TITLE: What Plant Structures are the Most Important to the Intake/Transport of Water in Bean Plants

AUTHOR: Matthew Phaneuf

SCHOOL: Belchertown High School

SCHOOL ADDRESS: 62 North Washington Street, Belchertown, MA. 01007

Two experiments were completed. The first experiment was to determine which part of the bean plant played the greatest role in the intake of water. 32 test tubes were separated into 4 groups of 8, each containing 20 ml of water. Group 1 – (control) water only; Group 2 – water with only the root submerged; Group 3 –water with only stems submerged; and Group 4 – only leaves submerged. Each day the volume of water in tubes was measured to record water intake. I concluded that roots played the greatest role in water intake, followed by stems, and then leaves. Experiment two used the same basic set up as the first experiment, but the test tubes contained colored dye to allow for visual identification of how much water was transported in each plant structure. The distance that the dye traveled in the plant structures was measured each day. I concluded that the plant stems were the most important plant part for transport followed by roots and then leaves.