herbivores. Plants that are pollinated by insects and have to defend themselves against herbivores have evolved to be better adapted to different types of soil. The research is published in the journal Nature Communications .

Plants obtain nutrients and water from the soil. Since different soil types differ in their chemical and physical composition, plants need to adapt their physiology to optimize this process on different soil types.

This evolutionary process leads to the formation of ecotypes, i.e., locally adapted "plant breeds" that differ slightly in appearance and may no longer be easily crossbred. The latter effect is considered to be the first step toward the formation of separate species. The adaptation of crops to local soil types is also crucial for agricultural productivity .

Experiment with bumblebees and aphids

A team of researchers led by biologist Florian Schiestl of the Department of Systematic and Evolutionary Botany at the University of Zurich has now discovered that the interaction of plants with pollinators and herbivorous insects influences their adaptation to soil types and thus the formation of ecotypes.

In a two-year experiment, about 800 swede plants were grown over 10 generations on different soil types in a greenhouse. One group was pollinated by bumblebees , another by hand; in addition, the plants were cultivated with and without aphids (as herbivores).

At the end of the evolutionary experiment, the researchers investigated the extent to which the plants on the two soil types differed in shape and composition and how well they had adapted to the soil. In terms of shape, it was found that only the plants pollinated by bumblebees showed clear differences between the soil types, while the hand-pollinated plant groups remained largely the same.

Plants pollinated by bumblebees adapt best

When it comes to adaptation to soil types, the researchers even found significant adaptation only in bumblebee-pollinated plants with aphids after the two years of experimental evolution, while no significant adaptation to soil types was observed in the other groups.

The study also identified several genes that may play a critical role in this adaptation process. The results show that biotic interactions can have a strong influence on plants' ability to adapt to abiotic factors and that adaptation is most efficient when plants are exposed to a variety of interactions.

Journal information: Nature Communications

Provided by University of Zurich

Explore further

Feedback to editors

New insights into how cell shape influences protein transport rates

4 hours ago

An alternative way to manipulate quantum states

New photonic chip spawns nested topological frequency comb

5 hours ago

Scientists discover surprising link between ancient biology and restricted human hair growth

Spectroscopic technique that singles out water molecules lying on the surface reveals how they relax after being excited

Insecticides contribute to drop in butterfly species across US MidWest: Study

6 hours ago

Wild chimpanzees seek out medicinal plants to treat illness and injuries, study finds

Study finds plants store carbon for shorter periods than thought

Behavioral and computational study shows that social preferences can be inferred from decision speed alone

Family conditions may have more of an impact on upward social mobility than gender inequality

Relevant physicsforums posts, periodical cicada life cycle.

2 hours ago

Is meat broth really nutritious?

Jun 18, 2024

A DNA Animation

Jun 15, 2024

Innovative ideas and technologies to help folks with disabilities

Jun 14, 2024

How do fetuses breathe in the womb?

Dna-maternity test - could you see other relationship than mother.

Jun 11, 2024

More from Biology and Medical

Related Stories

Interplay of pollinators and pests influences plant evolution

Apr 12, 2019

Intercropping viable for optimizing vegetable production on Mars

May 2, 2024

Researchers study temperature sensitivity of soil microbial respiration under climate change

Dec 21, 2023

Barley plants fine-tune their root microbial communities through sugary secretions

Apr 25, 2024

Soil carbon cycling depends on both microbial thermal adaptation and substrate availability

Feb 28, 2024

Interaction patterns between bumblebees and floral resources revealed during buzz pollination

Mar 22, 2024

Recommended for you

Hurricane changed 'rules of the game' in monkey society

Scientists find further evidence that climate change could make fungi more dangerous

9 hours ago

First conclusive video evidence that a terrestrial leech species can jump

10 hours ago

The ornate horns of ancient marvel Lokiceratops point to evolutionary insights

12 hours ago

Let us know if there is a problem with our content

Use this form if you have come across a typo, inaccuracy or would like to send an edit request for the content on this page. For general inquiries, please use our contact form . For general feedback, use the public comments section below (please adhere to guidelines ).

Please select the most appropriate category to facilitate processing of your request

Thank you for taking time to provide your feedback to the editors.

Your feedback is important to us. However, we do not guarantee individual replies due to the high volume of messages.

E-mail the story

Your email address is used only to let the recipient know who sent the email. Neither your address nor the recipient's address will be used for any other purpose. The information you enter will appear in your e-mail message and is not retained by Phys.org in any form.

Newsletter sign up

Get weekly and/or daily updates delivered to your inbox. You can unsubscribe at any time and we'll never share your details to third parties.

More information Privacy policy

Donate and enjoy an ad-free experience

We keep our content available to everyone. Consider supporting Science X's mission by getting a premium account.

E-mail newsletter

Plants for Kids – Botany Experiments, Activities, and Worksheets

Plants for kids.

If you are teaching your child about  plant science for kids , you will want to take a peak at these  plant science experiments and activities! Whether you are learning about  – we’ve got science worksheets and projects to help kids learn. Use these ideas to round-out your science lessons  with preschool, pre-k, kindergarten, first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, 8th grade, 9th grade, 10th grade, 11th grade, and 12th grader.

