Virtual Stomata Lab – Jason Bao

Part 1: Counting Stomata

Link: http://lightninglearner.com/VirtualMicroscope/Scope.htm
Directions:
1. Go to the link above. Click around to learn how the microscope works. Make sure pop-ups are
enabled, as they provide useful hints when you click the wrong things.
2. Once you have your microscope working, choose TWO of the plants on the left hand side. Take a
moment to research them quickly in order to make an educated prediction (hypothesis!) on how
many stomata you would expect to see and why.
3. Then, for your chosen TWO plants you’ll need to place them under the microscope and then
count how many stomata are found. As the lab recommends, looking in one place is not enough.
Slide the field of view around until you have THREE distinct fields of view on the SAME leaf to
count. Then, find the average. I have made a simple table to record your data in below.
4. Finally, as we would in person, it is time to practice making a micrograph. These are the hand-
drawn images that you make of what you see under a microscope. They should be as identical as
you can make them. This means they should be in the shape of a circle and include color. Under
each micrograph you MUST include TOTAL magnification (which is the eye piece magnification
TIMES the magnification of the objective lens), and the name of what you are looking at. Include
one micrograph for each of your leaves.
Hypothesis: If the plants Tropical Sage and Spiderworts are analyzed for stomata under a microscope,
then the scientist predicts that there will be about 10 stomata on the Tropical Sage and 15 on the
Spiderworts, because Tropical Sage have small spiky leaves while Spiderworts have long, narrow leaves
so Spiderworts have a larger surface area for stomata to be spread throughout and therefore will have
more stomata than the Tropical Sage.

Plant 1: Tropical Sage Plant 2: Spiderworts

Field 1 Stomata 11 8
Count

Field 2 Stomata 10 7
Count

Field 3 Stomata 12 10
Count

Average 11 8.3
Stomata Count
 Micrograph

Post Lab: No conclusion. Rather give me 1-3 sentences explaining whether your hypothesis was correct
and why.
My hypothesis was incorrect as on average, the Tropical Sage had a greater number of stomata
than the Spiderworts plants (11 vs 8.3). Since Tropical Sage are found in moist, sandy soil in the South, it
makes sense that the plants would have a greater number of stomata to release water and maintain
homeostasis since water is plentiful in the moist soil. However, Spiderworts naturally grow in open
woods and meadows where water is not as plentiful and as such, they will have less stomata to slow the
rate of water loss. Additionally, as said in my hypothesis, Tropical Sage have small spiky leaves while
Spiderworts have long, narrow leaves. However, this causes the stomata density of Tropical Sage to be
much greater than that of Spiderworts as stomata can spread out farther in Spiderworts, which supports
the conclusion that Tropical Sage have a greater number of stomata than Spiderworts.

Part 2: Transpiration
Link: http://www.classzone.com/cz/books/bio_07/resources/htmls/virtual_labs/virtualLabs.html
Directions:
1. Note the problem of the lab.
2. Click on all the objects to find out what they are and then click on the Procedure. Follow the steps
as it recommends.
3. For the Lab Notebook piece, once you are done you can hit the ‘Print’ button and then save as a
PDF so that you can put this in your digital portfolio.
Problem: You moved your favorite houseplant to a new location. You’ve continued the same watering
routine, yet you notice wilting leaves. The plant gets just as much light in the new location as it did in the
old one. What would be causing the plant’s leaves to wilt?

Answers to the conclusion section of the lab that did not appear on the PDF:
1. Operation Definition: Rate of transpiration is the amount of water lost over time by the plants
depending on other biotic and abiotic factors.

2. Humid, Normal, Windy, Warm

3.
a. For windy, the windy conditions increased the rate of transpiration in relation to the
control conditions as wind removes water vapor surrounding the leaf. Specifically, wind
will move the air around, resulting in the more saturated air close to the leaf being
replaced by drier air
b. For warm, the rate of transpiration relative to the control increases because when
temperature increases, the rate of evaporation increases from this higher temperature, so
more water vapor will evaporate from the stomatas of leaves and as such, rate of
transpiration increases.
c. For humidity, the rate of transpiration decreases relative to the control as water diffuses
from regions of high concentration to regions of low concentration. As such, in humid
conditions, the water vapor concentration of the environment is similar to or higher than
that of inside the leaf, so the rate of transpiration would be much slower and decrease.

4. It is important to calculate leaf surface area as the stomata are found are the underside of the leaf
so knowing the leaf surface area allows the scientists to estimate the number of stomata, which
effects the rate of transpiration (either slower or faster).

5. For the humid conditions, the rate of transpiration decreased by 3.39 mL/m^2.

6. It is necessary to have an air-tight seal in the potometer to prevent water from evaporating,
leaking, or escaping from the potometer, which would have caused an error in the collected
transpiration amounts data and the rate of transpiration calculations.

7. If the roles of water movement between the absorption of water by the roots and the evaporation
of water from the leaves is analyzed, the absorption of water by the roots will play a greater role
in the movement of water through the plant, because the roots transport water from the soil into
the plant while the leaves depend on this water transported by the roots to allow for its
evaporation through the stomata, so the roots play a more important role in water movement.
An experiment:
1. Purchase two identical plants of the same height and health.
2. Purchase the same type of soil for these two plants to live in.
3. Find a place to put these plants in with the same environmental conditions.
4. For one plant, cut off its leaves with a pair of scissors, which prevents the evaporation of water.
5. For the other plant, remove its roots with scissors, which cuts off the absorption of water by the roots.
6. Place each plant in identical soil and water them the same amount.
7. After a couple days of constant watering and the same environmental conditions, record and compare
the height and the qualitative features of each plant (looks healthy, wilted, etc.) to determine if the leaves
or the roots play a more important role in water transport.