Katherine Hennings

Photosynthesis Diagram
Energy from the
sunlight is absorbed by
the chlorophyll, located
in the leaves and stem.
The plant also absorbs
CO2 through its leaves,
and water through
roots. The energy
causes the CO2 to turn
into clean oxygen that
exits from the plant
through stomata. The
energy also causes the
plant to make glucose,
sugar, to fuel the plant.
 My Investigation
My investigation is to show how light effects
how much oxygen plants release. I will have 4
glasses of water with one blade of grass in each
one. One glass will be in each position: In a
window in direct sunlight; In complete darkness;
in indirect sunlight, and in darkness except for
the light of a desk lamp that is pointed directly
at it. The glass in complete darkness will be the
control.
 Materials That I Used
• 4 Fresh blades of thick grass
• 4 glass drinking glasses that hold 2 cups each
• Room temperature tap water
• Sunny Window
• Coffee Can
• 2 Boxes
• Desk Lamp
• Timer
 Procedure
1. Pour 1 ½ cups room temperature water into the
each of the glasses and place them in the
locations described in the Set Up slides.
2. Fold the blade of grass in half and place one
blade in each glass
3. Record the amount of bubble in each glass when
the blades are placed in each glass.
4. Let the cups sit for 2 hours and record the
amount of bubbles every 30 minutes. It may be
helpful to set a timer to help you remember
5. Compare the data and clean up your work
surfaces.
Set Up – Direct Sunlight
I set one glass in
direct sunlight in a
sunny window,
making sure to not
spill the water.
 Set Up – No Light

This is my set up for the no light glass. I covered

the glass of water with a coffee can and then a
cardboard box for complete darkness. To test the
darkness I recorded a video with my camera being
covered by the can and the box.
Set Up – Indirect Light

I set up another
glass in indirect
sunlight, inside a
box that had been
turned on its side.
Set Up – Artificial Lamp Light

I set the last glass up on

a table in a room with all
the lights turned off,
except a desk lamp that
is pointed directly at the
glass.
 Results – Direct Sunlight
Minutes Bubbles Produced (about)
0 (when the leaf was 1
submerged)
30 600 (estimated)
60 800 (estimated)
90 800(estimated)
120 750(estimated)
Photos – Direct Sunlight
The top picture is a picture
of the grass at 0 minutes
when I put it in, there are no
bubbles yet.

The Bottom picture shows

more bubbles at 30
minutes, but they are very
tiny and there are lots of
bubbles.
Photos – Direct Sunlight (continued)

The top left photo shows grass at 60

minutes, there are more bubbles
and lots more tiny bubbles. The top
right photo at 90 minutes shows
about the same amount of bubbles.
The bottom photo shows a slight
decrease in bubbles at 120 minutes.
 Results – No Light
Minutes Bubbles Produced (about)
0 (when the leaf was 1
submerged)
30 50 (estimated)
60 70 (estimated)
90 70(estimated)
120 60(estimated)
Photos – No Light

The top photo shows

only a few bubbles at 0
minutes. (sorry about
the picture quality)

The bottom photo

shows only about 50
bubbles at 30 minutes.
Photos – No Light (continued)

The top left photo is at 60 minutes

and there was in increase in
bubbles. The top right photo is at 90
minutes when the amount of
bubbles stayed about the same. The
bottom picture is at 120 minutes
when their was a decrease in
bubbles.
 Results – Indirect Sunlight
Minutes Bubbles Produced (about)
0 (when the leaf was 0
submerged)
30 300 (estimated)
60 400 (estimated)
90 400(estimated)
120 350(estimated)
Photos – Indirect Light
The top photo is a
picture of the grass at 0
minutes, there were no
bubbles.

The bottom photo is the

grass at 30 minutes.
There was a big increase
in bubbles.
Photos – Indirect Sunlight (continued)

The top left photo shows the

grass at 60 minutes, there was
an increase in bubbles. The top
right photo shows the grass at
90 minutes, the amount of
bubbles stayed about the same.
The bottom photo shows the
bubbles at 120 minutes. Their
was a decrease in bubbles.
 Results – Lamp Light
Minutes Bubbles Produced (about)
0 (when the leaf was 1
submerged)
30 200 (estimated)
60 300 (estimated)
90 300(estimated)
120 225(estimated)
Photos – Lamp Light

The top photo is the

grass at 0 minutes,
there was only a few
bubbles.