Botany Experiment

Learn about amazing plants for kids iwith this intersting and fun botany lesson for kids ! From fascinating facts about plants for kids,  plant worksheets , hands-on  plant activities , creative  plant experiments , and even tests with answer keys to test what your child has learned, you will love this fun  printable science lesson for kids ! Use this  plant lesson with first grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, 4th grade, 5th grade, 6th grade, 7th grade, and 8th graders too.

 >>>> Get our plant lesson here <<<<<

Plant science experiments.

Our family loves using the above curriculum, but these plant  activities and  plant experiment ideas will work with whatever Botany or Biology Science curriculum you are using. Simply scroll below to find the science worsheets and earth experiments to round out your lesson. These biology for kid ideas are perfect for preschoolers, kindergartners, grade 1, grade 2, grade 3, grade 4, grade 5, grade 6, grade 7, grade 8, grade 9, grade 10, grade 11, and grade 12 students.

Plant Activities for Kids

• Potato Maze – Summer STEM Activity for Kids
• Simple Geranium Photosynthesis Experiment for Kids
• How to Regrow Celery in Water
• Food coloring flower experiment worksheet Science Experiment for kids
• Color Changing Flower Experiment learning about capillar action

• EASY Plants Transpiration Experiment for Kids with FREE Worksheet
• How does Water Travel Up the Xylem , Through a Plant Experiment for Kids
• Water Pollution for Kids Science Expeirment
• Silly Grass Head Plant Crafts for Kids
• EASY Grass House – Plant Activity for Kids

• Simple Blooming Flowers Capillary Action Experiment
• Grow Crystals Flower Experiment
• Easy BEE Pollination Experimnt for kids using Jello
• Simple Acid Rain Pollution Experiment for Kids
• Seeds and Plants Unit filled with hands-on Plant Activities for Kindergarten
• Beautiful Chromatography for Kids Flower Project

• Free Printable Parts of a Plant Flipbook
• Life Cycle of a Sunflower Worksheet Pack
• LOTS of Gardening with Kids tips and information
• Plant Life Cycle Worksheet s and Observation Book
• Cute, printable Name flower craft
• Flower Upper and Lowercase Letter Matching
• Seeds and Plants Activities for Kindergarten
• Easy Celery Experiment
• Life Cycle of a Plant Worksheet Pack
• Silly Egg Head Spring Activities for Kids
• Steps to Planting a Seed Worksheet
• Grass Craft for Kids

• Search Menu

Sign in through your institution

• Advance articles
• Darwin Reviews
• Special Issues
• Expert View
• Flowering Newsletter Reviews
• Technical Innovations
• Editor's Choice
• Virtual Issues
• Community Resources
• Reasons to submit
• Author Guidelines
• Peer Reviewers
• Submission Site
• Open Access
• About Journal of Experimental Botany
• About the Society for Experimental Biology
• Editorial Board
• Advertising and Corporate Services
• Journals Career Network
• Permissions
• Self-Archiving Policy
• Dispatch Dates
• Journal metrics
• Journals on Oxford Academic
• Books on Oxford Academic

• < Previous

Improved photosynthetic performance under unilateral weak light conditions in a wide–narrow-row intercropping system is associated with altered sugar transport

• Article contents
• Figures & tables
• Supplementary Data

Guopeng Chen, Ming Liu, Xuyang Zhao, George Bawa, Bing Liang, Liang Feng, Tian Pu, Taiwen Yong, Weiguo Liu, Jiang Liu, Junbo Du, Feng Yang, Yushan Wu, Chunyan Liu, Xiaochun Wang, Wenyu Yang, Improved photosynthetic performance under unilateral weak light conditions in a wide–narrow-row intercropping system is associated with altered sugar transport, Journal of Experimental Botany , Volume 75, Issue 1, 1 January 2024, Pages 258–273, https://doi.org/10.1093/jxb/erad370

• Permissions Icon Permissions

Intercropping improves resource utilization. Under wide–narrow-row maize ( Zea mays ) intercropping, maize plants are subjected to weak unilateral illumination and exhibit high photosynthetic performance. However, the mechanism regulating photosynthesis under unilateral weak light remains unknown. We investigated the relationship between photosynthesis and sugar metabolism in maize under unilateral weak light. Our results showed that the net photosynthetic rate ( P n ) of unshaded leaves increased as the level of shade on the other side increased. On the contrary, the concentration of sucrose and starch and the number of starch granules in the unshaded leaves decreased with increased shading due to the transfer of abundant C into the grains. However, sink loss with ear removal reduced the P n of unshaded leaves. Intense unilateral shade (40% to 20% normal light), but not mild unilateral shade (60% normal light), reduced grain yield (37.6% to 54.4%, respectively). We further found that in unshaded leaves, Agpsl , Bmy , and Mexl-like expression significantly influenced sucrose and starch metabolism, while Sweet13a and Sut1 expression was crucial for sugar export. In shaded leaves, expression of Sps1 , Agpsl , and Sweet13c was crucial for sugar metabolism and export. This study confirmed that unshaded leaves transported photosynthates to the ear, leading to a decrease in sugar concentration. The improvement of photosynthetic performance was associated with altered sugar transport. We propose a narrow-row spacing of 40 cm, which provides appropriate unilateral shade and limits yield reduction.

