INVESTIGATING

PHOTOSYNTHESIS

INVESTIGATING PHOTOSYNTHESIS

To investigate chlorophyll is necessary in

photosynthesis.
To investigate light is necessary in
photosynthesis.
To investigate carbon dioxide is
necessary in photosynthesis.

Variegated leaves

1. To investigate chlorophyll is
necessary in photosynthesis.

Take a healthy plant with variegated

leaves.
Destarch it by keeping it in dark for few
days.
Leave the plant in sunlight for 3-4 hours.
Test one of the leaves for starch using
iodine as in experiment 1.

Result

Why destrach a plant???

Destarching the plant is to make sure all

the stored starch is used up and plant
gets free from starch
And to make sure starch tested is
formed during the experiment.

2. To investigate light is
necessary in photosynthesis.

Take a healthy potted plant with large

sized leaves.
Destarch it by keeping in dark to few
days.
On one of the leaf, fix a black card or
aluminium foil, and then keep the plant
in sunlight for 3-4 hours.
Test one of the leaves for starch using
iodine

How does setup look like

Result and Conclusion:

3. To investigate carbon dioxide is

necessary in photosynthesis.

Take two healthy potted plants and destarch them

by keeping in dark for few days.
Place a container of sodium hydroxide on the
soil of one plant.
Place a container of sodium hydrogen
carbonate on the soil of the second plant.
Cover both plants with a plastic bag and secure
with the elastics.
Leave the plants in the sun for several hours.
Pluck a leaf from each plant and perform starch
test on each leaf

How does setup look like

Result and Conclusion:

DEMONSTRATING GAS EXCHANGE IN

PLANTS

What is Hydrogencarbonate indicator

?
Hydrogencarbonate indicator is used
to indicate CO2concentration in a
solution. The table shows the colour that
the indicator turns at different levels of
Concentration of CO
CO2 concentration.
Indicator colour
2

High
Normal
(Atmospheric level)
Low

Orange /Yellow
Red
Purple

Take 2 clean test tubes/bottles.

Put 2 cm3 hydrogen carbonate indicator
(cherry-red) in each.
Add aquatic plants (green algae) in these
bottles.
Cover the one bottle with black
paper/aluminium foil and keep the other
as it is.
Place both of them near a light source
for about 40 min.

START POINT

Normal CO2

So indicator colour
remains red.

IN THE DARK

Respiration occurs but not

the photosynthesis
So indicator turns yellow
because of more CO2 produced
in respiration

IN THE LIGHT

Both processes occur, but more

Photosynthesis than Respiration
So indicator turns purple because
of less CO2 as it is being used in
photosynthesis.