The bottom photo is

the grass at 30
minutes, there was an
increase in bubbles.
Photos – Lamp Light (continued)

The top left photo shows, the grass

at 60 minutes, there was an
increase in bubbles. The top right
photo shows, the grass at 90
minutes, the amount of bubbles
stayed about the same. The
amount of bubbles decreased
slightly at 120 minutes.
 Total Results
9
8
7
6
Direct Light
5
No Light
4
Lamp Light
3 Indirect Light
2
1
0
0 Minutes 30 Minutes 60 Minutes 90 Minutes 120 Minutes
 How Was This a Fair Experiment?
To make this a fair experiment I only used one
variable, the amount and quality of light. The
control was the glass in the complete darkness.
The glass in the dark was the control because
the point of this experiment was to show that
oxygen production needed light and the control
shows that there is no oxygen bubbles because
there is no light.
 What Did I Learn?
• I learned that plants need light in order to
produce oxygen.
• I think that the bubbles where only on the
bottom side of the blade of grass because the
bubbles on the top of the leaf slowly bubbled
to the top of the water.
What Happens in Photosynthesis?
In photosynthesis, energy from the sunlight is
absorbed by the chlorophyll, located in the
leaves and stem. The plant also absorbs CO2,
and water through roots. The energy causes the
CO2 to turn into clean oxygen that exits from
the plant through stomata. The energy also
causes the plant to make glucose, sugar, to fuel
the plant.
 More Questions
I have answered my question of whether light
effects photosynthesis, but I wonder if
additivities to the water effects photosynthesis.
 My Investigation of Water Solutions
This experiment will investigate whether different
solutions of the water effect photosynthesis. I will
have 5 glasses of water sitting in the same location,
with the same amount of sunlight. I will have 5
different solutions in the glasses: baking soda and
water; vinegar and water; sugar and water; salt
water; and just plain tap water. The glass of tap water
will be the control because nothing has been added
to it. I will collect data at 0 minutes and 60 minutes
only, because I noticed that the amount of bubbles
peaked at 60 minutes.
 Materials I used
• 5 blades of grass
• 5 glass drinking glasses that hold about 2 cups
• Room Temperature Tap Water
• Place to set glasses
• Baking Soda
• White Vinegar
• Granulated Sugar
• Salt
• Timer
 Procedure
1. In cup 1, dissolve 5 teaspoons of baking soda in
1 ½ cups of the water and stir until the color of
the water is almost clear again
2. In cup 2, dissolve 15 teaspoons of granulated
sugar in 1 ½ cups of the water and stir until the
color of the water is almost clear again
3. In cup 3, dissolve 2 teaspoons of salt in 1 ½ cups
of water and stir until the color of the water is
almost clear again
4. In cup 4, mix ½ cup of white vinegar with 1 cup
of the water and stir.
5. In cup 5, pour 1 ½ cups of the water in the cup.
 Procedure (Continued)
6. Place one blade of glass in each cup, fold the
blade in half before placing in glass
7. Take a picture of the glasses and count the
bubbles at 0 minutes (when you put them in)
and at 60 minutes.
8. Organize data into charts
9. Clean Up
Photos- 0 minutes
These are all the
solutions at 0 minutes.
The top right is plain
water, I forgot to label
it.
Baking Soda Solution – 60 Minutes

The baking soda

solution had about 3
bubble when we the
grass in, and at 60
minutes the grass had
about 400 estimated
bubbles.
Sugar Solution – 60 Minutes

The sugar solution had

no bubbles when we
put the grass in, but
there was about 50
bubbles after 60
minutes.
Salt Solution – 60 Minutes

The salt solution had

one bubble when I put
the grass in. After 60
minutes the grass only
had 5 bubbles.
Vinegar Solution – 60 Minutes

The vinegar solution

had 5 bubbles when I
put the grass, and after
60 minutes there was
about 200 bubbles.
Plain Water – 60 Minutes
The plain water had 0
bubble when I put the
grass in and after 60
minutes there was
about 300 bubbles.
 Total Results
4.5
4
3.5
3
2.5
0 Minutes
2
60 Minutes
1.5
1
0.5
0
Baking Soda Sugar Salt Vinegar Water
 What Do I Think Happened?
I think that the baking soda caused the grass to
produced the most oxygen because baking soda
helps to produce CO2, a gas that plants use in
photosynthesis. I think that the sugar solution
was to sweet and sugar for the grass function
properly. I also think that this is what happened
with the salt; it was too salty. The vinegar did
not seem to effect the grass too much. The plain
water control seemed a little low compared to
the first experiment.
 How was this a fair Experiment?
This was a fair experiment because the only
variable I changed was the additives to the
water. I kept the temperatures, amount of light,
and length of the experiment the same for each
glass.
Thank You for Reading!