Sam Warren Science 6 7th Grade 12/6/13 PHOTOSYNTHESIS SUMMATIVE REPORT PROBLEM: How does the color of light

(blue, red) affect the rate of photosynthesis in Elodea at a distance of 5cm from the plant? HYPOTHOSIS: If the color of light is changed from red to blue, then the rate of photosynthesis will decrease by 45%. THEORY: Photosynthesis is the process of when a flower gets energy from the sun. They get the energy by carbon dioxide and water seeping through the stomata and in to the chloroplasts. At the end of the process, photosynthesis creates glucose and oxygen. My problem has to do with the light spectrum and wavelength frequency. I think that since red has a higher wavelength, but has less frequency. Blue ahs a lesser wavelength, but has more frequency. I still think that the chlorophyll will produce more oxygen and glucose and go through more photosynthesis with the red light because in 2012, there was a higher amount with red than there was with blue. PROCEDURE FOR COLOR OF LIGHT:

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 spring water and baking soda solution (1 tsp. to 100 mL of water). 6. Put tube in rack and adjust lamp with blue light 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 red light. 10. Repeat for Trial 2

DATA/OBSERVATIONS:
Trial 1: 1.6 grams Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes with blue and red light
Small x 1 Color Blue 72 Medium x 2 12x2=24 Large x 3 4x3=12 Total 108

Red

20

3x2=6

0x3=0

26

Notes: Trial 2: 1.5 grams Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes with blue and red light
Small x 1 Color Blue to red Red to blue Total=46x1=46 Total=56x1=56 Red=25x1=25 Blue=31x1=31 Medium x 2 15x2=30 8x2=16 3x2=6 5x2=10 Large x 3 3x3=9 1x3=3 0x3=0 1x3=3 Total 96 64

Averages for 2 trials

Trials 1 2 Total/2 Ave. Red 26 64 90/2 45 Blue 108 96 204/2 102

Notes: COLOR OF LIGHT

BLUE CLASS PERIOD AVERAGES 1 2 3 4 6 7 TOTAL/6 AVERAGE RED % Oxygen Decrease/Increase

58.5 63.5 39 112 102 68.5 443.5/6 73.9

70 19 24.3 85.8 45 50.8 294.9/6 49.2

+ 19.7% - 70.1% - 37.7% -23.4% - 48% - 25.8% - 33.5% - 33.4%

Color Of Light Averages For 3 Minutes

120 Rate Of Photosynthesis 100 80 60 40 20 0 6th Period 7th Grade 50.5 96.5 73.9 49.2 Blue Red

CONCLUSION: We tested how the color of light (blue, red) affects the rate of photosynthesis in elodea at a distance of 5cm away from the plant. I hypothesized that the percent of photosynthesis would decrease if the color of light changed from red to blue by 45%. My group tested that my hypothesis was incorrect. The rate of photosynthesis decreased by 48%. The average in 7th grade also tested that my hypothesis was incorrect. The rate of photosynthesis decreased by 33%. In 1st period though, my hypothesis was correct. The rate of photosynthesis was a 20% increase. In conclusion, my hypothesis was incorrect and I was off in percentage by 3%. ANALYSIS: In the 2013 data, there were some discrepancies in the data. 1st period increased from blue to red. This changed the data a ton. 1st periods average was a 20% increase. This might have ben because they counted lots of bubbles from the leaves with red and thought that bubbles from the stem were from the leaves for blue. 2nd period and my period had massive jumps in the data from 63.5 to 19 and 102 to 45. The average for 2nd period was 70% decrease and the average for my period was a 56% decrease. 2nd period and my period might have ben thinking that some of the bubbles from the stem might have ben from the leaves and not counted as much bubbles with red and counted lots of bubbles from the leaves for blue. To improve this and not make these mistakes again, we should have more than one counter. This would make the process better because then there would be more then a pair of eyes on the bubbles and more than one mind deciding if it was big or not. BIBLIOGRAPHY: 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. Madigan, Jay. "What Wavelength Goes With a Color?" What Wavelength Goes With a Color? NASA, 15 Nov. 2011. Web. 01 Dec. 2013. "Chlorophylls a and B." Chlorophyll. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Dec. 2013. "Lab 4 Plant Pigments and Photsynthesis." Lab 4 Plant Pigments. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Dec. 2013. "How to Select the Best Grow Light." RSS. Urban Organic Gardener, n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.