Summative Photosynthesis Lab PROBLEM: If a plant is exposed to blue and red light, which color will cause the

plant to photosynthesize faster? HYPOTHESIS: If a plant is exposed to red and blue light, then red light will affect the plant more. THEORY: Photosynthesis is the chemical reaction that occurs in the chloroplasts of a plant involving light, water, and carbon dioxide to create sugar and other energy chemicals. After doing some research, I have come to the conclusion that red light will cause more photosynthesis in a plant than blue light will. This is because plants have more pigments that absorb red light than they do blue light, and blue has so much energy that according to a research paper written by Braddock, B., S. Mercer, C. Rachelson, and S. Sapp, much of the energy is redirected away to other parts of the plant instead of being used in photosynthesis. Because of this I think that the red light will cause the plant to photosynthesize faster.

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 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 for Trial 2 DATA/OBSERVATIONS:
Trial 1 ___grams Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes with blue and red light

Small x 1 Color Blue 21

Medium x 2 22

Large x 3 6

Total 49

Red

61

40

12

113

Notes: Trial 2 _____grams Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes with blue and red light
Small x 1 Color Blue Red 23 11 Medium x 2 24 8 Large x 3 21 6 Total 68 25

Trial 1 Trial 2 Total Average Notes:

Red 113 27 140 70

Blue 49 68 117 58.5

Red produced more than blue. Our group worked together well. We followed instructions very closely. I was worried about switching the elodea but it worked well. We had a good time with minimal to no anger or debate over decisions. Everyone was doing a job. The information was reliably gathered.

Graph:

Amount of oxygen produced

72 70 68 66 Oxygen 64 62 60 58 56 54 52 Blue Color of light Red

2013 AVERAGE DATA IN 3 MINUTES FROM 6 DIFFERENT CLASSES COLOR OF LIGHT BLUE RED % Oxygen Decrease/Increase CLASS PERIOD AVERAGES 1 58.5 70 16% 2 63.5 19 -70% 3 39 24.3 -30% 4 112 85.8 -24% 6 102 45 -56% 7 68.5 50.8 -26% TOTAL/6 443.5/6 294.9/6 -36% AVERAGE 73.9 49.2 -33%

Conclusion:

If a plant is exposed to blue and red light, which light will cause the plant to photosynthesize faster? During the course of our periods experiment red caused the plant to photosynthesize faster, by around 16% more oxygen produced in 3 minutes. During all the other periods experiments though, their plants produced on average 46% more oxygen under the blue light than the red light. This means, that on average for the whole grade, the plant produced 33% more oxygen under the blue light than the red light. The total amount of oxygen produced for blue was 443.5, while for red it was 294.9. My hypothesis was correct for my group, but wrong for the entire grade. Analysis: There were a few inconsistencies in the data, the main one being the difference between periods ones data and the rest of the grades. The data from period one affected the overall average of the grade by 9.5%, and without period ones data the average would have been -42.5%. Our data could have differed from the other periods for a variety of reasons. The people counting the bubbles could have been off on the number of bubbles or could have counted them from the leaves not the stem. The procedure could have been more reliable if we would have had either one person measuring the bubbles for both, or a pre-determined way to decide how big a bubble was. 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.

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