lakeesha Hennessy Williams answered
Charles Darwin discovered that plants are affected by gravity. He found that the roots of plants are likely to grow towards gravity, whilst stems usually grow away from it.
Plants that are affected by gravity
Whilst it's pretty obvious why plants would want to grow towards sunlight (solar energy is their main source of nourishment), scientists still don't fully understand the mechanics behind gravity's influence on plant growth.
In fact, this is something that NASA are currently researching.
How does gravity effect the direction a plant grows? You may be wandering what 'on earth' NASA is doing researching plants - but that's exactly the point ... The plants are not on Earth.
NASA have been taking various plants with them on space journeys, storing them in completely dark environments, and observing how they grow when they're left in zero gravity. Gravitropic plants (ones that are drawn by gravity) are great to study in this setting.
So far, what scientists have managed to observe is that plants that usually grow towards the center of gravity form patterns when cultivated in the absence of gravitational pull.
An interesting article about moss grown on NASA spaceships can be found here.
Plants that are affected by gravity
Whilst it's pretty obvious why plants would want to grow towards sunlight (solar energy is their main source of nourishment), scientists still don't fully understand the mechanics behind gravity's influence on plant growth.
In fact, this is something that NASA are currently researching.
How does gravity effect the direction a plant grows? You may be wandering what 'on earth' NASA is doing researching plants - but that's exactly the point ... The plants are not on Earth.
NASA have been taking various plants with them on space journeys, storing them in completely dark environments, and observing how they grow when they're left in zero gravity. Gravitropic plants (ones that are drawn by gravity) are great to study in this setting.
So far, what scientists have managed to observe is that plants that usually grow towards the center of gravity form patterns when cultivated in the absence of gravitational pull.
An interesting article about moss grown on NASA spaceships can be found here.