Personal account

• Sign in with email/username & password
• Get email alerts
• Save searches
• Purchase content
• Activate your purchase/trial code
• Add your ORCID iD

Institutional access

Sign in with a library card.

• Sign in with username/password
• Recommend to your librarian
• Institutional account management
• Get help with access

Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:

IP based access

Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.

Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.

• Click Sign in through your institution.
• Select your institution from the list provided, which will take you to your institution's website to sign in.
• When on the institution site, please use the credentials provided by your institution. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.
• Following successful sign in, you will be returned to Oxford Academic.

If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.

Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.

Society Members

Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:

Sign in through society site

Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:

• Click Sign in through society site.
• When on the society site, please use the credentials provided by that society. Do not use an Oxford Academic personal account.

If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.

Sign in using a personal account

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.

A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.

Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.

Viewing your signed in accounts

Click the account icon in the top right to:

• View your signed in personal account and access account management features.
• View the institutional accounts that are providing access.

Signed in but can't access content

Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.

For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.

Short-term Access

To purchase short-term access, please sign in to your personal account above.

Don't already have a personal account? Register

Email alerts

Citing articles via.

• Recommend to your Library

Affiliations

• Online ISSN 1460-2431
• Print ISSN 0022-0957
• Copyright © 2024 Society for Experimental Biology
• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Rights and permissions
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Advertisement

Rare corpse flower that stinks of rotting flesh blooms at Kew Gardens

A giant flower, one of the smelliest in the world, is currently blooming at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

By Chris Simms

19 June 2024

The corpse flower at Kew Gardens on 18 June

Sebstian Kettley/RBG Kew

This stunning but stinky bloom of a corpse flower unfurled on 18 June at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew , in London, but it will only be around briefly – they tend to last for just 24 to 36 hours.

The corpse flower ( Amorphophallus titanum ), also called the titan arum , is so named because its stench is like that of rotting flesh. This odour can emanate from it so powerfully that it travels for hundreds of metres. The smell is tailored to attract unusual pollinators like flesh flies and carrion beetles to the short-lived bloom, and must be strong enough to do its job in the short time the plant flowers, because it might not do so again for many years.

The radical new experiments that hint at plant consciousness

It’s a wild idea, but recent experiments suggest plants may have the ability to learn and make decisions. Are the claims true and if so, what does it mean for our understanding of consciousness and the human mind?

Technically, the bloom, which can reach 3 metres high, isn’t a single flower, but many. The inner flower spike, or spadix, looks like a yellow obelisk as it emerges from a pleated purple collar called the spathe. An inflorescence, or cluster, of flowers lies in a protected zone between the spathe and spadix.

If you happen to see – and smell – one, the odour might not be what you expect. It can vary across the short life of the bloom and aside from producing the whiff of rotting meat, it could smell like the equally delightful excrement or warm trash.

The rare plants are endemic to the rainforests of Sumatra, Indonesia, but many botanical gardens around the world cultivate them, both for their beauty and for the crowds they draw when they flower. The first time one is known to have flowered outside Sumatra was at Kew in 1889.

Sign up to our Wild Wild Life newsletter

A monthly celebration of the biodiversity of our planet’s animals, plants and other organisms.

Sign up to our weekly newsletter

Receive a weekly dose of discovery in your inbox! We'll also keep you up to date with New Scientist events and special offers.

More from New Scientist

Explore the latest news, articles and features

Squid-like plant that lives mostly underground is new to science

Deadly plant kills its pollinators but nurses their young

Desert plant collects water from air by excreting salt on its leaves

Plant presumed extinct sprouts in a road after more than 40 years

Subscriber-only

Popular articles

Trending New Scientist articles

Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) across orbits

New studies on astronauts and space biology bring humanity one step closer to the final frontier

Time-lapse video taken by the Expedition 28 crew on board the International Space Station during a night pass over North and South America. Credit: Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit, NASA Johnson Space Center .

The Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) package of manuscripts, data, protocols, and code represents the largest-ever compendium of data for aerospace medicine and space biology. Over 100 institutions from >25 countries worked together for a coordinated 2024 release of molecular, cellular, physiological, phenotypic, and spaceflight data.

Notably, this includes analysis of samples collected from the first all-civilian crew of the Inspiration4 mission, which consisted of commercial astronauts who embarked on a short-term mission to a high-altitude orbit (575 km), farther than the International Space Station (ISS). This data is distinct from the longer-duration missions of ISS-based astronauts, who typically stay 120, 180, or 365 days. While in orbit, the Inspiration4 crew performed an extensive battery of scientific experiments, which have now been processed, sequenced, and analyzed, contributing to most of the 44 papers in the SOMA package , some of which are highlighted below. Embracing the spirit of Open Science at NASA and data accessibility, all raw and processed data acquired from the crew during and after their missions have been made available in NASA’s Open Science Data Repository an expansion of NASA GeneLab. Additionally, four new data portals have been created for browsing results from the mission, which also include linked data from the NASA Twins Study , enhancing our understanding of human health in space.

