1. Observations
Marika Criss

2. Observations
This experiment is a collection of observations
of changes taking place in different
plants, under different conditions in
Tallahassee, Florida, March – April 2009
1. Trees growing their leaves in sunlight, and shade
2. Color changes in grass
3.How long can tulips survive in virtually no sunlight, one in
water, one without water, and one in salt solution

3. March 5, 2009
Tallahassee, FL
This deciduous tree has
dropped its leaves for the
winter. In the fall, growth-
inhibiting hormones build up
at the base of the leaves, the
abscission layer, making the
cells soft, and eventually so
soft that the leaves fall off.

4. March 5, 2009
Tallahassee, FL
Trees, like other plants, have three
growth promoter hormones, and two
growth-inhibitors.
The hormone levels depend on the day
length and the temperature. Thus, in
the spring the longer days and higher
temperatures make the trees produce
more growth-promoting hormones, and
the shorter and colder days in the fall
and winter promote the producing of
growth-inhibiting hormones.

5. Sunlight vs Shade
Begins March 6, 2009
In the shade
Exposed to sun most of the day

6. March 8, 2009
Tallahassee, FL
After the days got longer, and
after just a few warmer
days, buds can clearly be
observed.
The buds are actually covered
in protective scales, which
expand as the leaves inside
start to grow.

7. March 8, 2009
Tallahassee, FL
The trees here are shaded by the
bigger trees, and have not been
exposed to as much light, and the
temperature in the shade is surely
lower as well, and thus the budding
has not advanced as far.
The plants around the little trees are
mostly plants that did not drop their
leaves for the winter, or grow better in
the shade.

8. March 10, 2009
Tallahassee, FL
Some of the buds have turned into
flowers. Interestingly, this seems to
happen on the lower, and side
branches of the tree, instead of the
top. So, I hypothesized that either the
lower branches get more nutrients, or
that the top parts in fact get too much
light, or wind, and the early leaves are
sensitive to those factors.

9. March 10, 2009
Tallahassee, FL
The tree here in the shade, although
hard to spot, right in the middle of the
picture, has yet to even show clear
budding.

10. March 12, 2009
Tallahassee, FL
Blooming flowers Still just a skeleton

11. March 14, 2009
Tallahassee, FL
Experienced some cold weather, and it
seems as though the progress has
slowed down a little bit. However, now
the entire tree is covered in flowers.

12. March 14, 2009
Tallahassee, FL
The trees in the shade have yet to
make progress, and are probably also
affected by the cold weather.

13. March 18, 2009
Sunlight Shade

14. March 21, 2009
Tallahassee, FL
The bottom parts have now turned
into green leaves. How this transition
from flowers to leaves happens is
unclear. However, following a trend
here, the bottom parts have
developed earlier. Which is interesting,
because later on one would think that
they have a disadvantage being on the
lower branches, and shaded by the
higher ones.

15. March 21, 2009
Tallahassee, FL
Although not clear from the picture,
the skeleton of a tree is finally showing
some buds. They are small, but they
are there.

16. March 21, 2009
Tallahassee, FL
Today I finally realized, that the trees
in the sunlight and shade were not the
same trees at all. Which almost
defeats the purpose of comparing
them. What fooled me, was that
without the leaves, they looked almost
identical. But then I noticed a tree
nearby, and realized the trees I had
been recording did in fact have slight
differences in coloration.
This tree is the same as in the shade.
Which made me conclude that
whatever type tree this is, is not
meant to grow in the shade, because
the difference between this and the
one in the shade is enormous.

17. March 24, 2009
Tallahassee, FL
The coloration looks more like The shade trees are starting to grow leaves. This
what it would be in the fall tree does not grow flowers first.

18. Tallahassee, FL
After a few days of rain, overnight, it seemed, the trees blossomed.
March 25 April 3

19. Tallahassee, FL
April 3
March 25 Not as clear here, but a difference can be seen

20. TREES

21. Observations
GRASS
• The grass in the area where observed is not in
any way taken care of, it is just let to grow.
However, it does suffer from damage caused by
the many animals, such as dogs and cats, living in
the area.
• This lawn grass is most likely a warm season
grass, since its peak growth occurred after some
days of a temperature of approximately 25°C, and
due to lack of enough warm days, it has yet to
have grown to its full potential

22. GRASS
March 7, 2009 April 3, 2009

23. GRASS

24. TULIPS
• These tulips were purchased from Walmart, as sale items, and thus they
had probably already been sitting there for a while before the experiment
• The tulips were placed in low light, in water, salt solution, and no water
• Hypothesis:
-Salt solution tulip dies first, because although plants do need some
salt, they need more than just sodium chloride, and the amount in the
water is much more than they would need. Also, after the salt gets sucked
up, the plant may use the water inside and around it, but the crystals of
salt will remain inside or on top of the plant causing damage.
-Second goes the one without water, because without water there is no
transportation within the plant. Also, photosynthesis needs water, and
since there is also very little light no energy is acquired.
• The pictures were taken within 36h of placing the tulips in their respective
jars.

25. TULIPS

26. TULIPS
• Indeed, the results this time seem to suggest
the hypothesis is accurate. Nevertheless the
reasons may be different than what I had
thought

27. Interesting
After filming, I let the tulips in the salt
solution sit for another few days.
The salt buildup on the leaves goes
along the lines of what I had predicted.
The cloudy water suggests the plant
has started to decompose.

28. Notes
• Due to rainy days some days went unrecorded
(trees and grass), and thus the results are not
as good as hoped