Elodea

In science class we did an experiment with plant cells and how they are effected by salt water.

Elodea 1

Before the salt water.

After the salt water.

When the salt water flows under the cover slip, the green color in the cell starts to get smaller, leaving a white space around each green spot. I think this happened because the water pushed away by the salt and without the water, the green space couldn't expand anymore. Maybe the outer boundary didn't collapse because it was held together by other outer boundaries, or the salt held it together. Plants wilt for this reason. When salt is poured on cells, they shrivel up like in the picture showed above. I think plants wilt without water because they need water to expand of fill their entire shape.

Elodea 2

Before the salt water

After the salt water

When the salt water flowed under the cover slip, a white substance formed in between each of the cells. I think this happened because when the salt water was poured on top of the plant, it filled in the empty spots in between each cell. The outer boundary of the cell didn't collapse because nothing in the plant cells shrivelled up.