Samples from different orbits (i.e. ISS and Inspiration4) have now been analyzed and integrated. Photo credit: Inspiration4 crew

The SOMA package represents a milestone in several other respects. It features a >10-fold increase in the number of next-generation sequencing (NGS) data from spaceflight, a 4-fold increase in the number of single-cells processed from spaceflight, the launch of the first aerospace medicine biobank (Weill Cornell Medicine’s CAMbank ), the first-ever direct RNA sequencing data from astronauts, the largest number of processed biological samples from a mission (2,911), and the first ever spatially-resolved transcriptome data from astronauts.

Working across borders and teams, between companies and governments, and spanning myriad international laboratories enabled the greatest amount of science and erudition to be gained in this package. These data can serve as a springboard for new experiments, hypotheses, and follow-up studies, as well as guide future mission planning and countermeasure development. Finally, this package shows how the modern tools of molecular biology and precision medicine can help guide humanity into more challenging missions, which will be critical for a permanent presence on the moon, Mars, and beyond.

Transcriptome changes

The civillian crew for Inspiration4 and the Dragon spacecraft Resillience atop the Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: Inspiration4 / John Kraus

Gene expression responses for DNA damage, immune activation, mitochondrial disruption, frailty, sarcopenia, accelerated health risks in multiple organs, and telomere regulation were observed, consistent with prior missions.

Nature: The Space Omics and Medical Atlas (SOMA) and international astronaut biobank

Communications Medicine: Transcriptomics analysis reveals molecular alterations underpinning spaceflight dermatology  

Preprint: Key genes, altered pathways and potential treatments for muscle loss in astronauts and sarcopenic patients

Scientific Reports: Aging and putative frailty biomarkers are altered by spaceflight

Nature Communications: Direct RNA sequencing of astronauts reveals spaceflight-associated epitranscriptome changes and stress-related transcriptional responses

Nature Communications: Spatial multi-omics of human skin reveals KRAS and inflammatory responses to spaceflight

Communications Biology: Spaceflight induces changes in gene expression profiles linked to insulin and estrogen

Nature Communications: Cosmic kidney disease: An integrated pan-omic, physiological and morphological study into spaceflight-induced renal dysfunction

Spatial transcriptome data from the kidney profiles show the impact of spaceflight on the kidney structure and kidney cells’ gene expression. Cell types are shown as colors, and labeled sections of the kidney are highlighted by arrows.

Stained cross-section of a mouse kidney 6-month post exposure to radiation, analysed for detection of kidney damage and impact of spaceflight. Zoomed in areas of the cross-section shows labelled structure and different cell types of kidney cells'.

Epigenomic changes

Liftoff of Inspiration4 from Kennedy Space Center at 8:02 pm (local time) on 16 September 2021. Credit: Inspiration4 / John Kraus

T-cells and monocyte cells showed the largest degree of chromatin changes in the immune system after spaceflight and female crew members had a faster return to baseline across all cell types for their chromatin landscape (ATAC-seq) than male astronauts (Kim et al.). These data can also now be visualized in the SOMA browser .

Sian Procter (left) and Hayley Arceneaux enjoying a flowing hair moment in zero gravity, analogous to the unwinding of DNA from chromatin observed in their monocytes. Credit: Inspiration4 crew

Scientific Reports: Chromosomal positioning and epigenetic architecture influence DNA methylation patterns triggered by galactic cosmic radiation

Nature Communications: Single-cell multi-ome and immune profiles of the Inspiration4 crew reveal conserved, cell-type, and sex-specific responses to spaceflight  

Communications Biology: Telomeric RNA (TERRA) increases in response to spaceflight and high-altitude climbing

Radiation impacts the genome and epigenome. Average telomere length in all Inspiration4 civilian crew members increased during spaceflight, similar to observations from the NASA Twins Study . Also, RNA-seq data revealed significantly increased telomeric RNA, or TERRA, during spaceflight for all astronauts, highlighing a unique response of telomeres to DNA damage, with protective telomeric DNA:RNA hybrids forming to facilitate RNA templated/HR-directed repair and transient activation of ALT/ALT-like phenotype, which likely contribute to the telomere elongation observed during spaceflight.

Diagram summarising the effects of chronic exposure to space radiation on astronauts and the cellular mechanisms involved in repairing telomeres. The presented model suggest a telomere-specific DNA damage response associated with chronic exposure to the space radiation environment and elevated levels of oxidative stress. This acts to continuously damage telomeres, thereby triggering increased transcription of TERRA and hybridization at broken telomeres, forming protective telomeric DNA:RNA hybrids and facilitating RNA templated/HR-directed repair and transient activation of ALT/ALT-like phenotypes that possibly contribute to the telomere elongation observed during spaceflight.

Cellular states and dynamics

The reusable Falcon 9 rocket separates at an altitude of 80 km. Credit: Inspiration4 / John Kraus

Each cell type exhibited both conserved and distinct disruptions across cell types, species, and missions, with changes in gene expression, chromatin accessibility, and transcription factor motif accessibility observed after spaceflight and during recovery. Novel, single-cell approaches were used to delineate sex-dependent changes in gene networks, cytokines/chemokines (e.g. fibrinogen and CXCL8/IL-8), and radiation response.

