There has been an experiment conducted by K. S. Rathore and A. Goldsworthy and they applied direct current of about a millionth of an ampere to cells of tobacco plants. The plants grew callus other than normal cells. It became noticeable after ten days and was very obvious by the twenty-second day. ''The effect was dependent on the direction of the current,'' the scientists reported. When the callus was negative the growth rate stimulated by seventy percent and then it was reversed, it was “slightly inhibitory”. it was concluded that although normal cells did not grow due to the electricity, there was a different kind of growth. So the electricity had an effect on the plant.

A beet, also known as garden beet, blood turnip or red beet is a vegetable with much vitamin A and vitamin C. This experiment will observe the reactions on beet plant cells when different amounts of electricity are added to them. From the review of research, it has been discovered that the phloem tissues contain cells that transport sugars and nutrition to the places where growth is occurring in the plant (Spanswick 2006). So as the beet is electrocuted, the cells will release glucose into the water and it will be measured with Other experimenters concluded that the plant will brown Glucose Test Strips to observe whether the different voltages caused more glucose to be released.

Independent Variable: Electricity

Dependent Variable: color of beets Control: the beet that had no electricity

added to it

Levels AA 1.5 Volts 6 Volts 9 VoltsTrials 3 3 3 3

Beets Bowls Alligator Wires Copper Wire Batteries Knife Water Glucose Test Strips

  Cut beets into slices Pour half a cup of water into a bowl Stick one end of the copper wire into the beet and place

the beet into the bowl of water On the other end of the copper wire, clip on the alligator

wire and clip the other side of the alligator wires onto the battery

Time for approximately ten minutes Place a beet into water without After the ten minutes, remove the clips from the battery Remove copper wire from beet Dip Glucose Test Strip into each cup and observe color Repeat for every trial

AA 3 6 9 0trial 1 3 4 6 8 2trial 2 2 3 7 9 1trial 3 1 2 5 7 2

Shades of Yellow

*The shades of yellow are rated on a scale of 1-10; one being the lightest yellow and ten being the darkest yellow.

CONTROL

The purpose of this experiment was to prove that the higher the voltage added to a beet, the more glucose released into the water. In the experiment, the higher the voltage, the more glucose was released from the cell membranes. The lowest amount of voltage released the lowest amount of glucose. The experiment supported the hypothesis because the higher voltage released the most glucose from the cell membranes and vice versa. It would be helpful to have higher amounts of electricity added to the beets.

"ELECTRICITY MAY PLAY ROLE IN PLANT GROWTH - NYTimes.com." The New York Times - Breaking News,

World News & Multimedia. 09 Apr. 1985. Web. 29 Sept. 2010. <http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?>