Summative Photosynthesis Lab Problem: How do you measure the amount of photosynthesis through carbon dioxide?

Hypothesis: If carbon dioxide is increased from .5g to 1g, then the rate of photosynthesis will increase by almost fifty percent. Theory: Photosynthesis is the process in which plants take in co2, light, and h2o to make food, glucose, and oxygen. Photosynthesis occurs inside of the chloroplasts of a plants leaves. The products, glucose and oxygen in photosynthesis are the reactants for cellular respiration. Cellular respiration and photosynthesis are the opposite because of this. Plants use the food made in photosynthesis for energy. Carbon dioxide is the gas needed for photosynthesis. To measure photosynthesis through carbon dioxide you need to measure how many oxygen bubbles come to the surface with more or less carbon dioxide added. If more carbon dioxide were added to the water, than because carbon dioxide is needed for photosynthesis, than more oxygen, the products of photosynthesis would occur. I think the oxygen bubble average will increase by 50% because the amount of baking soda is doubled so that means that the amount of bubbles will most likely double as well.

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

Small x 1 CO2 1 gram 4x1=4

Medium x 2 1x2=2

Large x 3 0x3=0

Total 6

.5 gram

1x2=2

2x0=0

3x0=0

Notes: Trial 2 _____grams Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes with .5 g and 1 g baking soda
Small x 1 CO2 1 gram .5 gram 77x1=77 1x1=1 Medium x 2 82x2=164 2x0=0 Large x 3 3x0=0 3x0=0 Total 241 1

Averages For 2 Trials

Trials 1 2 Total/2 Average .5 g 2 1 3/2 1.5 1g 6 ` 241 247/2 123.5

2013 AVERAGE DATA IN 3 MINUTES FROM 5 DIFFERENT CLASSES Baking Soda

.5g CLASS PERIOD AVERAGES 1 2 3 4 6 7 TOTAL/5 AVERAGE 1g % Oxygen Decrease/Increase

108 69 33.7 23.7 26.3 3.8 264.5/6 44.1

139 47 26.5 14.3 36.3 72.8 335.9/6 56

20.3% increase 31.9% decrease 21.3% decrease 48.1% decrease 27.5% increase 94.8% increase 21.2% increase 21.3% increase.

Amount of Oxygen Bubbles in 3 Minutes

Average Amount of Oxygen Bubbles in 3 Minutes 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 1.5 Group 3.8 7th Period 7th Grade 72.8 44.1 56 0.5g 1g 123.5

Conclusion
In this lab my group tested if the baking soda (carbon dioxide) is increased, than the amount of oxygen bubbles increases as well. I hypothesized that if the baking soda was doubled, than the rate of photosynthesis would increase by 50% because if the baking soda is doubled then so will the oxygen bubble rate. The average data that my group came up with was 1.5 bubbles in 3 minutes with .5 g of baking soda, and 123.5 bubbles in 3 minutes with 1 g of baking soda. The seventh grade average shows that the there were 3.8 bubbles in 3 minutes with .5 g of baking soda, and 72.8 bubbles in 3 minutes with 1 g of baking soda. Both the groups data was roughly the same percentage of increase when baking soda is doubled. Our group got a 98% increase in bubbles when the baking soda amount is doubles, while 7th period got a 92% increase when baking soda is doubled. This shows that both groups data had about the same percentage, however our groups data had a higher average of bubbles by 50.7. In conclusion, my hypothesis was correct that if carbon dioxide was increased by half, than the rate of photosynthesis would go up, however my conclusion about it being a increase of 50% was way off because both 7th period and our group got into the 90% range.

Analysis

In 2013s data I noticed some discrepancies between the data. Period 7 had a 69 bubble increase, while period 3 had a 7.2 bubble increase. Period sevens data was obviously inconsistent because of the very high and very low bubble averages for their group. I predict the data might have been inconsistent because the person who was counting for period seven, might have thought that a medium bubble was a small bubble to period threes counter. If you take out period sevens data then the new total would be 263.1 for 1 gram of baking soda and 260.7 for .5 grams of baking soda. If this were the case then my hypothesis would be wrong because I predicted that when you add the extra .5 g then the rate of photosynthesis would go up by 50%, however with the current data my hypothesis is closer to the original number.

In the end, without period sevens data then the data for the whole school would be completely different then from the original data provided.

Bibliography

"Elodea AQUAPLANT." Elodea AQUAPLANT. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. Coolidge-Stolz M.D., Elizabeth, et al. Focus On Life Science. Boston, Mass: Prentice Hall, 2008. 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> Young, Paul. The Botany Coloring Book. Cambridge, New York: Harper and Row, 1982.