Rachel Stagg Bio 101 Photosynthesis Lab Report I. Introduction a.

Photosynthesis is the way that plants produce their food; they are photoautotrophs, meaning they use light to make their own food. Photosynthesis takes place in the chloroplasts, where solar energy is absorbed, water is absorbed, and oxygen is released (Mader, 2012). In the Calvin cycle, carbon dioxide is reduced to a carbohydrate, which the plants use for food (Mader, 2012). In this experiment, we used an elodea plant, and placed it behind a beaker of cold water, with a heat lamp on the other side. The purpose of the cold water was to block the heat from the lamp, but not the light. The solar energy should be absorbed by the elodea, and oxygen should be produced, moving up the stopper. When the water moves up the stopper, we should be able to measure the amount of photosynthesis occurring. b. Hypothesis: If the tube with the elodea uses the light source as expected, then oxygen should be created, forcing water up the stopper, but in the control, no oxygen (or very little) should be produced because there is no elodea plant to utilize the light source. Materials and Controls a. For the photosynthesis experiment we used: i. Test tube and test tube rack ii. Rubber stopper iii. Elodea plant iv. 150 Watt Lamp v. Beaker full of cold water vi. Sodium Bicarbonate vii. Ruler b. The control: i. A second test tube with sodium bicarbonate, but without the elodea plant was placed behind the beaker of water and the heat lamp. Ideally, no oxygen should be produced, making this a negative control. Data and Results Test Tube Distance moved (mm) With Elodea Plant 30 mm Control Test Tube 30 + mm Our results showed that the test tube that contained the Elodea plant moved about 30 mm up the stopper, and the control tube, which was not supposed to move far, moved at least 30 mm.

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Conclusion

Rachel Stagg Bio 101 Photosynthesis Lab Report Photosynthesis is a reaction that occurs inside the chloroplast with the equation: CO2 + H2O (CH2O) + O2. In this lab, the purpose was to figure out how much photosynthesis was occurring in the test tubes with the elodea plant and the control. Based on the experiment, the group found that our hypothesis was not fully supported by the results of the experiment. The test tube that served as the negative control contained no elodea plant, and therefore shouldve produced no (or little to no) oxygen. This means that when our control group did in fact appear to produce as much oxygen as the experimental group, we did something wrong. It is unclear exactly what went wrong in the control group, because all the conditions were kept the same. The same 150 watt lamp was used, there was the same beaker of cold water placed in front of the lamp so that only the light shone through, not the heat. The group even added new cold water because the old beaker of water had warmed up from the light being shone on it for ten straight minutes. Since the standards were kept the same, the idea that the control produced as much oxygen gas as the elodea plant did is flawed. The group mustve done something wrong, and the experiment would have to be performed over again from the start to ascertain where exactly it went wrong. To make sure the results were being read correctly, the group performed the control experiment twice to make sure that we were free of errors. Both times we performed the experiment, it resulted in the same way. The control group moved 30 millimeters, the same distance as the test tube containing elodea plant. This means that it wasnt necessarily an error on the group, but it couldve been an error from the lab equipment or several other things. If the experiment were to be performed again, some of the steps of the procedure should be changed to make sure the results are more likely to show what they should. For example, instead of using one stopper for both the test tubes, two stoppers need to be acquired so that they can be run at the same time and the results would be more accurate. Also, the experiment should still be done twice to ensure neither of the stoppers moved for reasons other than oxygen production. From the experiment my group performed, we know that a good deal of oxygen is produced in a short amount of time by the chloroplasts inside the plants. This is very useful to plants because they cant scavenge for their food, they have to make it themselves, and photosynthesis for them is survival. Though the group is still unsure of why the control test tube appeared to

Rachel Stagg Bio 101 Photosynthesis Lab Report produce so much oxygen, we think that the rest of the experiment was successful because it showed us how much oxygen all plants, even those who live underwater, can produce. All plants have very quick rates of photosynthesis, and this experiment showed us that.

References Mader, S. S. (n.d.). Laboratory Manual for Bio 101L. The McGraw Hills Companies, Inc.