BACKGROUND RESEARCH

1. The chloroplasts, where the process of photosynthesis occurs, are in

the mesophyll cells. There are two types of mesophyll cells: palisade
mesophyll and spongy mesophyll. Most of the process of photosynthesis
occurs in the palisade mesophyll. In spongy mesophyll, the cells aren't
so close, thus have a lots of space between them.

https://www.toppr.com/bytes/photosynthesis-plants/

2. The carbon dioxide required for a plant reaches from the air by their
leaves. They get into the leaves by diffusing themselves into small holes
underneath of the leaf, know as stomata so that the process of
photosynthesis can occur.

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zpwmxnb/revision/2

3. Guard cells are the cells which surround the stomata. They open and
close the stomata, which helps in regulating the rate of transpiration.

http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/labbench/lab9/
guard.html

4. The spongy mesophyll tissues are loosely packed, thus have a large
surface area so that the gas exchange can take place properly. The
spongy mesophyll cells are found between the palisade later and the
lower epidermis and have a thin coating of water. The gases, dissolve
themselves into the water so that they can easily move out or into the
cells. The cells breathe in carbon dioxide during the day and breathe
out oxygen and water vapour

https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zyk8msg/revision/2
https://www.reference.com/science/function-spongy-layer-
leaf-4dc66cd00498662f
5. Xylem is one of the type of tube in vein. Xylem transports the water
and minerals from the roots to the leaves by the stem.

https://biologydictionary.net/xylem/

6. The food (sugar and amino acid) produced by the process of

photosynthesis in the leaves is dissolved in water and transported to
non-photosynthesising parts of the plants where they can be used for
energy, such as stems or roots and to storage structures, such as bulbs
or tubers by phloem.

https://basicbiology.net/plants/physiology/xylem-phloem

7. Desert plants:
- Some plants, known as succulents, store water in their leaves.
- Some plants don't have leaves or have tiny seasonal leaves which only
grow after raining. The absence of leaves decreases water loss during
photosynthesis. The process of photosynthesis takes place in the
green stems in absence of leaves.
- Waxy coating on the leaves leads to the decrease of water loss

Aquatic plants:
- The leaves underwater are flexible so that it can move with the water
wave and the plant stays alive.
- Few plants have their leaves floating on the top of the water,
providing theirselves with sunlight.
- The floating plants have the restriction of having chlorophyll on the
upper surface (part that is exposed to sunlight) because the upper
surface needs to be waxy to repel water.

https://www.thinktrees.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Plant-
Adaptations.pdf
 LAB REPORT

TITLE: The effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis

RESEARCH QUESTION: What effect does the amount of light have on

the rate of photosynthesis?

PURPOSE: To find out the effect of light intensity on the rate of

photosynthesis on the aquatic plant, Elodea.

HYPOTHESIS: The closer the light source, the higher the rate of
photosynthesis.

LOGIC: Decrease in the distance will lead to the increase in the light
intensity and as there is more light the rate of photosynthesis will
increase.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Photosynthesis is a process by which

the plants make their own food from water and carbon dioxide, in the
presence of light and chlorophyll. During the process the carbon dioxide
present in the air is taken up by the plants and oxygen is released.

PROCEDURE:
- STEP 1: Open the website ---- for performing the experiment.
- STEP 2: Read the instructions given
- STEP 3: Using the ruler measure the distance between Elodea and
the light source.
- STEP 4: Drag the slider, and keep the distance according to your
preference.
- STEP 5: Click on the button 'Start'
- STEP 6: Using the clock and counter, count the bubbles you see in the
set of period time or you could count the number of bubbles in your
mind.
- STEP 7: Record the data you got under the headings 'time', 'distances'
and 'number of bubbles'
- STEP 8: Click on the button 'Back'
- STEP 9: Again drag the slider, and change the distance and follow the
process, and do it until you get the number of readings you want.
- STEP 10: With the help of the data you collected make an
observation table.

VARIABLES:
- CONSTANT: Time
- INDEPENDENT: Distance
- DEPENDENT: Number of bubbles

HOW CAN THE SIMILAR EXPERIMENT, IF DONE IN THE LAB,

BE CONTROLLED?:

OBSERVATION:

- The data collected is quantitative data.

TIME (s) DISTANCE (mm) NUMBER OF

BUBBLES
60 100 153

60 110 129

60 130 104

60 150 65

60 160 49

60 200 21

GRAPH:
RESULTS: As the distance increases the number of bubbles decrease.
Which indicates, that lesser the amount of light the lower the rate of
photosynthesis.

CONCLUSION: The purpose of the experiment was to find out the effect
of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis on Elodea. The constant
variable was the time taken to count the number of bubbles, the
independent variable was the distance between the Elodea and the light
source, and the dependent variable was the number of bubbles.

The hypothesis "The closer the light source, the higher the rate of
photosynthesis" was supported because when the light source was
closest (100mm far from the Elodea, the bubble count was 153 in trial
1. Trial 2, the distance of the light was 110mm away from Elodea and
the bubble count was 129. Trial 3, the distance of the light was 130mm
away from Elodea and the bubble count was 104. Trial 4, the distance of
the light was 150mm away from Elodea and the bubble count was 65.
Trial 5, the distance of the light was 160mm away from Elodea and the
bubble count was 49. Trial 6, the distance of the light was 200mm away
from Elodea and the bubble count was 21. With the end of the
experiment I came to the conclusion, that more the amount of light
higher the rate of photosynthesis and vice versa.

The possible sources of error during the experiment might be: the
number of bubbles (might have counted some bubbles more/less), time
(might have counted bubbles for few seconds more/less) and distance
(might have written the wrong distance).

FUTURE SCOPE OF STUDY:

 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
http://drawitneat.blogspot.com/2015/01/how-to-draw-ts-of-leaf.html
https://www.toppr.com/bytes/photosynthesis-plants/
https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zpwmxnb/revision/2
http://www.phschool.com/science/biology_place/labbench/lab9/
guard.html
https://www.bbc.com/bitesize/guides/zyk8msg/revision/2
https://www.reference.com/science/function-spongy-layer-
leaf-4dc66cd00498662f
https://biologydictionary.net/xylem/
https://basicbiology.net/plants/physiology/xylem-phloem
https://www.thinktrees.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Plant-
Adaptations.pdf