PHOTOSYNTHESIS SUMATIVE PROJECT PROBLEM:

How does doubling the amount of carbon dioxide from .5g of disodium carbonate dissolved in 100mL of water to 1g. dissolved in 100mL of water affect the rate of photosynthesis in elodea?

Hypothesis:

If carbon dioxide (baking soda) is increased, the rate of photosynthesis will increase by

Theory:

Photosynthesis is the process by which plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize foods from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis in plants involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a byproduct. For my hypothesis, I said that if the amount of carbon dioxide (baking soda) was increased the rate of photosynthesis would increase. When you increase the amount of carbon dioxide in a plant, we all know more photosynthesis occurs therefore increasing the rate of photosynthesis. PROCEDURE FOR CARBON DIOXIDE (BAKING SODA) 1. Measure and cut at an angle elodea 7 to 9 cm. 2. Remove a few leaves from end of stem and slightly crush end of stem. 3. Measure mass in grams and record. 4. Put elodea stem side up in a test tube. 5. Fill test tube with water and baking soda solution (1 gram to 100 mL of water). 6. Place the light on a textbook.

7. Put tube in rack and adjust lamp with blue light 8.5 cm from top of test tube 8. Turn on lamp and wait 1 minute. 9. After 1 minute, begin counting small, medium and large bubbles for 3 minutes. Record data. 10. Repeat with .5 grams and 100mL of water. 11. Repeat for Trial 2 DATA/OBSERVATIONS:
Trial 1 ___grams Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes at 5 and 10 cm

Trial 2 ___grams Small x 1 CO2 1 gram .5 gram 7x1=7 5x1=5

Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes at 5 and 10 cm Medium x 2 0x2=0 0x2=0 Large x 3 0x3=0 0x3=0 Total 7 5

Averages Trial 1 Trail 2 Total/2 Average .5 9 5 14 7 1 11 7 18 9

2013 AVERAGE DATA IN 3 MINUTES FROM 5 DIFFERENT CLASSES Baking Soda .5g CLASS PERIOD AVERAGES 1 2 3 4 6 1g % Oxygen Decrease/Increase

108 69 33.7 23.7 26.3

139 47 26.5 14.3 36.3

22.3% increase 31.8% decrease 21.3% decrease 39.6% decrease 27.5% increase

7 TOTAL/5 AVERAGE

3.8 264.5/6 44.1

72.8 335.9/6 56

94.7% increase 21.25% increase

Conclusion: In this lab we tested How doubling the amount of baking soda from .5g to 1g, and how it would increase the rate of photosynthesis. I hypothesized that if carbon dioxide (by doubling baking soda) is increased, the rate of photosynthesis will increase. My group measured the amount of oxygen produced in three minutes, and when my group had .5 grams of carbon dioxide (baking soda), we got an average of seven bubbles. With 1 gram of carbon dioxide, (baking soda) my group got an average of nine oxygen bubbles for three minutes. Period 3s class all together had a decrease of bubbles, but if you look at the 7th grade averages, there was an increase of 11.9 bubbles, 21.25% increase. Out of all the classes 50% of them had decreases and 50% had increases, But if you look at all of the averages the bubbles had increased by 21.25%. Based on the data from period 3s class, my hypothesis was incorrect, but including all classes, my hypothesis was correct.

Analysis: There are many inconsistencies made by the carbon dioxide groups. One of the main ones that stood out to me was that period threes data was extremely high, only they one and period sevens data increased. Only 3/6=50% of classs data decreased. 50% of classes had more with less carbon dioxide. Also period one had an outrageous number. The number was extremely high, but there are many possibilities as to why these numbers are so high. Period ones data could have been high because they had the freshest pieces of elodea. Therefore, my group tested the experiment later in the day where the elodea was not es fresh and could have already photosynthesized from the light shinning through the windows. In order to prevent occurrences like this people could put black construction paper over the windows. Alternatively, you could have done the experiments in a room where there are no windows where the light intensity is always the same. This would help because with any kind of light the elodea could photosynthesize taking away the amount of oxygen bubbles being produced in water for three minutes.
Bibliography: 1. Coolidge-Stolz M.D., Elizabeth, et al. Focus On Life Science. Boston, Mass: Prentice Hall, 2008. 2. Washington State Department of Ecology. American Waterweed - A Common Native Plant. February 24, 2003. November 2013. <http://www.ecy.wa.gov/Programs/wq/plants/native/elodea.html> 3. Young, Paul. The Botany Coloring Book. Cambridge, New York: Harper and Row, 1982.