Photosynthesis in Plants

Kayla Hughes December 14 2012 AP Investigation #5

PURPOSE
The purpose of this lab is to test the effect of different environments and the differing characteristics of various plants on the rate of photosynthesis. The two environments are sodium bicarbonate and water, with the water acting as the negative control and the sodium bicarbonate supplying carbon dioxide to provide a variable. The two characteristics being tested are the pigments and the thickness of wax in each leaf. The three leaves being tested are Spinach, Mint, and Cotton Gold Dust.

HYPOTHESIS
If the different solutions can affect the rate of photosynthesis by offering more conducive environments, then the sodium bicarbonate solution should produce higher photosynthesis rates in the Spinach leaves than the water only solution. If the differing characteristics of various plants can affect the rate of photosynthesis by the use of more effective adaptions, then the Mint leaf with its thinner coat of wax should produce a faster photosynthesis rate than the Cotton Gold Dust with its thicker coat of wax.

MATERIALS
30 mL 0.2% sodium bicarbonate solution with added soapy water 300 mL 0.2% sodium bicarbonate solution (NaHCO3) 300 mL water 1 Leaf of fresh (pre-soaked) Spinach 1 Leaf of fresh (pre-soaked) Mint 1 Leaf of fresh (pre-soaked) Cotton Gold Dust 6 Disposable plastic cups 1 Timer 1 One-hole punch

10 mL syringe 3 Light sources

PROCEDURE
1. Obtain a leaf of Spinach that is well hydrated, and has been pre-soaked to jump-start the process of photosynthesis. 2. Use a one-hole punch to cut discs from the leaf (at least ten per trial). 3. Remove the plunger from the barrel of a 10 mL syringe. Place the leaf discs inside the barrel, and tap to get them down to the bottom of the syringe barrel. Replace the plunger at the top of the syringe barrel and depress it. Push the plunger in enough to expel most of the air from the syringe. 4. Fill the barrel of the plunger half full with the sodium-bicarbonate/dish soap mixture. Invert the syringe and depress the plunger farther to remove air from the syringe. 5. Hold a finger over the hole at the end of the syringe and draw back the plunger to form a vacuum within the chamber of the syringe. Hold this for 10 seconds while swirling the syringe to wet the leaf discs. Repeat until all of the leaf discs sink under normal pressure. This means that the solution has infiltrated the spongy layer of the leaf. 6. Remove the plunger from the syringe and pour the discs and solution into a clear plastic cup containing the sodium bicarbonate at a depth of about 3 cm. Be sure to place all of the discs in the bottom the cup. The sodium bicarbonate serves as the source of carbon dioxide necessary for photosynthesis to occur. Keep the depth of the solution in the cup consistent throughout the trials. 7. Place the reaction vessels under a bright light source. Start the timer immediately. 8. Record the number of disks floating at one minute intervals. 9. Graph the results over time for bicarbonate and water-only conditions. 10. Repeat this process with the Mint leaf and the Cotton Gold Dust leaf. 11. Explain the results.

RESULTS
LEAVES FLOATING
Time (minutes) Mint in Sodium Bicarbonate 8 8 Mint in Water Cotton Gold Dust in Sodium Bicarbonate 2 3 Cotton Gold Dust in Water 2 3 Spinach in Spinach Sodium in Bicarbonate Water 0 0 2 2

1 2

2 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

8 8 8 10 -

2 2 2 2 2 3 3 4 4 4 5 5 5 4 4 4 5 6 7 7 8 8 10 -

5 7 9 10 -

3 3 3 3 4 4 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

1 2 2 6 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 10 -

2 3 6 8 9 9 9 10 -

This chart shows the number of leaf discs floating at one minute intervals for the three different leaves in the two different environments. The first column shows the time in minute intervals, and the columns afterward show the number of floating discs for that specific plant in that particular solution. The rows correspond the minute with the amount of leaf discs floating. The leaves in the sodium bicarbonate solution have an overall faster photosynthesis rate than the leaves in the water only solution.

ANALYSIS

Graphed Data of Leaves Floating

12

10

Mint in Water Mint in NaHCO3

Spinach in Water Spinach in NaHCO3

Cotton Gold Dust in Water Cotton Gold Dust in NaHCO3

0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27

The line graph above shows the data from the chart in the results section. It displays the amount of leaves floating on the y-axis and the time in minutes on the x-axis. The colors that represent a certain combination of environment and plant are located in a key above. This graph basically states that the most effective environment is the sodium bicarbonate and the plant that is most effective paired with it is Mint.

CONCLUSION
The hypothesis that the leaves in the sodium bicarbonate solution would produce a faster photosynthesis rate is proved to be correct as more leaves floated to the top in less time than the leaves in the water-only solution. The hypothesis that the leaves with a thinner wax coat and more conducive pigments (Mint) would produce a faster photosynthesis rate is proved correct as more nutrients can get in and more waste can get out. This allows more leaves to rise at a faster rate than that of the leaves that have less conducive characteristics (Cotton Gold Dust). The experiment done on Spinach shows that the leaves put into the sodium bicarbonate solution has a faster photosynthesis rate. In sodium bicarbonate, the 10 leaf discs floated to the top by the end of the 6th minute. They moved at a steady rate. The Spinach leaves in the water had a very slow rate compared to the other environment and the data shows that the lack of extra nutrients produced a slower rate. The 10 leaf discs floated up to the top in about 14 minutes. They moved at an erratic rate.

The experiment done on the Mint and Cotton Gold Dust leaves show that the Mint produced a faster rate. This is due to the thinner layer of wax and the lack of ranging pigments. The 10 leaf discs floated up in about 6 minutes in the sodium bicarbonate and 25 minutes in the water. Compared to the rate of photosynthesis in the Cotton Gold Dust plant, in which the 10 leaf discs floated up to the top in 6 minutes in the sodium bicarbonate, and only 5 floated to the top in 27 minutes in water, it is more efficient. Several things in this lab went wrong, and there are some things that could be done to prevent them in the future. One thing that was incorrect was the experiment on Spinach leaves in sodium bicarbonate. Even though the rate of photosynthesis should have been faster than that of the Spinach leaves in water, it was significantly slower. This could be because the leaf discs were not properly soaked before, and making sure they are next time will reduce the risk of any such mistakes happening again. Another mistake was the sudden dip and increase of floating Mint leaf discs in the water-only solution. The amount of leaf discs floating should have been a steady increase but a sudden dip occurred. Not properly stirring the discs in the solution could have caused this error, and in future experiments, making sure to stir them at regular intervals could reduce the risk of this error occurring again. This lab experiment tested various different variables of the rate of photosynthesis, these variables being the environment and the characteristics of the plant being tested. It was proved that the sodium bicarbonate solution environment, and the characteristics of having a thin layer of wax and a close range of pigments, produced the fastest rate of photosynthesis. Minor errors evolved but were logically reasoned. The lab could be made better by allowing more time to set up the experiment, and more time to reason things out with lab members. The lab overall was successful and for the most part supplied the expected data.