Designing an experiment to test

the rate of photosynthesis

Lab Designed by John S Olson
Based on "The floating leaf disk assay for investigating photosynthesis"

Summary
This activity will allow students to measure the rate at which the photosynthesis
process occurs. Students will work in small groups to design an experiment with one
independent variable and test this variable on leaf disks. The punched out leaf disks
will initially sink in a test tube of water but will float as photosynthesis occurs.
Students will write a lab report including, hypothesis, experimental design, data
collection / analysis, and conclusion (findings). Students will speculate on further
investigations that could be done and discuss how the rate at which photosynthesis
occurs has vast implications for human survival on the planet.
Basic Materials:
-Spinach leaves
-4 mm core borer (used to cut holes in cork stoppers, can purchase ones of various
sizes, use one about size of paper punch) or paper punch
-Syringe (plastic 10+ cc)
-0.2 % sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) solution
-Test tube or plastic cup
-Light source
-Thermometer
-Microscope
-Prepared microscope slides of leaf cross sections; plant in sun, plant in shade,
desert plant, water lily
Possible extra materials needed depending on variable chosen to test:
-Various wattage's of light bulbs
-Various types of light bulbs (fluorescent, incandescent)
-Colored cellophane (yellow, green, red, blue are typical colors one can purchase)(to
change wavelength's of light the plants receive)
-Meter stick
-Baking soda
-various species of plant
-Weak acids / weak bases to change the pH of the solution
-Other materials that might inhibit photosynthesis (act as weed killers?)

Experimental Design
Your table will design an experiment to test how a selected variable affects the rate
of photosynthesis. Follow the information below to make "sinking plant disks". You
will measure how long it takes (in seconds) for the disks to float as a way to
measure the rate of photosynthesis.
Preparation of the leaf disks:
1) Use the cork borer (to cut out the number of disks needed for your experiment).
2) Put disks in a syringe and suck up 5 cc (5 ml) of .2% sodium bicarbonate (baking
soda)
3) Put finger over end of syringe, pull back on plunger to about the 35 cc mark (on a
60 cc syringe) and hold this position for 30 seconds. You should see air coming out
the sides of the disks. As this is done, the oxygen is being removed from the spongy
layer of the leaf and the .2% sodium bicarbonate is entering the spongy layer. This
is the source of carbon dioxide needed for the plant to carry out photosynthesis.
4) Carefully squirt out the .2% sodium bicarbonate. Suck up about 10 cc's of water.
Check to see if the plant disks sink in the water. If they don't, remove the water and
try steps 2 and 3 again.
5) Choose the disks that sink. Make sure enough disks are available to properly
complete a controlled experiment. They are now ready to be used in your
experimental set up. The disks will float when they have produced a measured
amount of oxygen through photosynthesis. The time needed for the disks to float is
an indirect measure
of the rate of photosynthesis occurring in the leaf disks.

Descriptive title of experiment:

The effect of ________________________________________________ on
the rate of photosynthesis.
Purpose / Introduction
Hypothesis; (use if/ then format)
Explain the logic of the stated hypothesis
Sketch of the experimental design used. (The sketch should be specific enough so
that the experiment could be reproduced exactly as it was set up; include all
measurements, angles, label materials / solutions used, wattage and type of light
bulbs, etc.)

Is the data collected qualitative or quantitative data? Discuss.

The independent variable (manipulated) variable in the experiment is:
________________________________________
The dependent variable (responding) in the experiment is:
________________________________________
How was the experiment controlled?
Data chart: (you design, label and fill in with data) (you must have enough data to
make a graph)

Graph of data (obtain a piece of graph paper, make appropriate graph that has a
title and is properly labeled, attach graph to this lab report)
Results / discussion / analysis of data:
Findings/Conclusion/ list possible sources of error
Application to World environmental issues: (list ideas generated during

brainstorming session)
List new questions that could be researched