Photosynthesis Lab

Background

Photosynthesis is key to life, replacing Earth's atmosphere with oxygen.

The general summary for the equation is: 2 H2O + CO2 + Light = Carbohydrate (CH2O) + O2 + H2O.

Production of O2 and consumption of CO2 are the two ways to determine the rate of photosynthesis.

Objectives

To design and conduct an experiment to explore the effect of certain factors, including different
environment variables, on the rate of cellular photosynthesis.

To conduct and apply concepts, including the relationships between cell structure and function
(chloroplasts); strategies for capture, storage, and use of free energy; diffusion of gases across cell
membranes; and the physical laws pertaining to the properties of behaviors of gases.

Hypothesis
The solution with the greatest concentration of sodium bicarbonate, or baking soda, will have the greatest rate of
photosynthesis.

Materials

Baking Soda

Liquid Soap

Plastic Syringe

Leaves

Hole Punch

2 cups

Timer

Light Source

Procedure
1. Create a control by making a cup with just water.
2. Arrange 5 other cups with increasing amount of baking soda to water ratio.

3. Put 200 mL of water in each cup.

4. Put 0.5 g of baking soda in the second cup and mix.
5. Put 1.0 g of baking soda in the third cup and mix.
6. Put 1.5 g of baking soda in the fourth cup and mix.
7. Put 2.0 g of baking soda in the fifth cup and mix.
8. Put 2.5 g of baking soda in the sixth cup and mix.
9. Label the cups using the paper towel.
10. Punch out 30 holes from the spinach leaves with the hole punch.
11. Put an ample amount of soap in each cup (1 drop).
12. Put 5 leaf disks in the syringe and push down until there is no space, but do not crush them.
13. Get 5 cc in from the first cup in the syringe.
14. Place the end of your syringe on any part of your skin and then pull on it to create a vacuum. (Fight off
urge to cry)

15. Keep pulling the vacuum until all the leaf disks have sunk.
16. Once all of the leaf disks sink, remove them from the vacuum and place them back into the original cup.
17. Place the cups in front of the light.
18. Use a timer and record how long it takes to make the leaf disks rise.
19. Repeat steps 12-18 for all 6 cups.
Data:
Cups

Minutes

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

Results
In the first cup no leaves rose through the whole 20 minutes.
The second cup had very little activity with only one leaf rising, 17 minutes in.
The third cup had very little activity with only one leaf rising, 18 minutes in.
The fourth cup had slightly more activity with one leaf rising at 17 minutes and another at 20 minutes.
The fifth cup had better activity with one leaf rising at 1 minute and two other leaves rising at 16 and 18 minutes.
The sixth cup had the most activity with leaves rising at 7, 9, 10, 15, and 19 minutes. All the leaves rose

Analysis
As we predicted, more leaves rose as the time went on. The more baking soda the cup had, the more leaves that rose
inside of the cup. This was predicted. What we didn't predict is that no leaves would rise in the first cup and only
one in the other two cups. Our first experiment produced more leaves risen with a consistent amount of baking soda
in all the cups. I think the soap content had an impact on the leaves. It was also worth noting that more leaves rose
in the second cup than the third cup, and the fourth cup had the same as the second. Once it got to the fifth and the
sixth cup the leaves really took off.

Improvements
To improve our lab, we could alter the amounts of soap used in the cups. We did not make a
direct measurement of how much soap we put in as much as we just dabbled a few drops. Based
on the differences in our first lab to our second, the soap may have a bigger impact on the
experiment than we anticipated. Other than that, I thought our lab was very well done and the
only thing that could boost its accuracy would be more repetitions.