PHOTOSEYNTHESIS SUMMATIVE PROJECT

Zack Gordon 12/5/13 Period 1 Summative Project

1. Problem: How does the color of light (blue, red) affect

the rate of photosynthesis in Elodea at a distance of 5cm from the plant? 2.

Hypothesis: If the elodea is put under red and blue

light, then the elodea under the blue light will affect the plant more than the red light by about 30% because blue is absorbed more.

3. Theory: Photosynthesis is the process in which plants

make food for itself in the chloroplast by using water, carbon dioxide, and sugar. My research leads me to my hypothesis because blue absorbs more in a plant by about 30% than red does. The data from the practice lab lead me to my hypothesis because the wavelengths of the blue light is 475 nm and the red light is 400 nm. This means that the blue has energy and if it has more energy it means that it will create more bubbles and that means that it is photosynthesizing more leading me to my hypothesis.

Procedure:
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 spring water and baking soda solution (1 tsp. to 100 mL of water). 6. Put tube in rack and adjust lamp with blue light 5 cm from top of test tube to the bottom of the ring on the stand. 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 red light. 10. Repeat for Trial 2 DATA/OBSERVATION
Trial 1: 1 gram
Small x 1 Color Blue 21 x 1 = 21

Zack Gordon 12/5/13 Period 1 Summative Project

Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes at 5 and 10 cm

Medium x 2 11 x 2 = 22 Large x 3 2x3=6 Total 49

Red

61 x 1 = 61

20 x 2 = 40

4 x 3 = 12

113

Notes: Trial 2: 1 gram

Small x 1 Color Blue Red 23 x 1 = 23 11 x 1 = 11

Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes at 5 and 10 cm

Medium x 2 12 x 2 = 24 4x2=8 Large x 3 7 x 3 = 21 2x3=6 Total 68 25

Averages: Colors Trial 1 Trial 2 Total Average Notes:

Blue 49 68 117 70

Red 113 25 138 58.5

Zack Gordon 12/5/13 Period 1 Summative Project

Red produced more bubbles Our group had good team work Followed the procedure well It was better when we changed the elodeas under the lamps Our data was reliable
2013 AVERAGE DATA IN 3 MINUTES FROM 6 DIFFERENT CLASSES COLOR OF LIGHT
BLUE CLASS PERIOD AVERAGES 1 2 3 4 6 7 TOTAL/6 AVERAGE RED % Oxygen Decrease/Increase Increase 19.7% Decrease 70.1% Decrease 37.7% Decrease 23.4% Decrease 55.9% Decrease 25.8% Decrease 33.5% Decrease 33.4%

58.5 63.5 39 112 102 68.5 443.5/6 73.9

70 19 24.3 85.8 45 50.8 294.9/6 49.2

Amount Of O2 Bubbles in 3 Minutes

Photosynthesis Under Red & Blue Light

100 80 60 40 20 0 Period 1 All Classes Color of Light 58.5 73.9 70 49.2 Blue Light Red Light

Conclusion: In this lab we tested if an Elodea under a

red or blue light would increase the rate of photosynthesis. I predict that under the blue light the Elodea would increase the

Zack Gordon 12/5/13 Period 1 Summative Project

amount of photosynthesis more than red. The percentage increase was 19.7%. Compared to the seventh grade our numbers were off. Every other class in the seventh grade got the blue light increasing the amount of photosynthesis more than the red light by decrease of 33.4%. But our group got the red light increasing the rate of photosynthesis more than the blue by red 70 and blue 58.5. My hypothesis was incorrect.

Analysis: The biggest discrepancy in data was between periods

1 and 2. In period 1 we recorded 70 red bubbles and 58.5 blue bubbles. In period 2 they recorded 19 red bubbles and 63.5 blue bubbles. Our red bubbles compared to their red bubbles there was a decrease of about 72.9%. Our results were different from the whole seventh grade because maybe our counter for the red light was counting the bubbles that came of the leafs and not the stem. Some things that we could do to make the test more reliable are to make sure that the 2 counters are positively sure that they both know the standard size of the bubbles. Also to make sure that the counters count the ones that come of the stem and not from the leafs. Another thing that could make this test more reliable is we could have done another trial to see if there would be more red bubbles or blue bubbles. This would be a good idea because in trial 1 we had more red bubbles and in trial 2 we had more blue bubbles. Therefore if we had trial 3 we would see if there would be more red or blue bubbles, which would make our data more reliable and consistent.

Bibliography:
Coolidge-Stolz M.D., Elizabeth, et al. Focus On Life Science. Boston, Mass: Prentice Hall, 2008.

Zack Gordon 12/5/13 Period 1 Summative Project

Washington State Department of Ecology. American WaterweedA Common Native Plant. February 24, 2003. November 2013. <http://www.ecy.wa.gov/Programs/wq/plants/native/elodea.htm l> Young, Paul. The Botany Coloring Book. Cambridge, New York: Harper and Row, 1982. "Affect of Different Colored Lights on Photosynthesis." Affect of Different Colored Lights on Photosynthesis. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Dec. 2013.