B3 - Methods of Measuring Growth

How is growth measured?

Well, there are three ways in which we measure the growth of plants and animals. These are;

• length
• wet mass
• dry mass

Each of these have benefits and drawbacks, as with most things.

How do we measure length?

You literally just measure the length of the plant or animal.

What are the advantages of this method?

It is quite easy to measure, as the method doesn't alter for a particular organism.

What are the disadvantages of this method?

It doesn't tell you anything else about the organism, like the width, diameter, number of branches, number of legs, etc., and all of these things will tell us how it grows. Therefore, this method isn't that…