Katlin and Naomie

Lab Section 5
Lab 4
September 13, 2017
Water concentration from the leaves in the tree species,
alnus rubra and gleditsia. triacanthos.

A. Scientific Method

We noticed that different tree species have different sized leaves that vary in length and

shape. This observation led to our question that asks does the size and shape of the leaf

affect the amount of water that is condensated? From our background knowledge, we

hypothesize that trees that have bigger leaves condensate more water vapor than trees

with smaller leaves because they have a bigger surface for the process to occur

(Westoboy & Wright, 2003). We predicted that if we compare 2 different sized leaves

from any two tree species, the tree with the bigger leaves will condensate more water

than the tree with smaller leaves.

B. Defined populations: The two populations that we are interested in are the albus rubra

and gleditsia triacanthos tree species that are found on the right side of the Stadium

Heights apartments in Mankato during September 2017.

C. Variables and Units

The independent variables in this experiment are the two types of tree species that each

leaf came from. Along with the independent variable, the dependent variable in this

experiment is the amount of water in mL that condensates out of the different sized tree

leaves. Both populations were held constant and controlled by using the same type of

bags that were wrapped around the leaves to collect the condensation. The amount of

leaves put in the bags were standardized as well. If these variables were not held

constant, then our measurements and data would no longer be reliable and accurate.

1
D. Methods

We found two different tree species that differed in leaf sizes. We found the trees near the

Stadium Heights Apartments and a total of 40 bags were gently secured to groups of

leaves. The number of leaves that were grouped together remained constant and the bags

were spread out evenly among the two trees. We visited the trees frequently to monitor

the experiment and to make sure that no outside factors had affected the experiment.

Observations were recorded at every visit starting September 14th until September 21st.

On the 7th day, we measured the amount of water that dripped into the bags in mL and

our data was analyzed by comparing the two sets of data with the calculations that we

preformed. We used the t-value between the two populations to compare and analyze the

results. We determined the significant difference by using an alpha-value of 0.05 in a t-

test.

E. Results

The confidence intervals for albus rubra and gleditsia triacanthos are 40.224 and 9.321.

(Table 1.1). Using a t-test, we can compare the mean amount of water condensation

between our two tree species; albus rubra and gleditsia triacanthos. In addition, we

found t-values of 2.12 and 2.16. Looking at our p-value which is 0.0249, we conclude

that it is less than 0.05, meaning there is a significant difference.

Katlin and Naomie
Lab Section 5
Lab 4
September 13, 2017

Table 1.1: Population names and statistics for each population.

Trees Mean Median DF SS S SD SE t95 (SE)

albus rubra 55.553 26 16 94012.03 5875.75 75.895 18.974 40.224
gledistia triacanthos 29.779 31.55 13 3147.14 242.008 15.559 4.3145 9.321

Figure 1.1: The mean amount of water concentration in leaves from albus rubra and

gleditsia triacanthos with 95% confidence interval represented as error bars.

Discussion:

3
Reference Page

Reference Cited: Westoby, M., & Wright, I. J. (2003). The leaf size - twig size spectrum

and its relationship to other important spectra of variation among species. Oecologia,

135(4), 621-8. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00442-003-1231-6