A student investigated the effect of root space on plant growth. The student grew two 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 plants in Group A were grown in cube-shaped containers that were 3 centimeters deep. The plants in Group B were grown in cube-shaped containers that were 10 centimeters deep. The table shows the student's observations

Question

Week	Plant Group A (Average Height, cm)	Plant Group B (Average Height, cm)
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 student's investigation?  Use the data from the table to support your answer.  Explain how you would know whether this effect was likely due to environmental or genetic factors.

(2 points)

GPT-4o mini · Answer

Based on the student's investigation, it is evident that the depth of root space significantly affected plant growth. Group A, which was grown in 3-centimeter deep containers, showed a steady but slower growth compared to Group B, which was grown in 10-centimeter deep containers. The average heights by the end of the experiment were 10 cm for Group A and 18 cm for Group B, indicating that the plants with deeper root space (Group B) grew taller and healthier, achieving an average growth of 8 cm more than those with shallower roots.

This difference suggests that the greater root space available in Group B allowed for better root development, which likely contributed to improved nutrient and water uptake, ultimately facilitating greater overall growth.

To determine whether this effect was primarily due to environmental or genetic factors, one could conduct a controlled experiment where both groups use the same genetic variety of plants and grow them under completely identical environmental conditions. If similar patterns of growth were observed across multiple trials with different plant varieties in similar root space conditions, it would suggest environmental factors (in this case, root depth) are the primary influence. Conversely, if different plant varieties responded variably to root depth, it might indicate that genetic factors could also play a role in growth responses.