Photosynthesis lab report
Title:
Rate of Photosynthesis in Spinach
Purpose:
The purpose of this experiment is to determine the effect the carbon dioxide in baking soda will have on the rate of photosynthesis in spinach when placed in a de-oxygenated environment (underwater).
Hypothesis:
The spinach "coins" will photosynthesize in an environment that is stimulated with carbon dioxide, so the leaves in the plastic cup filled with the baking soda solution will float to the top, signaling photosynthesis.
Connection to Class Content: The rate of photosynthesis lab illustrates how photoautotrohs (such as spinach since spinach is a plant) photosynthesize to the effect of outside variables. This directly relates to the photosynthesis unit that we discussed a few months back, particularly with how plants make food (in processes that include phototropism (the organism itself growing in response to life) as well as light and dark dependent reactions. Photosynthesis is necessary since it's the process that synthesizes food from carbon dioxide and sunlight.
Rate of Photosynthesis in Spinach
Purpose:
The purpose of this experiment is to determine the effect the carbon dioxide in baking soda will have on the rate of photosynthesis in spinach when placed in a de-oxygenated environment (underwater).
Hypothesis:
The spinach "coins" will photosynthesize in an environment that is stimulated with carbon dioxide, so the leaves in the plastic cup filled with the baking soda solution will float to the top, signaling photosynthesis.
Connection to Class Content: The rate of photosynthesis lab illustrates how photoautotrohs (such as spinach since spinach is a plant) photosynthesize to the effect of outside variables. This directly relates to the photosynthesis unit that we discussed a few months back, particularly with how plants make food (in processes that include phototropism (the organism itself growing in response to life) as well as light and dark dependent reactions. Photosynthesis is necessary since it's the process that synthesizes food from carbon dioxide and sunlight.
Methods Summary Chart
Materials:
Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate)
Buffer Solution (Soap)
Plastic Syringe
Spinach leaves
Hole Punch
Plastic Cups
Timer (cell phone will suffice)
Light Source
Procedure:
1. Prepare close to 300 ml of the sodium bicarbonate solution in one cup
2. Prepare a control group cup filled with plain water
3. Add less than a tablespoon of soap to break surface tension in the solution
4. Make 10 leaf "coins" out of the spinach for each trial, but be sure to avoid any major plant veins.
5. Remove the plunger of the syringe barrel and place the coins into the syringe, mixed with the sodium bicarbonate solution.
6. While holding a finger over the syringe opening, create a vacuum in the capsule, sucking any available oxygen out of the plant cells, causing them to sink to the bottom of the syringe. (Repeat 2-3 times if necessary)
7. Pour disks and solution into bicarbonate cup
8. Put only the de-oxygenated spinach coins into control group cup (water and soap)
9. Place underneath a light source
10. At the end of each minute, record the number of disks at the top of the cup.
Baking Soda (Sodium Bicarbonate)
Buffer Solution (Soap)
Plastic Syringe
Spinach leaves
Hole Punch
Plastic Cups
Timer (cell phone will suffice)
Light Source
Procedure:
1. Prepare close to 300 ml of the sodium bicarbonate solution in one cup
2. Prepare a control group cup filled with plain water
3. Add less than a tablespoon of soap to break surface tension in the solution
4. Make 10 leaf "coins" out of the spinach for each trial, but be sure to avoid any major plant veins.
5. Remove the plunger of the syringe barrel and place the coins into the syringe, mixed with the sodium bicarbonate solution.
6. While holding a finger over the syringe opening, create a vacuum in the capsule, sucking any available oxygen out of the plant cells, causing them to sink to the bottom of the syringe. (Repeat 2-3 times if necessary)
7. Pour disks and solution into bicarbonate cup
8. Put only the de-oxygenated spinach coins into control group cup (water and soap)
9. Place underneath a light source
10. At the end of each minute, record the number of disks at the top of the cup.
Results: Though these were not the results that were obtained from our experiment, these would be ideal conditions. Our experiment was highly erroneous and resulted in zero spinach leaves rising, in fact, some of them even sunk once we stirred the water. Mirrored in the table are the ideal conditions and results from the experiment that indeed prove our hypothesis to be correct.
Our experimental results showed little to no change in either plastic cup, carbonated or not. Obviously, something occurred during the experimental process that tampered with our results. If the experiment had have gone according to plan, the results could have looked like such. As seen in
the example apparatus we were shown in class. This data proves our hypothesis
to be correct, as there is a steady increase of coin presence at the top of the
solution after time has been taken to undergo the process of photosynthesis. Trends highlighted within the data are as that time progresses the rate of photosynthesis slowly begins to increase until it assumably peaks at the end. Since we had a lot of error within our experiment and were unable to use our own data, we would keep better tabs on all of our materials and modalities for performing the experiment to ensure that conditions were similar to those of photosynthesizing plants.
Final Notes/ Conclusion:
With the addition of a carbon rich environment, the spinach leaves were able to maintain energy production and produce enough oxygen as a bi-product to float to the top of the cup.
With the addition of a carbon rich environment, the spinach leaves were able to maintain energy production and produce enough oxygen as a bi-product to float to the top of the cup.