PHOTOSYTHESIS SUMMATIVE PROJECT PROJECT: How does doubling the amount of carbon dioxide from .

5g of bisodium carbonate dissolved in 100mL of water to 1g dissolved in 100mL of water affect the rate of photosynthesis in elodea? HYPOTHESIS: Doubling the amount of carbon dioxide in 100ml of water by adding baking soda will increase the amount of O2 production by 30%. THEORY: Photosynthesis is a process in which sugar and oxygen are produced using light and the pigment chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is found in the chloroplasts inside the leaves. CO2 travels through the vacuole in the leaves and enters the chloroplast. The pigment absorbs light and requires the reactants CO2 and H20 to produce glucose and O2. My hypothesis states that doubling the amount of carbon dioxide in 100ml of water by adding baking soda will increase the amount of O2 produced by 30%. I modeled my hypothesis after last years data. I assumed this years result would be similar or the same to last years experiment, which documented that O2 production increased by 30%. I learned that combining CO2 with H20 would create a chemical reaction that produces NaHCO3. Also I learned that C02 increases the growth of terrestrial and aqua plants. These findings led me to my hypothesis.

PROCEDURE FOR CARBON DIOXIDE (BAKING SODA)

Measure and cut at an angle elodea 7 to 9 cm. Remove a few leaves from end of stem and slightly crush end of stem. Measure mass in grams and record. Put elodea stem side up in a test tube. Fill test tube with water and baking soda solution (1 gram 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 .5 grams and 100mL of water. 10. Repeat for Trial 2 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

DATA/OBSERVATIONS:
Trial 1 0.5 grams
Small x 1 CO2 1 gram 42 x 1

Oxygen produced in 3 minutes at 5 and 10 cm

Medium x 2 17 x 2 = 34 Large x 3 4 x 3 = 12 Total 88

.5 gram

31 x 1

14 x 2 = 28

6 x 3 = 18

77

Trial 2 1 gram
Small x 1 CO2 1 gram .5 gram 95 x 1 71 x 1

Oxygen produced in 3 minutes at 5 and 10 cm

Medium x 2 25 x 2 = 50 19 x 2 = 38 Large x 3 15 x 3 = 45 10 x 3 = 30 Total 190 139

Average
0.5g Trial 1 Trial 2 Total Average 77 139 216 108 88 210 298 149 1g

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

28.7% Increase 31.8% Decrease 21.36%Decrease 39.66% Decrease 38.02% Increase 1815.8% Increase 21.25% 21.25% Increase

The Rate of Photosynthesis

200 Rate of Oxygen Bubbles 139 108 100 44.1 56 period 1 7th grade

0 0.5g 1g Grams of Baking Soda

Conclusion In this lab, we experimented with 02 productions. We did this by doubling the amount of carbon dioxide from 0.5g of bisodium carbonate dissolved in 100mL of water to 1g. I hypothesized that by doubling the amount of C02 in 100ml of water then the amount of O2 produced will increase by 30%. In class periods 2,4, and 7 there was an increase of 31.8%, 39.66%, and 94.78%, respectively, which was fairly close to my hypothesis. Period 2 and 1 was closest to my hypothesis of 30%. In periods 1,3, and 6 there was a decrease of 02 productions by 22.3%, 21.36%, and 27.54%, respectively. After reviewing all of the results, my hypothesis was proven incorrect, as shown in four of the six periods, 66% of the time. Analysis The class data included major inconsistencies. Half of the classes had more bubbles (O2) with .5g of baking soda, but the other half had more bubbles with 1g of baking soda. An inconsistency identified in oxygen production was a wide range within the results. In the 0.5g experiment the results ranged from 3.8 bubbles to 108 bubbles. When comparing the 1g groups, we found the oxygen bubbles to be inconsistent as well, shown by our results: 14.3 to 139. If we took out the .5g results from periods 1 and 7 and 1g results from periods 1 and 4 our data would look more uniform. Then the average would be 19.6% Increase which is not close to my hypothesis of 30%. There could be many reasons why these inconsistencies exist. One mistake that was possibly made was a counting one. Students might have accidentally counted all the bubbles produced instead of the ones coming from the stem only. Another mistake that could have been made is in the size of the elodea. A larger

elodea could produce more O2 than a smaller elodea. Something else to consider is the lamp (light source) distance from the elodea. Light that is too close could increase the rate of photosynthesis. Oppositely, light that is far away could produce less oxygen. Questioning the other students about their methods would clarify some of these assumptions. There are changes I would make because I found some parts of the lab hard to control. I would make sure the person who is counting the bubbles did it for both trials to ensure consistency. It is also very important to measure the light correctly, similar to my suggestion with the bubble counting. Many people sat around and waited while a few select students did most of the work. This was because there were too many people in our group. We did not assign tasks before the experiment began so we were confused on what to do. I recommend giving everyone equal responsibility in order to include all students. More clarification to make sure everyone understands what to do during the lab would be helpful. 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. "Unsupported Browser." Inkling Blog RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <https://www.inkling.com/read/cooking-for-geeks-jeff-potter-1st/chapter5/chemical-leaveners>. "RealClimate: The lag between temperature and CO2. (Gores got it right.)." RealClimate RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://www.realclimate.org/index.php/archives/2007/04/the-lag-betweentemp-and-co2/>. "CO2 Science." RSS. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec. 2013. <http://www.co2science.org/about/position