Nature Communications: Single-cell multi-ome and immune profiles of the Inspiration4 crew reveal conserved, cell-type, and sex-specific responses to spaceflight

npj Microgravity: Influence of the spaceflight environment of macrophage lineages

Scientific Reports: Sexual dimorphism during integrative endocrine and immune responses to ionizing radiation in mice

npj Women’s Health: Understanding how space travel affects the female reproductive system

Nature Communications: Single-cell analysis identifies conserved features of immune dysfunction in simulated microgravity and spaceflight

Using single-cell analysis of human PBMCs exposed to short-term simulated microgravity, the team identified significant transcriptional alterations in immune cells, with monocytes showing the most pathway changes, including increased retroviral and mycobacterial transcripts, providing insights into microgravity-induced immune dysfunction and potential countermeasures like quercetin.

Diagram depicting the steps needed for developing drugs that counter the effects of spaceflight on immune cells. Analysis of human PBMCs exposed to simulated microgravity integrated with analysis of data from flight crew allows the identification of key signature changes such as transcriptional alterations in immune cells. Strategies such as gene-compound enrichment analysis followed by compound validation are utilized for drug discovery purposes.

Microbiome modifications and movement

During the 3-day mission, the crew monitored their heart activity, blood oxygen levels and immune function, performed ultrasound exams and took samples for microbiological analysis. Credit: Inspiration4 crew

Exposed parts of the body showed more transfer from the Dragon spacecraft (figure below). Signatures of response to viruses and T-cell activation was a consistent trend across the crew, and the microbiomes of the crew became more similar to each other over time, as has been observed before in space and in sports .

Nature Communications: Secretome profiling reveals acute changes in oxidative stress, brain homeostasis, and coagulation following short-duration spaceflight

Nature Microbiology: Longitudinal multi-omics analysis of host microbiome architecture and immune responses during short-term spaceflight

Moving microbes:  A circos plot shows number of strain-sharing events across time, where an event is defined as the detection of the same strain between two different swabbing locations, between the crew members (C001,2,3,4) or the SpaceX Dragon capsule. The thickness of each line represents the proportional number of species, and the color indicates origin.

A circos plot showing number of strains sharing events from sequencing data from a longitudinal, multi-omics sampling study of 4 crew members on the SpaceX Inspiration4 mission. The crew collected environmental swabs from the Dragon capsule, skin, nasal and oral swabs at different timepoints during the mission. The plot shows the extent of microbial cross-contamination between all four crew members and the spacecraft during the mid-flight timepoint. From the thickness of each line representing the proportional number of species and the color indicating the origin, it is possible to observe that most strain sharing occurred between sites on the same individual or the spacecraft, with limited exchange between astronauts.

Mitochondrial responses to spaceflight

Orbiting at an altitude of 590 km and travelling at over 28,000 kph, the spacecraft circled the planet every 90 minutes. Credit: Inspiration4 crew

An in-flight spike in mtDNA and mtRNA has been shown for most crews; however, the 3-day i4 mission did not show the same spike, so this indicates the mtDNA phenotype might be age specific or related to the length of the mission. Brain-associated proteins were found in the plasma of crew members after the I4 mission, confirming the brain signature from the JAXA study and prior work in the Twins Study .

Nature Communications: Space radiation damage rescued by inhibition of key spaceflight associated miRNAs

Nature Communications: Release of CD36-associated cell-free mitochondrial DNA and RNA as a hallmark of space environment response

Mitochondrial spikes across tissues. Different tissues (vertical axis) measured for their enrichment of mitochondrial RNA (mtRNA) levels ( x -axis) show that the brain, skeletal muscle, and retina are among the most responsive tissues to spaceflight. Fold enrichment is shown in proportion to the size of the circle and the p -value is shown from red to blue for signifiance.

Bubble chart showing the enrichment of mitochondrial RNA in various tissues during spaceflight. Brain, skeletal muscle, retina and heart muscle are the most responsive tissues to spaceflight with a greater mitochondrial gene count with fold enrichment between 0.96 and 2.84 and p value <0.05 compared with liver, testis, pituitary gland, choroid plexus, intestine, kidney, tongue, lymphoid tissue, thyroid gland, oesophagus, skin, parathyroid, placenta, pancreas, adipose tissue, bone marrow.

Artificial intelligence and computational frameworks

The total amount of sequence data in the Open Science Data Repository has increased almost 14-fold with the addition of Inspiration4 data. Credit: Inspiration4 crew

As research and missions are extended beyond low Earth orbit, experiments and platforms must be maximally automated, light, agile and intelligent to accelerate knowledge discovery and support mission operations. The integration of artificial intelligence into the fields of space biology and space health has deepened the biological understanding of spaceflight effects. To effectively mitigate health hazards, AI-enabled paradigm shifts in astronaut health systems are necessary to enable Earth-independent healthcare to be predictive, preventative, participatory, and personalized .

npj Microgravity: Explainable machine learning identifies multi-omics signatures of muscle response to spaceflight in mice

Nature Machine Intelligence: Biological research and self-driving labs in deep space supported by artificial intelligence

npj Microgravity: NASA GeneLab derived microarrays studies of Mus musculus and Homo sapiens organisms in altered gravitational conditions

npj Microgravity: Harmonizing heterogeneous transcriptomics datasets for machine learning-based analysis to identify spaceflown murine liver-specific changes

Preprint: Analyzing the relationship between gene expression and phenotype in space-flown mice using a causal inference machine learning ensemble

Nature Machine Intelligence: Biomonitoring and precision health in deep space supported by artificial intelligence

Layered and integrated data acquisition and monitoring for deep-space missions. The integrated biological and health monitoring system is shown as a pyramid, with layers of increasingly invasive and granular monitoring, where data flow from both experimental models as well as astronauts, and are put into the context of environmental monitoring via AI/ML algorithms.

