PRACTICAL Name:

12 Chlorophyll and photosynthesis

You need:
■ plants with normal and variegated ■ tripods and gauzes Boiling water
leaves (pelargonium, coleus or ■ forceps
geranium) ■ 500 cm3 beakers Leaf
■ iodine solution ■ white tiles
■ boiling tubes ■ Bunsen burner
■ ethanol (alcohol)

Boiling alcohol
To show that plants need chlorophyll for photosynthesis you
need a way of showing that photosynthesis has taken place. Plants
change sugar produced by photosynthesis into starch and store Hot water
it in their leaves. So a leaf with starch has been carrying out
photosynthesis.

Testing a leaf for starch: method

1 Take a leaf from a non-variegated plant which has been in the
light for a few hours. Put goggles on. Half fill a 500 cm3 beaker
Iodine solution
with water and bring it to the boil. Put the leaf in the water for
about 1 minute, then turn the Bunsen burner off.
2 Half fill a boiling tube with ethanol. This is highly inflammable
so do not put it near a naked flame. Use forceps to take the boiled
leaf out of the water and transfer it to the ethanol. Put the tube
of ethanol into the beaker of very hot water. The ethanol will boil A variegated pelargonium leaf
and remove chlorophyll from the leaf, making test results easier
to see.
3 Lift the leaf out of the ethanol, dip it into the hot water to soften Green area
it, spread it out on a white tile and cover it with iodine solution. White area
A blue-black colour indicates the presence of starch in the leaf.

Your teacher will be looking for: HAZARD WARNING

■ careful and safe use of the apparatus given
Ethanol is highly flammable.
■ accurate observations KEEP AWAY from naked flame.
■ good presentation of results WEAR EYE PROTECTION.
■ sensible conclusions which fit your results

Extension
You are provided with variegated leaves – leaves which have areas
with and without chlorophyll. Design an experiment using these
leaves to show that chlorophyll is necessary for photosynthesis.

© OUP: this may be reproduced for class use solely for the purchaser’s institute