Laboratory Guide - Exercise 1

University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College Zoo 120.
1 Animal Physiology Laboratory

Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics
University of the Philippines Visayas

TACLOBAN COLLEGE
BOT 121.1 – Elementary Plant Physiology Laboratory

Second Semester AY 2022-2023
Exercise 1: Seed Germination, Seedling Growth, and Gross Composition of Plants
LABORATORY GUIDE
Introduction
Welcome to Laboratory Guide 1 of BOT 121.1.
Seed Germination and Seedling Growth
Many mature seeds enter a period of inactivity, or extremely low metabolic activity: a process
known as dormancy, which may last for months, years or even centuries. Dormancy helps
keep seeds viable during unfavorable conditions. Germination occurs when the embryo, which
is dormant within a mature seed, resumes growth upon a return to favorable conditions. The
embryo becomes a young seedling that is no longer confined within the seed coat.
The requirements for germination depend on the species. Common environmental

requirements include light, the proper temperature, presence of oxygen, and presence of
water. Seeds of small-seeded species usually require light as a germination cue. This ensures
the seeds only germinate at or near the soil surface (where the light is greatest). If they were
to germinate too far underneath the surface, the developing seedling would not have enough
food reserves to reach the sunlight.
In this exercise, only the effect of temperature on seed germination and seedling growth will
be performed due to the limitations to access the laboratory facilities.
Gross Composition of Plants
Plants are composed of water, carbon-containing organics, and non-carbon-containing

inorganic substances such as potassium and nitrogen.
Since plants require nutrients in the form of elements such as carbon and potassium, it is
important to understand the chemical composition of plants. The majority of volume in a plant
cell is water; it typically comprises 80 to 90 percent of the plant’s total weight. Soil is the water
source for land plants. It can be an abundant source of water even if it appears dry. Plant roots
absorb water from the soil through root hairs and transport it up to the leaves through the
xylem. As water vapor is lost from the leaves, the process of transpiration and the polarity of
water molecules (which enables them to form hydrogen bonds) draws more water from the
roots up through the plant to the leaves. Plants need water to support cell structure, for
metabolic functions, to carry nutrients, and for photosynthesis.
1
University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College Zoo 120.1 Animal Physiology Laboratory
Learning Outcomes
After studying this module, you should be able to:

1. have an overview of the environmental requirements (i.e. temperature) on seed
germination and seedling growth; and
2. compute the moisture, dry matter, organic matter, and ash contents of plant tissue
samples.
Study Schedule
This module should be completed on February 24, 2023. There are two activities, which will
take about 3 hours for you to complete as shown in the table.
Activity Number Task Allotted Time
Activity 1 Perform Exercise 2 3 hours
Activity 2 Writing of Laboratory Report 3 hours
Now proceed with Activity 1 below and the rest of the module.
Activity 1 (3 hours)
A. Seed Germination and Seedling Growth: Effect of Temperature

1. Prepare three containers (or petri dishes) lined with paper towel (instead of filter
paper) and moistened with 10 mL of water. Sow ten uniformly-sized seeds in
each container.
2. Set one at room temperature, another one inside the refrigerator and expose
the third to direct sunlight.
3. Record the percentage germination and average length of the hypocotyl-root
axis after two days.
Germination Mean length of the hypocotyl-root

Treatment
(%) axis (cm)
Room temperature
Low temperature
(Refrigerator)
High temperature
(Exposed to direct
sunlight/oven)
2
B. Gross Composition of Plants

This involves three phases: (i) preparation of the plant materials; combustion/
dry ashing; and calculation of percentage for water, dry matter, ash, and organic
matter.
1. Preparation of plant materials:
Bring any herbaceous plant (include leaves, stems and roots) to the laboratory.
Identify the common names, scientific name and classify the family of the
specimen. Remove dead, damaged leaves and adhering soil particles. Clean
and carefully blot excess water using a blotting paper or tissue. Weigh 30 grams
for each plant organs before placing the samples in the oven at 70oC for three
days. After drying, reweight. Make sure that the weighs are constant.
Set aside 10 grams of leaves and stems, and 4 grams of roots.
2. Combustion and ashing process

Burn the leaves by placing them on wire gauze on top of a tripod. Flame the
leaves using a bunsen burner until they turned into ash. Stir samples using a
glass rod until they become grayish white, carbon- free ash. Let the samples to
cool down before placing them into a pre-weighed container. Weigh samples.
The ash weight is determined by getting the difference between the weight of
the container plus the ash and the weight of the container alone. To determine
the weight of the organic matter, subtract the ash weight to the dry weight of the
sample. Repeat the same procedure for the stems and the roots.
3. Computation for the percentage of water, dry matter, ash, and organic matter.
Use the following formulas:
organic matter = DW - AW
% water = Fresh weight (FW) – Dry weight (DW) x 100

FW
% dry matter = DW x 100
FW
% ash = Ash weight (AW) x 100
FW
% organic matter = DW - AW x 100
FW
4. Record data
Leaves Stems Roots Total
Fresh weight (g)
Dry weight (g)
Ash weight (g)
Organic matter (g)
% water*
% dry matter*
% organic matter*
% ash*
3
% water of the whole plant

% dry matter of the whole plant
% organic matter of the whole
plant
% ash of the whole plant
*Show your formulas and computations for:

1) % water
2) % dry matter
3) % organic matter
4) % ash
Activity 2 (3 hours)
A. Write a complete handwritten laboratory report (Introduction, Materials and Methods

(schematic diagram), Results and Discussion, Conclusion, References. Include in the
discussion your answers to the following questions:
1. Which is more reliable basis for expressing results in plant analysis, fresh
weight, or dry weight? Why?
2. In preparation of the plant materials, care must be taken not to press hard on
the plant materials while blotting dry using the absorbent paper (before
measuring the fresh weight and drying). Why?
References
Alejar, A. et. al. 2009. Laboratory Manual in Elementary Plant Physiology. 4th Edition.
Institute of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines
Los Baňos College, Laguna, Philippines.
Morrow, M. H., Maria, & Algiers, K. (2021, June 13). Germination. Retrieved June 20, 2021,
from https://bio.libretexts.org/@go/page/32044.
The Chemical Composition of Plants. (2021, March 6). Retrieved June 20, 2021, from
https://bio.libretexts.org/@go/page/13779

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University of the Philippines Visayas Tacloban College Zoo 120.

1 Animal Physiology Laboratory

University of the Philippines Visayas

BOT 121.1 – Elementary Plant Physiology Laboratory

Exercise 1: Seed Germination, Seedling Growth, and Gross Composition of Plants

Welcome to Laboratory Guide 1 of BOT 121.1.

Seed Germination and Seedling Growth

The requirements for germination depend on the species. Common environmental

Gross Composition of Plants

Plants are composed of water, carbon-containing organics, and non-carbon-containing

After studying this module, you should be able to:

Activity Number Task Allotted Time

Activity 1 Perform Exercise 2 3 hours

Activity 2 Writing of Laboratory Report 3 hours

A. Seed Germination and Seedling Growth: Effect of Temperature

Germination Mean length of the hypocotyl-root

B. Gross Composition of Plants

2. Combustion and ashing process

% water = Fresh weight (FW) – Dry weight (DW) x 100

% water of the whole plant

*Show your formulas and computations for:

A. Write a complete handwritten laboratory report (Introduction, Materials and Methods

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