Emma Hubbard Sci.

4 11/14/13 PHOTOSYNTHESIS SUMMATIVE PROJECT PROBLEM: If you double the distance of light, will the rate of photosynthesis decrease by half? HYPOTHESIS: If the distance of light is doubled, then the rate of photosynthesis will decrease by at least 50%. THEORY: Photosynthesis is the process when plants make their own food by capturing the suns light to produce energy for the plant, which is needed for the plant to survive, using carbon dioxide, water, and light. Photosynthesis releases oxygen, which is needed for cellular respiration. Plants take in Carbon dioxide, which is needed for photosynthesis, which is released from cellular respiration. My research and back round information lead me to my hypothesis because it gave me the information I needed to understand the concept of photosynthesis, and how it effects light intensity. It also lead me to produce an educated hypothesis. The data from the practice lab lead me to my hypothesis because when looking at the percent increase and decreased when the light was farther away when the distance was doubled, most of the numbers decreased, and for the 2012s data, all of the numbers decreased when the light was farther away. I stated that it will decrease by at least 50%, because when looking at last years data, when doubling the distance of light the numbers decreased by at least 50%. This means that the amount of oxygen bubbles coming out from the plant decreased, which means that the plant wasnt photosynthesizing as much when the light is farther away. This information proves that plants photosynthesize less when the light intensity is farther away. PROCEDURE: For Light Intensity 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 water and baking soda solution (1 tsp to 100 mL of water). 6. Put tube in rack and adjust lamp 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 at 10 cm with same size and mass elodea 10. Repeat for Trial 2 DATA/OBSERVATIONS:
Trial 1 1.6 grams
Small x 1 Distance 5 cm 10 x 1 = 10

Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes at 5 and 10 cm

Medium x 2 3x2=6 Large x 3 1x3=3 Total 19

10 cm

5 x 1= 5

1 x 2= 2

0x3=0

Notes: Trial 2 1.4 grams

Small x 1 Distance 5 cm 11 x 1 = 11

Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes at 5 and 10 cm

Medium x 2 2x2=4 Large x 3 0x3=0 Total 15

10 cm

6x1=6

1x2=2

0x3=0

TRIALS 1 2 TOTAL AVE/2

5 cm 19 15 34 17

10 cm 7 8 15 7.5

Light Intensity Average

Amount of oxygen bubbles produced in 3 minutes 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 GROUP 7th Grade DIstance From Light 5cm 10cm

2013 AVERAGE DATA IN 3 MINUTES FROM 6 DIFFERENT CLASSES Light Intensity

5cm CLASS PERIOD AVERAGES 1 2 3 4 6 7 TOTAL/6 AVERAGE 35 29 16.3 17 52.3 40.8 190.4/6 31.7 51.5 10 12.3 7.5 29.5 45 155.8 26 10cm % Oxygen Decrease/Increase

CONCLUSION: In this lab, my group tested the distance of light and how it affects the rate of photosynthesis. I hypothesized that if the distance of light is doubled, then the rate of photosynthesis will decrease by at least 50%. The average oxygen for my group was 17 bubbles from 5 cm away, and 7.5 bubbles from 10 cm away. The 7th grades average results are similar to ours because they both had an oxygen bubble decrease when the light was farther away. The 7th grades results are higher than our results because they had 31.7 bubbles produced at

5cm and 26 bubbles produced at 10cm. In conclusion, my hypothesis was correct because the rate of photosynthesis decreased when the light was farther away. ANALISYS: In this lab, looking at the 2013 data, I found that there were a few discrepancies in the data between the increase and decrease of bubbles between 5cm and 10 cm. 2 out of the 6 classes, or 33% had more oxygen bubbles produced when the light was farther away, at 10 cm. Also, something else that I observed while looking at the decrease of the data, all of them decreased by at least 50%. The range between the amounts of bubbles being produced at 5 cm was 36, and the range for 10cm was a 44 oxygen bubble difference. Since only two classes had more bubbles produced at 10 cm, I took out the two outliers and found the average bubbles without the two periods outliers. Without the outliers, the average bubbles being produced at 5cm were 114.6. At 10 cm, without the two outliers the average bubble being produced was 59.3. The results were inconsistent and had some discrepancies because there could have been an error while doing the experiment, or another kind of error in the calculations. While looking at the data, I noticed that period one had the most of an outlier, so there could have been something to do with the elodea being different in the morning than the rest of the classes. To make the procedure more reliable, and to lessen the inconsistencies in the data, you would have to change some of the steps. Such as, you could make sure that every sprig of elodea was the same mass in grams and also that they were crushed the same amount. There are a lot of small things in the procedure that could be changed, but it cant be exact, such as you cant have everybody having the exact same piece of elodea. One more thing you could change about the procedure is to have everyone classify the bubbles in the same way as big, medium, and small. One person might think that one bubble is big and another person might see the same bubble and think of it as small. Also, when counting the bubbles, make sure you know which ones come out of the leaves and which ones come out of the stem. All of these steps will help the procedure be more reliable, and therefore have less inconsistencies in the data.

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. "Intensity of Light." Intensity of Light. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013. "Gardening." TLC. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.

RESEARCH NOTES:

1. How is light intensity measured? Joly photometer the amount of light emitted in a given direction photo elements or solar cells produce energy when light is shined on them 2. What climates produce the highest rates of photosynthesis, why? Sunny enviorments, because photosynthesis needs sun to work

3. What types of plants thrive in indirect light, why?

Fuschsia Primrose Forget-me-not Jacobs Ladder Begonia Lilly of the Valley Wild Violet Hosta Lilly