Haleh Popal 2 11/14 Science PHOTOSYNTHESIS SUMMATIVE PROJECT PROBLEM: How does doubling the amount of carbon dioxide

from .5g of bi sodium carbonate dissolved in 100mL of water to 1g. dissolved in 100mL of water affect the rate of photosynthesis in elodea? Hypothesis: If carbon dioxide is increased (by doubling baking soda), then the rate of photosynthesis will increase. Theory: Photosynthesis is the process of when a plant takes in energy from the sun and uses it for food. It takes place in the chloroplasts in the leaves. Sunlight and oxygen is needed for it to happen. Elodea is an autotroph and it makes its own food 1. The reactants that are needed for photosynthesis are water (H2O) and Carbon Dioxide (CO2). 2. Photosynthesis produces sugars which gives energy to the plant to carry out important cell functions. photosynthesis also produces oxygen. 3. Photosynthesis takes place in the chloroplasts in leaves. 4. Chlorophyll captures sunlight for photosynthesis and it has a green pigment. 5. Photosynthesis is important to animals because it produces oxygen which is necessary for animals to have life. Photosynthesis also gives energy to the plants so they can live and grow and be a food source to animals. 6. An autotroph is an organism that makes its own food such as a plant. A heterotroph is an organism that cant make its own food and get their food from eating other organisms such as humans. 7. We use elodea for this experiment because it grows underwater so you can see the bubbles from the oxygen created during photosynthesis. 8. Elodea is found in fresh water. It lives entirely underwater and its an important part of lake ecosystems. 9. The reasoning behind my hypothesis is if the carbon dioxide levels increase then the photosynthesis rate will increase because carbon dioxide is a reactant needed for photosynthesis.

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 water and baking soda solution (1 gram to 100 mL of water). 6. Put tube in rack and adjust lamp with 1qerw 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 .5 grams and 100mL of water. 10. Repeat for Trial 2 DATA/OBSERVATIONS:
Trial 1 ___grams
Small x 1 CO2 1 gram 1x1=1

Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes at 5 and 10 cm

Medium x 2 5x2=10 Large x 3 25x3=75 Total 86

.5 gram

4x1=4

27x2=54

8x3=24

82

Notes: Trial 2 _____grams

Small x 1 CO2 1 gram .5 gram 5x1=5 46x1=46

Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes at 5 and 10 cm

Medium x 2 2x2=4 5x2=10 Large x 3 0x3=0 0x3=3 Total 9 56

Trial 1 Trial 2

.5g 82 56

1g 86 9

Total /2 Average

138/2 29

95/2 47.5

2013 AVERAGE DATA IN 3 MINUTES FROM 5 DIFFERENT CLASSES Baking Soda

.5g CLASS PERIOD AVERAGES 1 2 3 4 6 7 TOTAL/5 AVERAGE 1g % Oxygen Decrease/Increase

108 69 33.7 23.7 26.3 3.8 264.5/6 44.1

139 47 26.5 14.3 36.3 72.8 335.9/6 56

28% increase 32% decrease 30% decrease 40% increase 38% increase 182% increase 34% increase 29% increase

80 average oxygen in 3 mins 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 0.5g 69

Comparision of CO2
56 44.1 47 Period 2 7th Grade

1g Baking soda

CONCLUSION: 1. The average rate of photosynthesis was 44.1 for .5g of baking soda and 56 for 1g of baking soda which is a 29% increase.

2. My hypothesis was correct because when we increased the amount of baking soda from .5g to 1g, photosynthesis increased 29%. 3. I can conclude from this experiment that photosynthesis would increase when baking soda is doubled which increases the CO2 levels EVALUATION/ANALYSIS 1. It was difficult to control the bubbles counted in the experiment. The person counting them might miss some. The bubbles were also different sizes which means they contained different amounts of oxygen. 2. This test was fair and repeatable because you count repeat the steps and count the bubbles again. 3. To make it more accurate, I would count the bubbles for a longer amount of time (5 minutes). 4. Understanding photosynthesis is important because so you know where the oxygen comes from. We might not get enough oxygen if plants are destroyed. Plants use photosynthesis so they can live and we can eat them. 5. I learned that elodea is a freshwater plant and it uses CO2 to produce oxygen. When we increased the CO2 levels, then the photosynthesis rate goes up. You can see the oxygen bubbles in the water. REFERENCES: 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. Coolidge-Stolz M.D., Elizabeth, et al. Focus On Life Science. Boston, Mass: Prentice Hall, 2008.