Photosynthesis

John Ciubuc Biology 1107 22673 7.4.12

Introduction Almost all organisms on Earth require oxygen in order to live, and it is due to plants that such an abundant supply of oxygen exists. But how does oxygen and plants relate to one another? The answer is quite simple, and that is photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process in which plants combine carbon dioxide, water, and light to produce glucose and oxygen. The glucose is used as an energy storage molecule, in which the plant can use to carry out its functions. The oxygen however, is the waste of the photosynthesis reaction and therefore released to the environment, where other organisms that require oxygen can obtain it and use it for their own needs. The purpose of this experiment is to see the process of photosynthesis being carried out right before us, and to see how exterior conditions will affect the rate of reaction of photosynthesis. My group believed that the more light exposure there is to the plant cells, the higher the rate of reaction will be for the photosynthesis. In short, more oxygen will be generated by the plant group that has more light compared to the group that doesn't have enough light. To carry out this experiment, we will have three plant cell groups, one having extra light, one at room light, and one with very low light (will be placed in the drawer) and we will determine which group would be the most successful with the light conditions that it exists in.

Materials and Methods We used the following materials in our experiment: Humidified Spinach Leaves Small Test Tubes Three Petri Dishes Bicarbonate solution 100ml Beaker A Drawer A Heat Lamp A Vacuum Device

Photosynthesis

John Ciubuc Biology 1107 22673 7.4.12

Pencil Paper The first step to our experiment is to create approximately 30 spinach disks. The way that I did

it was to place 5 spinach leaves on top of one another and use a test tube to cut out 30 spinach disks (by placing 5 leaves, I would only need to get 6 cuts, 6 x 5 = 30 disks). Once the desired amount of disks were achieved, they were given to the TA in order for the TA to extract the residue oxygen remaining in the spinach disks. When the oxygen is extract, the disks will be denser than the solution it'll be placed in, therefore we can see if photosynthesis works due to the fact that if it works, more oxygen is produced, resulting in the disks to float once more (because oxygen is less dense than the solution). To extract the oxygen, the TA poured a bicarbonate solution in the vacuum device and placing the spinach disks in the solution. The reason why bicarbonate solution was chosen is because it enhances the rate in which oxygen will be extracted out form the leaves. Once the spinach and bicarbonate solution was ready, the TA began the vacuum device. By using the vacuum device, there would be less air pressure pressing upon the solution allowing the oxygen gas in the spinach disks to escape more easily. During the vacuum process, we prepared three petri dishes consisting of the same bicarbonate solution. By using the bicarbonate solution for the petri dishes, we supply the CO2 that is required for photosynthesis to be carried out. We labeled the three dishes as light, room, and dark. Once the TA was finished extracting the oxygen from the spinach disks, we were almost ready to begin our photosynthesis experiment. We took our 30 spinach disks and placed 10 of each within each petri dish that was filled with the bicarbonate solution. We recorded the fact that none of the spinach disks were floating, and that there were 10 of each in each petri dish. We then placed the light petri dish under a heating lamp, the room petri dish was untouched and left on the counter, and the dark petri dish was placed in a

Photosynthesis

John Ciubuc Biology 1107 22673 7.4.12

drawer. After 30 minutes, we retrieved the petri dishes, noted how many disks were floating, recorded our observations, and arrived to a conclusion.

Graphs and Tables

Table 1. Before and after measurements of spinach disks floating along with percentage

Results and Discussion For our results, it can be seen from the graph above. Considering that photosynthesis in plants produce oxygen, and that oxygen is less dense than the bicarbonate solution, and if the spinach disks contain oxygen that they will float, we can see the photosynthesis procedure at work here. By using the vacuum mechanisms to remove all oxygen in the disks, they were all denser than the solution therefore remaining at the bottom of the petri dish. However after 30 minutes some of the disks were floating once again, therefore we can make the assumption that photosynthesis did indeed take place in the disks and we can see the results before us. Considering that photosynthesis requires light in order to work, it does not come to a surprise that the petri dish labeled dark resulted in no disks floating. Therefore we can make the observation that little to no photosynthesis took place under the dark condition giving the grand result of 0% of disks remaining afloat. For the next petri dish labeled room, photosynthesis did take place with a result of 20% of the disks remaining afloat. This did come to a surprise that such a small amount of disks remained afloat in a well lit room, but when taking into consideration that the room light is not focused on a single point but instead it is very much diffused, it would make sense as to why only 20% of the disks remaining afloat. Therefore for the room condition petri dish, out of 10, only 2 disks produced enough oxygen to float in the bicarbonate solution. Finally we arrive to the light petri dish which was placed right under a heating lamp. An astonishing 70% of disks were afloat in the solution which is quite a large margin compared to the dark and room petri dishes.

Photosynthesis

John Ciubuc Biology 1107 22673 7.4.12

Considering the light was very much focused, the light quota required for photosynthesis to complete was well achieved in the light petri dish therefore giving us 7 afloat disks out of a total of 10. Conclusion The purpose of this experiment was to see photosynthesis, one of the most important functions for every day life, in action before us. By preparing three separate petri dishes under different light conditions, we can see how light affects photosynthesis and the production of oxygen from the petri dishes. When there is little to no light, photosynthesis also becomes little to nonexistent. This was proven with the dark petri dish where no disks were found floating in the end. As for the room dish, some disks were afloat, however there seemed to not be enough light required for photosynthesis to be carried out, therefore only a small number of 20% of the disks were afloat. However in the case of the light dish, who had a very strong, direct light source, a huge number of disks were floating and that was 70%. We can observe that that condition was almost optimal for the light petri dish. Our hypothesis that if there is more light, more disks will be floating (due to higher rates of photosynthesis) was indeed proven true as more disks were afloat when there was more light available. With this experiment, we could observe and measure one of the most vital functions that allows us to live every day and see the relationship between plants and oxygen that happens everyday across the world.

Photosynthesis

John Ciubuc Biology 1107 22673 7.4.12

References: Saleh Suha, M. Topics in study of life: Laboratory manual . 1. El Paso, TX: Pearson Custom Publishing, 2004.