Abstract (may mga inedit kami tungkol sa pagpresent ng discussion para mas concise at mga treated data lang

ipakita, yung raw data sa appendix na) The experiment aims to describe the distribution of growth in plant organs of a seedling. The three organs described are the roots, leaves and stem. For the roots, five germinated mung beans were mark with ten 2-mm divisions on their root tips and were placed in the dark. The divisions were measured after 48 hours and changes were noted. It was found that the growth was maximum at the tip of the root. The same method was applied to the stem of four germinated seedlings with same length. It was determined that the maximum growth was at the tip of the stem. For the leaves, the areas of five germinated mung bean plants were obtained by tracing the leaf on graphing paper. This was done again after 48 and 72 hours and the changes in areas were obtained. Maximum growth of the leaves was found to be throughout the whole leaf. Methodology Fifteen mung beans were germinated for 2 days. Five out of fifteen seedlings, with straight primary roots measuring about 2-3 cm long, were selected. By supporting the roots with moistened filter paper and cardboard, ten 2-mm divisions were marked carefully using fine point marker starting from the tip of each root. This procedure was done quickly and cautiously so as not to dry out or injure the roots of the seedlings. The marked seedlings were then laid on moistened filter paper supported by the walls along the sides of the jar. The walls of the jar were also lined with moistened filter paper and tissue, making sure that the roots of all the seedlings kept inside the jar adheres to the moistened filter paper and tissue. The whole jar was covered with Manila paper to ensure that the set-up will absorb minimum light, and it was kept in a dark area for 48 hours. The seedlings are kept in the dark to ensure that the main source of nutrients only comes from the roots, and that the leaves are capturing no light energy. After 48 hours, the distances between the marks on the roots were measured. All the divisions were measured, with the first division starting from the tip of the root labeled as Division 1. The same procedure of measurement was applied for all the seedlings. For the leaves, five 5 day old seedlings having the same length were selected. Ten 2-mm divisions were also marked on the stem near the tip or the base. These were then placed in a dark area and divisions were measured after 48 hours. The average was also obtained the same way as with the roots. Five bean plants with primary leaves were traced against a graphing paper and the area of each leaf was determined. The same method was done and the measuring was done after 48 and 72 hours. The changes in area were determined.

Results and Discussion To determine the distribution of growth of the root of mung beans, the length of each division marked on the primary root of each seedling after 48 hours in the dark are measured and compared with the initial length. By controlling the amount of light being absorbed by the plant while keeping them in the dark, then the growth of the plant is only dependent on the ability of the roots to absorb nutrients from its surroundings. Also, by depriving the seeds from enough light, they tend to grow roots rapidly because of its importance in absorption of water and minerals from the substrate as soon as possible. The average increase in the length for each division for all five seedlings against the distance from the tip of the root is also illustrated in Figure 1. (Pakilagay nung graph nung sa roots, nadelete ko nung nag eedit ako eh. ) Among the 10 divisions for all five seedlings, it has been observed that the tip of the root marked at Division 1 has the greatest increase in length (64.4 mm) after 48 hours, followed by Division 2 (2.6 mm) and 4 (2.4 mm), respectively. The rest of the divisions did not exhibit any increase in length within 48 hours, so it can be concluded that within this span of time these parts of the root that are farther from the tip had the least growth as compared to the first two divisions, which are specifically the tip itself. With these results, it has been found that root growth is usually concentrated at the tip part of the root. As for mongo seedlings, it occurs within 4 mm from the tip of the primary roots. This observation is due to the meristematic activity of the tip or the root. Meristematic cells primarily form new cells by mitosis. As this kind of cells is found on the tip of the root, this portion or division of the root is therefore the most expected part to have the largest increase in length among all the divisions. Beyond the root tip is an area where cell elongation occurs after cell division. Cells in this area are no longer dividing, but they are growing longer to push the root tip deeper into the substrate. This could explain the slight increase in length of divisions 2 and 4, where the cells from mitotic division elongate. For the other divisions, no change in length has been observed after 48 hours, thus these areas could be where most cells have already differentiated. Differentiated cells are mature cells that are specialized to perform their respective functions. No increase in size is observed as most differentiated cells lose their ability to divide by mitosis. (paki note na lang yung reference na ginamit niyo ditto, ) Figure 2 below summarizes the data obtained from the stem part of the experiment. From the graph, it can be observed that there is a general trend between the elongation of the divisions and the distance from the stem tip. It can be noted that the divisions nearer the tip show greater growth or elongation than those much farther.

Figure 2. Average elongation of divisions against distance of division from shoot tip The shoot tip contains the shoot apical meristem which contains cells that has the ability to divide and differntiate. Such division is known as the primary growth. Primary growth is responsible for the elongation of the plant. (Campbell, 2009) The leaf is the organ of the plant which derives from the finger-like leaf primordia. This structure is found on the sides of the apical meristem.For differentiated leaves, their ground tissues are genererally called mesophylls. These are made up of parenchyma cells that specializes in photosynthesis for further growth. The leaf grows by mitosis of its cells. This growth is different from the other plant organs because of lack of localization. The growth involves the widening and elongation of the whole organ while for the stem and root, only the tips with meristematic cells are used for elongation. The figure below shows the comparison of leaf area over 5 days with 2 day intervals of measuring. It can be observed that there is an increase in the area of all leaf samples as the time for growth increases. (Campbell, 2009)

Figure 3. Comparision of Area of Leaf samples measured with 2 days interval