Jackson Beer Science 4 November 14, 2013 PHOTOSYHTESIS SUMMATIVE PROJECT PROBLEM: How does the color of light

(blue, red) affect the rate of photosynthesis in Elodea at a distance of 5cm from the plant? HYPOTHESIS: If the color of light is changed from red to blue, then the rate of photosynthesis will increase in blue light. THEORY: Photosynthesis is the key to life. Plants need it to get food and people need it to breath. We even use photosynthesis to get food because we eat some plant to get their nutrients. The process of photosynthesis has a lot to do with human. We exhale carbon dioxide and plant take that in along with sun light, water and minerals. So when sunlight shines on a plant it either reflected by the plant making it look colorful or the sunlight absorbed by the chlorophyll in the plant and converted in to energy to make food. Then this food is eaten by herbivores and omnivores. So the color of the light matters because depending on the color it could either make the plant have color or it could give the plant life and energy to make food and thrive. 1. What are the light wavelengths measured in nanometers for red, green, yellow and blue light? What does that mean in terms of energy hitting the plant? Red= 700nm. , 2. What is the difference between Chlorophyll a and Chlorophyll b? Chlorophyll a is 3. What other pigments make up a plant? 4. Why do plant growers use different colors when growing plants indoors?

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 test-tube 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 this processes again for Trial 2 DATA/OBSERVATIONS:
Trial 1. Oxygen produced in 3 minutes with blue and red light Elodea =1.2 grams
Small x 1 Color Blue Red 31x1=31 50x1=50 Medium x 2 18x2=36 9x2=18 Large x 3 5x3=15 0x3=0 Total 82 68

Trial 2. Oxygen produced in 3 minutes with blue and red light Elodea=1.0grams
Small x 1 Color Blue Red 65x1=65 46x1=46 Medium x 2 44x2=88 14x2=28 Large x 3 9x3=27 6x3=18 Total 180 92

TRAILS 1 2 TOTAL AVERAGE

Blue 82 180 262 131

Red 68 92 160 80

Note:
The Rate of photosythesis (bubbles)

Does the Color of Light affect the Rate of Photosythesis?

140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 group class Group Averages grade 80 131 112 85.8 79.9 49.2 blue red

Note: 2013 AVERAGE DATA IN 3 MINUTES FROM 6 DIFFERENT CLASSES COLOR OF LIGHT
CLASS PERIOD AVERAGES 1 2 3 4 6 7 TOTAL/6 AVERAGE BLUE 58.5 63.5 39 112 102 68.5 443.5/6 73.9 RED 70 19 24.3 85.8 45 50.8 294.9/6 49.2 % Oxygen Decrease/Increase 16% increase for red 70% increase for blue 37% increase in blue 23% increase for blue 55% increase for blue 25% increase for blue 352.08 58.58

Conclusion: In this lab my group experimented on whether the color of light affects the rate of photosynthesis. In this lab I hypothesized that the rate of photosynthesis would be greater in blue light rather than red for a sprig of elodea (a fresh water plant). My group got an average of 131 oxygen bubbles for blue light and 80 oxygen bubbles for red light (for trails each) proving my hypothesis to be 100% correct. It was the same for the other group in the class and the whole grade; all of them stating that blue light increase the rate of photosynthesis more than red light. Analysis: Looking back at the 2013 data there were some inconsistency, some of them were that 16%(period 1) of the data said that red light increase the rate of photosynthesis more than blue light. The other 84% (rest of classes) said the opposite stating that blue light increase the rate of photosynthesis more than red light. I also found that unlike all the other classes period 4 had the largest numbers out of all the classes. I do not have a clear explanation for this because I would have to see how the other class measured their experiments and find out what the differences were but that of course is impossible. These inconsistencies occurred for more possible reasons. Some of them being that people could have done incorrect calculations in the experiment like counting an incorrect number of bubble or a messing up in their mathematical calculations. Another possibility is that they measured the size of the bubble in a drastic way compared to the other classes. If that were to happen it could be that a small bubble to one person would be a big bubble to another making the measurement very much different and not compatible. There are a few things that could have been done to make sure that the data was carefully and correctly most of which could be done to help prevent any

inconsistent data from occurring. First of all you could make sure that everyone in you group has an good under standing of how you should determine the size of each bubble so, they could help chose the right size of bubble per bubble. Another helpful thing to would to make sure that after every single time you finish a trial you make sure that the data comes out making clear sense and if not talk discuss with your group about what went wrong and you should fix it. In conclusion, when you are doing any experiment it always good to be persistent and carful while doing your work. 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.