Diagram summarising a plan for multi-layer monitoring with AI algorithms for deep space missions. The monitoring system is shown as a pyramid. The starting layer of monitoring is a continuous environmental sensing of physical, chemical, and biological components. Going up in the pyramid, layers become more invasive with the usage of wearable and point of care devices. At the top of the pyramid, a third layer, more invasive, entails acquisition of molecular physiological biomarkers including usage of swabs and sampling methods. Monitoring data is to be integrated with data from environmental monitoring via AI/ML algorithms.

Countermeasures to risks

The data collected on the mission adds to the body of evidence for monitoring countermeasure effectiveness. Credit: Inspiration4 / Hayley Arceneaux

To mitigate these reported biological changes and limit the damage caused to the body by spaceflight and space environment, it is key to develop countermeasures. Countermeasures can involve novel drug production, repurposing FDA approved drugs, or genome/epigenome modification systems.

Preprint: Countermeasures for cardiac fibrosis in space travel: It takes more than a towel for a hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy

Communications Medicine: Transcriptomics analysis reveals molecular alterations underpinning spaceflight dermatology

Countermeasures mediated by miRNAs. Data from the JAXA astronaut cell-free RNA study (CFE) shows that a wide range of micro RNAs (miRNAs) can be helpful for guiding countermeasures. The miRNA targets are shown (top), as well as the enrichment (scale from red to blue) during flight or post-flight for the astronauts.

Heatmap chart showing normalized plasma cell-free RNA expression values for 21 key genes over time for the six astronauts over 120 days in space from JAXA cell-free RNA study. Plotting the changes in several micro RNAs before, during and after spaceflight with three miRNA targets being shown at the top (let-7a-5p, miR-125b-5p, miR-16-5p). Most of the 21 antagomir-rescued genes in the JAXA data were downregulated during the flight. Most of the genes show up-regulation post-flight as compared with pre-flight and during flight.

Ethics and perspectives

The constellation of Libra (the scales) is a metaphor for the ethical challenges of space exploration. Credit: iStock / Getty Images Plus

New spacecraft enable novel missions and a wider array of crews to go into space, but also generate new ethical questions and parameters about data accessibility. Some of these ideas and novel data types are discussed in these perspectives:

Nature Communications: Biological horizons: pioneering open science in the cosmos

npj Microgravity: Inspiration4 data access through the NASA Open Science Data Repository

Nature Communications: Ethical considerations for the age of non-governmental space exploration

Human Subjects Research Ethical and Operational Guidelines. The ethical principles currently in place for human subject research and the challenges and new ethical principles and challenges that have to be considered during the second space age.

Diagram showing 14 items that constitute the ethical framework in space human subject research. It is split into three areas: first, the existing ethical principles and regulations, which includes the US Code of Regulations for informed consent, respecting autonomy, the declaration of Helsinki, avoiding harm, risk–benefit balance, Fairness, and the Genetic Information Non-discrimination Act; second, the implementation of ethical standards, which includes the Institutional Review Board, Informed consent, and Genetic Data Protection; and third, the Emerging ethical challenges in space research, which includes secure drug storage, violating favourable risk–benefit balance, participant’s autonomy: withdrawing from research, and avoiding the increased health risks of space.

Dawn of the second space age

Nose cone of Dragon spacecraft against a sliver of light on Earth at sunrise for the Inspiration4 crew. Credit: Inspiration4 crew

Nature: A second space age spanning omics, platforms, and medicine across orbits

The recent acceleration of commercial, private, and multi-national spaceflight has created an unprecedented level of activity in low Earth orbit (LEO), concomitant with the highest-ever number of crewed missions planned to enter space. Such rapid advancement into space from many new companies, countries, and space-related entities has ushered humanity into “The Second Space Age.” This era is poised to leverage, for the first time, modern tools and methods of molecular biology, which is enabling precision aerospace medicine for the crews, new technological and computational methods for modeling life, new heavy-lift spacecraft for enabling inter-planetary missions (e.g. Crocco flyby), and systems for the detection, deployment, and protection of life on other worlds.

Number of objects launched into space (1957–2023) . Data taken from the United Nations Outer Space Objects Index, which shows the exponential increase in launches into space in the past few years. Countries are shown for the USA (blue), Russia/USSR (purple), and a breakdown of all other countries (green).

Two pie charts and a histogram showing the total and yearly number of objects launched into space by countries between 1957 and 2023 according to data taken from the United Nations Catalog. The histogram shows an exponential increase in launches into space in the most recent years with USA contributing to more than half of the grand total of launches (USA= 9,632, USSR/Russia= 3,732, China = 1,051, and 2,877 launches being shared by a number of other countries including UK, Japan, France, India, Germany, Canada.

