2. Use your light sensor to take a light intensity reading at the base of your plant. Make sure when you are taking a light intensity reading that you are always holding the sensor so that it is the same height from the ground and pointing directly up. Also be careful not to block the sensor with your body. This will ensure that you can compare light intensity readings across your different sample locations.
3. Record the light intensity reading on your diagram.
4. Repeat steps 2 & 3 at each of your sample locations making your way from directly under the plant to out from under the shade of the plant.
5. Try making the light intensity map again on a day with different weather at the same time of day as your original map.
a. Try making the map at a different time of day. Do you notice any differences in the light intensity as the weather/time changes?
Reflection
1. Look at the light intensity map that you just created. Are there any patterns you can see?
2. How does the light intensity vary as you move from the base of the plant to out from underneath it?
3. Look closely at the plant you selected and make a note of the type of leaves the plant has and how those leaves might affect your light intensity readings.
4. If you created the same map underneath a different type of plant how do you think the light intensity readings would change?
5. How do you think the weather and time of day might affect the light intensity underneath your plant?
6. Can you identify any new leaves on the plant you chose? Where are those leaves growing in relation to the plant as a whole? Where are the leaving growing in relation to your sample sites? Can you think of any connections between the location of the new leaves and your light intensity measurements?
7. If you were going to plant a new plant close to the one you are observing, where would you plant it? Would you plant it underneath your original plant? Why or why not?