Exercise 1: Plant Life Cycle – From Seed to Seed

Exercise 2: Plant Growth, Development, and Movement

Phototropism:

Shoot has a positive tropism towards light

Root has a negative tropism towards light

Light
Shoot: +
Root: -

Gravity
Shoot: -
Root: +

Plants respond directly to Earth’s gravitational attraction, and

also to light. Stems grow upward, or away from the
center of Earth, and towards light. Roots grow downward,
or towards the center of Earth, and away from light. These
responses to external stimuli are called tropisms. Plants’
growth response to gravity is known as gravitropism; the
growth response to light is phototropism. Both tropisms are
controlled by plant growth hormones.

Under normal light conditions auxins are spread out in the plant. But when sunlight varies, auxin is broken down on the
sunnier side of the stem. The higher concentration of auxin on the shady side causes the plant cells on that side to grow
more so it bends toward the light.