New missions enabled by modern spacecraft. The orbital trajectory for a three-planet mission (Crocco Flyby) in 2033 that would fly by Mars twice and also Venus within about 18 months on a SpaceX Starship (calculations validated by Try Lam at Jet Propulsion Laboratory , editing with Brent West). The launch dates and approximate orbital timings are shown around the planetary orbits (dotted line circles) and the flight path. The sun is shown in the middle of the figure.

Concentric circles of Mars, Earth, and Venus around the sun, and the planned spiral course that a rocket to Mars will take. The launch dates and approximate orbital timings are shown around the planetary orbits for the three-planet mission departing from Earth 18th April 2033, then flying by Mars twice between November and December 2033 and Venus on 6th June 2034.

A visual summary of the 44 papers in the SOMA package is also available as a PDF version . All papers can be accessed in the collection page .

Key laboratories and scientific leads for the SOMA resources

Chris Mason, Weill Cornell Medicine, Mason Lab

Afshin Beheshti, Blue Marble Space Institute of Science at NASA Ames Research Center,  Beheshti Lab

Mathias Basner, University of Pennsylvannia, Basner Lab

Eliah G. Overbey, The University of Austin, Overbey Lab

Cem Meydan, Weill Cornell Medicine, Meydan Lab

Masafumi Muratani, University of Tsukuba/JAXA, Muratani Lab

Susan Bailey, Colorado State University, Bailey Lab

Eric Bershad , Baylor College of Medicine, Center for Space Medicine

Joseph Borg, University of Malta,  Borg Lab

Sylvain Costes, NASA Ames Research Center, Costes Lab and NASA OSDR: Open Science for Life in Space

David Furman, The Buck Institute, Furman Lab ; Stanford University, 1000 Immunomes Project

Stefania Giacomello, SciLifeLab, Giacomello Lab

Christopher Jones, University of Pennsylvannia, Jones Lab

Jaime Mateus , SpaceX

Begum Mathyk, University of South Florida, Begum Lab

Amber Paul, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University,  Paul Lab

Ashot Sargsyan, KBR, Inc., Sargsyan Lab

Jonathan Schisler, University of North Carolina, Schisler Lab

Michael Schmidt, Sovaris Aerospace

Mark Shelhamer, Johns Hopkins University, Human Spaceflight Lab

Keith Siew, University College London, Siew Lab

Scott Smith, Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory, Smith Lab

Emmanuel Urquieta, University of Central Florida, Urquieta Lab

Stephen (Ben) Walsh, University College London, Walsh Lab

Dan Winer, The Buck Institute, Winer Lab

Fredric Zenhausern, University of Arizona, Zenhausern Lab

Sara Zwart, Nutritional Biochemistry Laboratory, Johnson Space Center

NASA Artificial Intelligence for Life in Space (AI4LS) Working Group , Sylvain V. Costes, Lauren M. Sanders

NASA GeneLab Sample Processing Lab , Valery Boyko

NASA Open Science Data Repository , Sylvain V. Costes, Samrawit G. Gebre, Danielle K. Lopez, Lauren M. Sanders, Ryan T. Scott, Amanda M. Saravia-Butler, San-huei Lai Polo, Rachel Gilbert

Acknowledgements

Thanks to funding, logistical, and mission support from NASA/TRISH, JAXA, ESA, WorldQuant, and SpaceX, as well as thanks to the crews, their families, and all mission support staff and teams. Thanks to all OSDR Analysis Working Group members.

• Privacy Policy
• Use of cookies
• Legal notice
• Terms & Conditions
• Manage cookie preferences
• Accessibility statement

• National Security
• Matthew Continetti
• Men of the Year

• Men Of The Year

Now May We Defend Ourselves?

Israeli Security a Top Priority in House Budget Bill

Washington post foreign desk, accused of pro-hamas bias, teems with al jazeera veterans, mackenzie scott gives millions to philly nonprofit tied to anti-israel penn encampment, gretchen whitmer's top aide helped pass funding for ev battery plants. now he’s a top gm lobbyist., 'the cartels know this': biden's border crisis pushes montana's indian country to the brink  , senate republican secures potential knockout blow against ecohealth alliance, the group tied to wuhan gain-of-function experiments, top nih official admitted in may that ecohealth alliance engaged in gain-of-function research in wuhan.

It could be the end of the line for EcoHealth Alliance, the virus hunting group that conducted risky experiments on bat coronaviruses in Wuhan, China, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) said the Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously passed her amendment to the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act to close all potential pathways for EcoHealth Alliance to receive further federal defense funding. The move comes after National Institutes of Health principal deputy director Lawrence Tabak admitted during a congressional hearing in May that EcoHealth Alliance used federal funding to conduct gain-of-function research with the Wuhan Institute of Virology. The experiments, which resulted in far more infectious versions of the naturally occurring bat coronavirus, caused the COVID-19 outbreak, some virologists say.

