| How does the amount of light affect the growth of grass? (I am in 6th grade and I am doing a science project that involves growing grass from seed.) |
| The amount of light affects the growth of grass--or of any green plant--by affecting the rate of photosynthesis. Plants "capture" the energy of the sun (or even artificial light) through a chemical process known as photosynthesis. Simply stated, the plants use the energy of sunlight to manufacture food. All life on earth depends in one way or another on this food, so photosysthesis is a very important process! With grass, usually, the more light you provide, the faster the grass will grow. That is, of course, if you provide adequate fertilizer, water, and a suitable growing medium like soil. An interesting "twist" to an experiment with light is to try growing plants under different colored lights. I once made a set-up using big clear plastic soda bottles. I cut the bottoms off and placed them over pots containing small seedlings. I then covered the soda bottles with different colors of cellophane, and observed which plants grew the fastest. It was really interesting! |
