A student investigated the effect of root space on plant growth the student group 2 groups of plants of the same variety. Both groups received the same amount of water and sunlight, and grew in the same type of soil. The plant and group a were grown in, cubed, shaped containers that were 3 cm deep. The plants in group B were grown in cube shaped containers that were 10 cm deep. The table shows the students observations.
Week, Plant group A, Plant Group B,
1. 2 3
2. 3 6
3. 5. 8
4. 7. 10
5. 8. 14
6. 10. 18
What was the effect of root space on plant growth based on the students investigation used to date from the table to support your answer explain how you would know whether this effect was likely due to environmental or genetic factors
Based on the observations in the table, it can be concluded that the plants in Group B, which had more root space with 10 cm deep containers, showed a higher rate of growth compared to Group A, which had only 3 cm deep containers.
This indicates that root space has a positive effect on plant growth. The plants in Group B grew taller and had more leaves compared to those in Group A.
To determine whether this effect is likely due to environmental or genetic factors, additional information or experiments would be needed. One way to investigate this further would be to repeat the experiment using plants of different varieties or genetic backgrounds but with the same environmental conditions (same amount of water, sunlight, and soil). If the plants of different varieties or genetic backgrounds still show a significant difference in growth based on root space, it would suggest that genetic factors are influencing the growth. On the other hand, if the growth difference disappears or becomes less significant with different varieties or genetic backgrounds, it would suggest that environmental factors play a major role.