The Department of Health and Human Services in May suspended EcoHealth Alliance from federal funding in May and initiated debarment proceedings against the organization and its president, Peter Daszak, which would ban the group from receiving any federal funding for three years.

Ernst’s amendment takes the ban a step further, banning any future defense funding not only for EcoHealth Alliance, but any subsidiary of the disgraced group.

"Defense dollars should be spent protecting our country, not paying for more of EcoHealth’s batty experiments," Ernst told the Washington Free Beacon . "This shady organization has managed to avoid accountability time and time again. My amendment slams the door shut on any possibility for deep state bureaucrats to find another roundabout way to restore funding for the group’s risky research."

The ban, if enacted into law, will likely have a devastating effect on EcoHealth Alliance’s bottom line. The group is largely dependent on federal funding, raking in more than $94 million in taxpayer funds since 2008, Fox News reported . The group infamously gave $600,000 of that funding to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to conduct experiments on viruses closely related to the one that causes COVID-19 just prior to the initial outbreak in late 2019.

EcoHealth Alliance has a history of wiggling out of federal funding bans, however. The Department of Health and Human Services first suspended the group during the final year of the Trump administration in 2020 over its coronavirus work in Wuhan. The Biden administration reversed that funding ban in 2023, only to suspend the group again in May.

Nor is this the first time Ernst has pushed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to cut EcoHealth Alliance from federal defense funding. The Iowa Republican introduced a similar resolution in the 2024 version of the bill that passed both the House and Senate.

But Ernst’s 2024 amendment didn’t make it to the final version of the bill. A person familiar with the process said her amendment was removed from the final version of the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act at the last minute during the closed-door conference process between the House and Senate.

It’s unclear if Ernst’s 2025 amendment will meet a similar fate, but Congress and the Biden administration appear to have unified in their opposition to EcoHealth Alliance after Tabak, the principal deputy director of the National Institutes of Health, admitted before Congress in May that the NIH and EcoHealth engaged in gain-of-function research with the Wuhan Institute of Virology.

"It depends on your definition of gain-of-function research," Tabak said . "If you’re speaking about the generic term, yes, we did."

EcoHealth Alliance maintains that it is "categorically untrue" that it engaged in gain-of-function research in Wuhan.

Published under: COVID-19 , Defense Budget , Joni Ernst , Wuhan Institute

• Crime and Courts
• National Politics

Colorado State University hires new deans for two academic colleges

Two of the eight colleges at Colorado State University will have new deans starting Aug. 1.

Kjerstin Thorson has been hired as dean of the College of Liberal Arts, and Carolyn Lawrence-Dill has been hired as dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences. CSU will have women deans overseeing six of its eight colleges this fall.

Both new deans are coming to CSU from land-grant institutions in other states and were hired earlier this month, school officials said. CSU, established in 1870, and other land-grant institutions across the country were first established through the Morrill Act of 1862 and later expanded through additional acts of Congress to provide equal access to education for working-class citizens.

Thorson comes to CSU from Michigan State, where she served as associate dean for strategic initiatives in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, according to Source , an online publication of CSU’s Marketing and Communications team. She previously was an assistant professor in communication and journalism at the University of Southern California, where she served as research director for is Strategic Communication and Public Relations Center.

Thorson earned her bachelor’s degree in English from Macalester College in Minnesota, master’s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri and doctoral degree in mass communications with a minor in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin. Her research has focused on digital platforms and their role in our civic lives, especially among youth and young adults.

More: Groundbreaking study shows elephants call each other by unique names

She replaces Ben Withers, who left CSU in February to become dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Iowa State University.

“She is a strong advocate for the power of a liberal arts degree and how social sciences can play a leading role in moving the needle on the biggest issues of our time,” CSU President Amy Parsons told Source. “Her expertise and passion for civic engagement will also continue to build on the important foundation at CSU of strengthening our democracy, in alignment with our land-grant mission.”

Lawrence-Dill has spent the past 10 years at Iowa State, where she served as the associate dean for research and discovery and associate director for the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment State in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, according to Source . She taught courses as a professor in agronomy and in genetics, development and cell biology.

She previously spent nearly 10 years working for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service as a research geneticist, focusing on maize genetics and genomics.

“With her roots deeply embedded in agriculture and a career spanning from pioneering corn genetics to leading big data initiatives, she brings a wealth of expertise and track record of effective leadership,” Parsons told Source. “Dr. Lawrence-Dill is committed to the prosperity of agriculture and rural communities, and she will work with partners across the state to bring the best science to bear in support of Colorado’s farmers and ranchers. Her skills are especially relevant for Colorado agriculture, where information and science technology are the tools of our most successful farmers and ranchers.”

More: Colorado State University celebrates groundbreaking of new $230M veterinary hospital

Lawrence-Dill grew up in a small town in west Texas. She earned her bachelor’s degree in biology at Hendrix College in Arkansas, master’s degree in biology from Texas Tech University and a doctorate in botany from the University of Georgia.

She replaces James Pritchett, who was named CSU’s Vice President for Engagement and Extension in January.

Reporter Kelly Lyell covers education, breaking news, some sports and other topics of interest for the Coloradoan. Contact him at  [email protected] , x.com/KellyLyell and   facebook.com/KellyLyell.news .