Different types of lights have been used to increase the growth of various plants. Our experiment tested whether LED or fluorescent lights produce plants with larger root length and higher germination rates. Fluorescent lights, which emit heat, some noise, and consume more energy, and use light that is not as concentrated as the light of the LED lights. LED lights use about 10% of the energy of fluorescent lights, are a more concentrated light source, and can last for a significant number of years more than the fluorescent lights. Effects of LED and Fluorescent Lights on Growth of Arabidopsis Kevin O’Quinn, Mesha Arant, Jordan Ball, and T.J. White Department of Biology, Wofford College, Spartanburg, SC Introduction Materials and Methods Results and Findings Hypothesis LED growing plates will allow the plants to grow quicker and larger. The percent germinated will be greater under the LED growing lights rather than underneath the florescent lights. Materials 48 Arabidopsis seeds Growing Plates Fluorescent Growing Lights and LED Growing Plates Agar Pipettes Tape Methods 0.8% Agar was placed into 6 growing plates and were left to set. Three plates were designated for the LED lights, and three were designated for the fluorescent lights. 8 seeds were placed in each growing plate. The plates were sealed and placed in a vertical position under the LED and Fluorescent lights. The distance from the lights to the plants was 33.65cm. They were maintained with a photoperiod of 16 hours of light and 8 hours of darkness each day. Germination rates and root length were measured each week of the experiment. Discussion Status of Hypothesis Plants that were grown under LED lights (n=24) had smaller root lengths than plants that were grown under fluorescent light (n=24). The germination rate, not shown, was not statistically relevant (Chi-square (dF=1)=0.137; p=.712). After looking at the growth rate from Week 1to Week 2, we found, using a variable-selection procedure and found that root length yielded the best results. Analyzing the variable using F df=1,36 =11.8; p=.002. with this we concluded that the Fluorescent lights grew the roots of the Arabidopsis longer than the LED light panel. LED growing plates did not produce plants with longer root lengths nor higher germination rates. Root Length of Plants under Fluorescent and LED lights Our experiment showed that fluorescent lights produced plants with longer roots than the LED light panel. The size of the roots that were grown by the Fluorescent lights had a considerable size advantage over the LED lights. Of course, one of the drawbacks of the Fluorescent lights is that they require a lot more energy to work than the LED’s. The LED’s use only about 10% of the energy of the Fluorescent. One of the things that might have affected the results was the height from the light source to the plants. Because the LED panel consisted of blue and red diodes, the chance that moving it either closer or farther from the plants may have optimized the productivity of the light panel. Either way, in this experiment, the Fluorescent lights grew the roots longer than the LED light panel. The chart shows the average growth of the roots of the two treatment groups. Along the x-axis is the treatment while on the y-axis is the length it grew. The circles show the average length while the error bars show 95% confidence intervals. Explanation of Graph